938 research outputs found
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Evaluating digital prehabilitation in cardiac rehabilitation: impact on patient recall of exercise guidelines and programme familiarisation
No full textBackground/Aims:
The efficacy of UK cardiac rehabilitation to improve patient outcomes has been questioned owing to many programmes not prescribing a full dose of exercise as recommended by the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Cardiac Rehabilitation. The aims of this study were to 1) evaluate whether providing digital prehabilitation to patients prescribed a lower exercise dose than Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Cardiac Rehabilitation guidelines recommend enabled them to recall the exercise targets, and 2) to determine whether digital prehabilitation helped patients feel more familiar and prepared for participation in the cardiac rehabilitation programme.
Methods:
Fifty-five patients were initially recruited to the study. Fifty-one patients were provided with digital prehabilitation via an online weblink 7 days before starting their phase III cardiac rehabilitation programme. Thirty-three patients engaged with the video and were given an online survey to complete relating to the digital prehabilitation, and twenty-three patients responded.
Results:
Eleven (47.8%) patients felt ‘very’ confident that they were meeting the prescribed exercise targets for intensity and duration. Meanwhile, four (17.4%) patients felt ‘extremely’ confident, and four (17.4%), two (8.7%) and two (8.7%) felt ‘somewhat’, ‘not so’ and ‘not at all confident’ that they were meeting prescribed exercise targets. Three (13.0%) recalled the rating of perceived exertion exercise intensity target range (11–14) correctly. For the gym-based cardiac rehabilitation exercise programme, of the 16 patients who responded, none (100%) recalled the full rating of perceived exertion range (14–16) correctly. Eight (34.8%) patients recalled the minimum exercise duration (20 minutes) target correctly.
Conclusions:
Despite most patients feeling confident about their understanding of exercise targets, the actual recall of rating of perceived exertion and exercise duration targets was limited, indicating a gap between perceived knowledge and recall. This familiarisation approach has potential but requires enhancement to improve the patients' recall of exercise dose
Shared ground: Examining the alignment of playwork and youth work practice in Wales
No full textShared ground: Examining the alignment of playwork and youth work practice in Wales
A research report exploring the alignment of playwork and youth work practices across Wales. It highlights examples of aligned practice within local authorities and third sector organisations, emphasising the benefits and challenges of this approach. Commissioned by Play Wales, the research was undertaken by Alex Drury and Professor Mandy Robbins from Wrexham University.
The findings in Shared ground: Examining the alignment of playwork and youth work practice in Wales reveal that aligned practices in these sectors can lead to improved service delivery, better understanding of children’s needs, and stronger relationships between practitioners and the communities they serve. However, challenges such as differing principles, training requirements and external factors like funding and policy alignment need to be addressed to maximise the benefits of this approach.
The research aims to inform further discussions on the strategic alignment of the playwork and youth work sectors to enhance service delivery for children. It will also be of interest to playwork and youth work practitioners.
The report concludes with the researchers’ recommendations for strategic leaders, training providers and policymakers to support the development of aligned practices and enhance the overall effectiveness of playwork and youth work in Wales
Exploring Classroom Grouping Practices in Wales
No full textGrouping practices in classrooms are under-researched within the Welsh context. This exploratory research aimed to provide information about grouping practices for those with additional learning needs (ALN) and educators' decision-making concerning these. In addition, the study sought to gain insight into changes to grouping practices during the Covid-19 pandemic and priorities for the future. Data was gathered using an online survey of primary and secondary school ALNCos (n=102) based in Wales' south-west and south-east regions. Findings revealed ‘mixed ability’ as the most frequently used grouping across primary and secondary phases for all learners. Similar to figures found elsewhere in the UK, the grouping of core subjects in both age phases was attainment-based. A wide range of grouping practices was described with the primary purpose of offering support for academic learning, with less focus on learner choice or socially-based groups. This was the case for all learners as well as those with ALN, and figures also show an increase in attainment grouping for younger children. ALNCos also highlighted concerns over the standard of ALN provision during the pandemic and the need to move towards more child-centred socially-focused interventions for the future. Implications of the study and recommendations for the future are discussed
Design and optimisation of electrically propelled blended-wing body aircraft
No full textThis paper presents the study and design of an electrically powered blended-wing body aircraft and assesses the viability and performance of the blended-wing body airframe combined with electric engine propulsion, aiming to identify a functional and efficient ecological solution. The focus is on the implementation of an electrically driven rim fan as the propulsion system for the test aircraft. Based on the requirements for a test aircraft, a preliminary design is established, and several blended-wing body test aircraft models are proposed and modelled using numerical design tools. These concepts are then subjected to fluid dynamics and stability simulations using ANSYS Fluent. The geometry with the best results is ultimately selected and optimised. The project results in a blended-wing body test aircraft that meets the design specifications and successfully integrates the electrically driven rim fan into the airframe while maintaining the high aerodynamic performance characteristic. The final aircraft achieves a lift-to-drag ratio of 16.47, representing an improvement of nearly 20% compared to the flying wing designs represented in the literature review
Step-Cut Modification of Air-Forced Heat Sink to Improve Temperature Gradient in Power Semiconductor Modules
No full textThe thermal performance of power electronic systems is critically influenced by the ability to maintain uniform temperatures across semiconductor devices. In serially mounted semiconductor arrangements, forced-air cooling often produces a progressive heating effect, causing downstream devices to operate at higher temperatures. This non-uniform thermal loading leads to localised hotspots, accelerated material degradation, and reduced operational reliability. This paper investigates passive geometric optimisation of an air-cooled aluminium heatsink to enhance thermal uniformity across three serially mounted IGBTs. A computational numerical model was developed in ANSYS Fluent, using steady-state simulations and validated by experimental temperature measurements from a physical test rig. The baseline model demonstrated temperature differences across the length of the heatsink of up to 7.85°C at 100W, confirming the presence of a significant temperature gradient. Geometric modifications were evaluated in the form of a step-cut recess in the heatsink fins. The optimised geometry, with recess depths of 31 mm and 14 mm, reduced the temperature difference to 0.43°C under identical operating conditions, representing over 90% improvement compared to the unmodified design. The findings demonstrate that position-specific geometric tailoring of heatsinks offers a cost-effective and manufacturable solution to improve temperature synchronisation in multi-device power systems
Design and analysis of curved wire for biomedical device applications
No full textIn this study, the dynamic behavior of curved wires is investigated and optimized with a focus on biomedical applications. To solve the integral boundary value problem of the curved wire, a spectral Chebyshev approach is developed in conjunction with the first-order shear deformation theory for beams. The wire shapes are categorized into two main groups: (i) with curvature and (ii) without curvature. In the former category, the curved segment is located in the middle of the wire, flanked by two straight segments, resulting in a complex geometric equation. The proposed method is validated by comparing the obtained natural frequencies with those reported in the literature and results from the finite element method. The results for different boundary conditions and various geometric properties show excellent agreement with both the literature and finite element method. Furthermore, a design process is conducted to optimize the maximum displacement response of the wire distal tip relative to the base excitation amplitude. This process involves varying the length ratios of the tapered wire, defined as design variables, for different lengths of straight wires and various curvature amounts of curved wires. The design results indicate that the ratio of distal tip displacement to base excitation amplitude can be increased by up to 600% for straight wires and 240% for curved wires at an excitation frequency of 40 kHz
Ultra-High-Speed Motor With Enhanced Cooling for Cordless Vacuum Cleaners
No full textRecent advancements in battery materials have significantly improved their charge-to-weight ratio providing fast progress in battery-dependent technologies and expanding the market for cordless devices in particular. Cordless vacuum cleaners have become especially popular due to enhanced convenience compared to wired models. This growing demand has boosted research activity toward further size and weight reduction. As a result, motors and impellers have been considerably scaled down to just a few centimeters in diameter, while the operating frequency of ac voltage applied to energize the motors is now increased to exceed 2 kHz. However, the reduced size and mass of the motor metal components have negatively affected cooling efficiency, making heat dissipation a major challenge in the development of compact, high-speed motors. To overcome this thermal issue, this paper proposes a novel motor design having a six-pointed star-shaped stator with toroidal windings placed at its vertices. This configuration increases the stator surface area ensuring the improvement of the heat dissipation. Moreover, the enlarged spacing between windings improves cooling conditions allowing the motor to conduct higher current through the stator windings without overheating. A working prototype of the proposed motor was developed and tested to evaluate its performance and thermal characteristics. An experiment-based comparative analysis with commercial vacuum cleaner motors showed that the prototype outperformed them in both operational and thermal parameters confirming the effectiveness of the proposed concept
Low velocity oblique impact behaviour of glass, carbon and aramid fibre reinforced polymer laminates
No full textThis paper provides a numerical comparative analysis of the low-velocity oblique impact performance of glass, carbon and aramid fiber reinforced polymer laminates with different quasi-isotropic and symmetric stacking sequences. To ensure accuracy of simulation results, the numerical model was validated using previously published experimental data. Puck failure criterion was applied for both the validation case and the numerical results’ evaluation and benchmarking. The results shown that, within the oblique impact angles from 0° to 60°, the most critical angles produced damage are 25° and above 55°. ANSYS Composite PrepPost + Transient Structural software was used for numerical setup and simulation
The impact of molecular weight on the segregative phase separation-induced molecular fractionation of aqueous gum Arabic/xanthan mixtures
No full textSegregative phase separation of natural polymers has drawn significant research interest because of its diverse applications in the food industry. However, there is limited research on how molecular weight (Mw) influences segregative phase separation. This study aims to investigate the impact of Mw on segregative phase separation-induced molecular fractionation in mixed gum Arabic/Xanthan (GA/XG) solutions. The analysis focused on a single type of gum Arabic (referred to as EM10), with the molecular weights of both solid and liquid xanthan gum (XG) samples being altered through 60Coγ irradiation. These modified samples were evaluated using gel permeation chromatography combined with multi-angle laser light scattering (GPC-MALLS). The results demonstrated that the fractionation process of GA increased the content of the arabinogalactan-protein complex (AGP), increasing from an initial 29 % to a final 40 % within the GA/XG system (fixed with a mixture of 8 % EM10/0.8 % XG). When analyzing phase separation-induced molecular fractionation as a function of Mw, an increase in Mw (3.6 × 105–1.9 × 106) was associated with a corresponding rise in the degree of phase separation-induced fractionation. This was attributed to the irradiation-mediated breakage of XG chains. This study deeply analyzed the effect of Mw on the phase separation behavior and molecular fractionation mechanism of the GA/XG system. The results showed that when the Mw of XG was 3.6 × 105 (XG4) as a minimum, the AGP content was 29 % when mixed with GA, and when the Mw of XG was 1.9 × 106 (Control XG) as a maximum, the AGP content was 40 % when mixed with GA. The increase of Mw optimised the emulsion stabilisation property of GA significantly, which provided great practical value for its industrial applications
A review of topology optimisation software for additive manufacturing: capability comparison
Get PDFThe topology optimisation method has gained significant attention in recent decades due to the extensive development and implementation of additive manufacturing, an advanced technology applied to fabricate complex geometries and structures. By following the topology optimisation methodology, the existing geometry can be effectively optimised by minimising or maximising objective functions, such as stiffness, volume, or weight reduction. This paper provides an overview of the topology optimisation algorithm and compares the capabilities of computer-aided software designed to conduct topology optimisation procedures. Four different software are analysed using case studies from various industries. The case study models are categorised based on important parameters for the topology optimisation and evaluated in terms of availability, optimisation method, objective function, and other factors