69238 research outputs found
Sort by
Data Study Group Final Report: ScotRail - Rethinking Mobility: Reducing Car Miles Through Rail and Road Insights in Scotland
No full textThe Scottish Government aims for Net-Zero emissions by 2045, with transport accounting for 36% of Scotland’s GHG emissions. Private vehicle use is a major contributor, particularly for commuting and long-distance travel. This project, a collaboration between ScotRail and The Alan Turing Institute, investigates how rail and road data can support sustainable mobility, reduce car miles, and enhance rail network resilience. The study explores the impact of rail disruptions on travel behaviour, models network-wide effects, and estimates carbon emissions
Achieving equitable health outcomes for Pacific peoples living with cardiovascular disease in Aotearoa New Zealand: exploring the contribution of community pharmacists
No full textThesis embargoed until 3/2026
Diagnosing Colour Vision Deficiencies Using Eye Movements (Without Dedicated Eye-Tracking Hardware)
No full textPurpose: To investigate the efficacy of a novel test for diagnosing colour vision deficiencies using reflexive eye movements measured using an unmodified tablet. Methods: This study followed a cross-sectional design, where thirty-three participants aged between 17 and 65 years were recruited. The participant group comprised 23 controls, 8 deuteranopes, and 2 protanopes. An anomaloscope was employed to determine the colour vision status of these participants. The study methodology involved using an Apple iPad Pro’s built-in eye-tracking capabilities to record eye movements in response to coloured patterns drifting on the screen. Through an automated analysis of these movements, the researchers estimated individuals’ red–green equiluminant point and their equivalent luminance contrast. Results: Estimates of the red–green equiluminant point and the equivalent luminance contrast were used to classify participants’ colour vision status with a sensitivity rate of 90.0% and a specificity rate of 91.30%. Conclusions: The novel colour vision test administered using an unmodified tablet was found to be effective in diagnosing colour vision deficiencies and has the potential to be a practical and cost-effective alternative to traditional methods. Translation Relevance: The test’s objectivity, its straightforward implementation on a standard tablet, and its minimal requirement for patient cooperation, all contribute to the wider accessibility of colour vision diagnosis. This is particularly advantageous for demographics like children who might be challenging to engage, but for whom early detection is of paramount importance
What makes a theory of consciousness unscientific?
No full textTheories of consciousness have a long and controversial history. One well-known proposal — integrated information theory — has recently been labeled as ‘pseudoscience’, which has caused a heated open debate. Here we discuss the case and argue that the theory is indeed unscientific because its core claims are untestable even in principle
Socioeconomic Status and Child Maltreatment: A Critical Literature Review
No full textA robust body of research examines the association between socioeconomic status (SES), particularly its economic dimension, income poverty, and child maltreatment rates. However, several key questions regarding this relationship remain underexplored.
Utilizing a critical literature review, this article finds that some forms of child maltreatment (i.e., sexual abuse) do not correlate with income poverty. Moreover, evidence about the
effects of other dimensions of SES, including employment and education is not monolithic. The complexity of this relationship is further influenced by the data source and
unit of analysis. Studies using administrative data and analyzing SES at the family or
household level frequently report a strong correlation between SES and child maltreatment.
However, this relationship weakens (or in some cases disappears) when examined at the
neighborhood or regional level using self-report data. Our findings also suggest that the
overrepresentation of minority groups in child maltreatment statistics can be, at least in
part, attributed to economic disadvantages. Furthermore, social cohesion appears to buffer
the effects of income poverty and material hardship, highlighting the role of inequality in
weakening social networks and exacerbating socioeconomic stressors. A developing body
of literature demonstrates the link between income inequality and child maltreatment rates
and indicates that policies aimed at addressing the impact of SES on child maltreatment
should not only focus on alleviating poverty-related factors, such as material hardship,
unemployment, and housing instability, but also target broader class disparities as the
common root of many social problems
Early Nutrition is Associated With Global Motion Perception and V5 Function in 7-Year-Old Children Born Very Preterm
No full textThe dorsal stream vulnerability hypothesis suggests that preterm birth may preferentially impair development of the dorsal visual pathway. We explored the effects of early nutrition on dorsal stream development in a well-characterized cohort of 7-year-old children born very preterm. The children had been admitted to a tertiary hospital neonatal intensive care unit either before (OldPro group) or after (NewPro group) a parenteral nutrition protocol change that was intended to increase protein intake and reduce fluid volume intake. We assessed dorsal stream function using the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response in V1 and V5 to coherent and incoherent random dot kinematograms (RDKs), quantified using functional magnetic resonance imaging. V1 and V5 regions of interest could be localized in 24 children (OldPro n = 11, NewPro n = 13). Motion coherence thresholds, a psychophysical measure of global motion perception, were also available for 22 of these children (OldPro n = 9, NewPro n = 13). The NewPro group demonstrated a higher V5 BOLD response to RDK stimuli (OldPro: mean = 0.5%, SD = 0.2%; NewPro: mean = 1.0%, SD = 0.6%) and exhibited lower (better) motion coherence thresholds (OldPro: median = 74.0%, IQR: 59.5%-81.2%; NewPro: median = 36.8%, IQR: 27.5%-44.5%), compared to the OldPro group. The V1 BOLD response did not differ between the groups. There was a significant association between V5 ΔBOLD (coherent minus incoherent stimulus BOLD response) and motion coherence threshold. Together, these findings suggest that early nutrition may influence dorsal stream development in children born very preterm
How to teach critical thinking through the navigation of a controversial issue
No full textTeaching controversial issues is particularly challenging in today’s world of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news. This article explores how critical thinking can be embedded in such discussions using the street smarts critical thinking model. The study focuses on the contentious use of the poison 1080 as a case study, systematically demonstrating how teachers can incorporate critical thinking through practical activities and student work examples. The article also provides freely available video resources that support the integration of critical thinking in the classroom. These strategies not only empower students to analyse complex topics critically, but also to assist in becoming active and engaged citizens
Intimate partner violence and physical health in England: Gender stratified analyses of a probability sample survey
No full textBackgroundGender differences in the associated health outcomes of different forms of intimate partner violence (IPV) are understudied. The long-term effects of IPV on specific physical health conditions are also under-researched in comparison to the effects on general health and mental health.ObjectivesTo examine gender differences in the association between IPV and specific physical health conditions, accounting for differences in the types and number of types of IPV experienced.DesignWe used data from the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, a cross-sectional survey using a stratified, multistage random sampling design to cover the household population of England aged 16 years and older.MethodsDescriptive and multivariable regression analyses of 4120 women and 2764 men who had ever had a partner. Lifetime IPV by types (physical, sexual, psychological, and economic), any lifetime and recent IPV, the number of IPV types experienced, and multiple chronic health conditions experienced over the past 12 months were included in the analyses.ResultsGender differences were observed in both the prevalence of IPV and associated health conditions. Women were more likely to experience any type and a higher number of IPV types than men. Women's exposure to any lifetime and 12-month IPV were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of reporting 12 and 11 conditions, respectively, while men's exposure to any lifetime and 12-month IPV were significantly associated with 4 and 1 conditions, respectively. Specific IPV types had varied health impacts, particularly among women. A cumulative association was evident for women but not for men.ConclusionHealthcare systems need to be mobilised to address IPV as a priority health issue for the female population. Our findings highlight the need for gender-informed approaches in IPV intervention strategies and healthcare provision, emphasising the development of IPV-responsive healthcare systems and comprehensive IPV curricula in medical and health training
Enhancing Reinforcement Learning Efficiency: Novel Distributed Algorithms, Human-Inspired Reward Mechanisms, and State Space Analysis for Simulated and Real-World Applications
No full textReinforcement Learning (RL), a subset of Machine Learning (ML), has garnered significant attention because of its capacity to enable systems to learn problem-solving without the need for pre-collected datasets. Despite its historical roots and its efficacy in tackling tasks, mostly in simulation and video games, RL algorithms encounter various limitations. These include a lack of standardisation in definitions and concepts, sample inefficiency in sparse reward environments, challenges with high-dimensional state spaces, bridging of the sim-to-real gap, complex training strategies, and the necessity for meticulous hyperparameter tuning. Consequently, the widespread application of RL in solving intricate real-world scenarios with straightforward implementations remains an unresolved challenge. This thesis endeavours to address these challenges by first providing clear explanations of RL concepts and definitions. Subsequently, it identifies and analyses the limitations in diverse RL algorithms before presenting two novel solutions inspired by the human brain and the contextual intricacies of the real world.
Specifically, two new algorithms named NaSA-TD3 and CTD4 are introduced. NaSA-TD3 explores the impact of human-inspired stimuli presented as a reward bonus to improve the exploration of the environment and sample efficiency in dense and sparse environments. CTD4 mitigates the overestimation bias of the Q-values and eases the implementation and training strategies of traditional categorical RL methods. Further, this thesis critically examines the applicability of Model-Based Reinforcement Learning (MBRL) in a real-world scenario in terms of sample efficiency and hyperparameter robustness by identifying its strengths and weaknesses in using dynamic model representations.
Through rigorous experimentation and analysis in both real-world and simulated environments, this thesis contributes to advancing the understanding and application of RL. Validation on physical robots and standardised virtual platforms confirms the applicability of the proposed algorithms. Furthermore, detailed experiences and recommendations are presented. By providing clear definitions, thorough explanations, effective and innovative algorithms with trustworthy implementation, this thesis opens new avenues for the practical implementation of RL in diverse domains where all source codes and clear instructions on their usage are provided
Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase urzymes optimized by deep learning behave as a quasispecies
No full textProtein design plays a key role in our efforts to work out how genetic coding began. That effort entails urzymes. Urzymes are small, conserved excerpts from full-length aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases that remain active. Urzymes require design to connect disjoint pieces and repair naked nonpolar patches created by removing large domains. Rosetta allowed us to create the first urzymes, but those urzymes were only sparingly soluble. We could measure activity, but it was hard to concentrate those samples to levels required for structural biology. Here, we used the deep learning algorithms ProteinMPNN and AlphaFold2 to redesign a set of optimized LeuAC urzymes derived from leucyl-tRNA synthetase. We select a balanced, representative subset of eight variants for testing using principal component analysis. Most tested variants are much more soluble than the original LeuAC. They also span a range of catalytic proficiency and amino acid specificity. The data enable detailed statistical analyses of the sources of both solubility and specificity. In that way, we show how to begin to unwrap the elements of protein chemistry that were hidden within the neural networks. Deep learning networks have thus helped us surmount several vexing obstacles to further investigations into the nature of ancestral proteins. Finally, we discuss how the eight variants might resemble a sample drawn from a population similar to one subject to natural selection