11237 research outputs found
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Innovation communities as catalysts for BIM adoption: a cross-case analysis of BIM communities in Norway and Vietnam
No full textPurpose: This paper aims to explore how open innovation communities contribute to the adoption of building information modelling (BIM) in the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a cross-case analysis of two construction communities, buildingSMART Norway and the BIM Vietnam Community. Data were collected based on 21 semi-structured interviews conducted with industry experts actively engaged in these two communities. The theoretical basis for the study was open innovation and the institutional intervention model, which delineates institutional actions related to the adoption of new information technology. Findings The findings show both similarities and differences in the way in which the communities contribute to industrial practice. Both communities use similar knowledge channels and repositories but apply different approaches to innovation creation and diffusion. In addition, trust can support BIM innovation in the community context. Originality/value The comparison of buildingSMART Norway and the BIM Vietnam Community in accelerating BIM innovation allows for exploring how open innovation communities support BIM adoption in the construction industry. The findings provide insights for construction communities into creating and diffusing BIM innovation. In addition, the examples of gaining benefits from community innovation activities are useful for construction firms and practitioners.</p
Observation of female-male mounting in the carrion crow
No full textIn the biological sciences, sexual behaviours in non-human animals are traditionally investigated in the context of reproduction and direct fitness benefits. While the evolutionary functions of non-conceptive sexual behaviours (‘socio-sexual behaviours’) remain less well explored, these interactions and displays have been suggested to be important for shaping and maintaining social relationships. Here, we report an observation of a captive female carrion crow, Corvus corone corone, mounting her co-housed male partner. We highlight the importance of more systematic research, reporting, and discussions of rarely observed behaviours in social evolution research, including considerations for behaviours that transcend binary or heteronormative frameworks, for a more comprehensive understanding of non-conceptive socio-sexual behaviours. </p
Clothes shopping is a chore: Plus-size men’s experiences of clothes shopping in the United Kingdom
No full textThe body positivity movement has called for greater inclusion of diverse body types within the fashion industry. Although a growing number of high street womenswear brands now include plus-size ranges and employ curvier models to represent them, UK menswear is still trailing far behind. Fashionable clothing for larger men is scarce, and the lack of research literature on the clothes shopping experiences of UK plus-size male consumers reflects this gap. The current research is the first study to explore male plus-size consumers’ experiences of clothes shopping in the United Kingdom. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online with ten plus-size men, and reflexive thematic analysis was used to generate two key themes. First, the ‘we struggle to fit in’ theme explores plus-size men’s problematic experiences of fitting into shopping environments, fitting in with their peers’ shopping experiences and fitting into clothes. The second theme, ‘we little care about what we wear’, identifies how the men dismissed clothes shopping, fashion and appearance concerns and identified gender differences as a means to justify these actions. Together, these themes demonstrate that plus-size men experience clothes shopping as a chore. Ultimately, we advise menswear brands to use these findings to facilitate a more welcoming, supportive and enjoyable shopping experience for plus-size men.</p
Meaningful life changes following hearing aid use: A qualitative user perspective
No full textObjective: This study aimed to explore meaningful life changes due to hearing aid use in adult users.
Design: A cross-sectional survey design was used with open-ended questions analyzed using inductive qualitative content analysis.
Study Sample: US-based adult hearing aid users (n=653) from the Hearing Tracker website community and Lexie Hearing database.
Results: Participants had a mean age of 65.4 years (13.6 SD), including 61.2% males, 38.3% females (0.5% other). Analysis of 2122 meaning units from responses identified two broad domains: 'meaningful benefits' (n=1709; 80.5%) and 'remaining difficulties' (n=413; 19.5%). The meaningful benefits domain included five categories (27 sub-categories): (a) psychosocial benefits, (b) improvements in hearing, (c) personal benefits, (d) hearing aid features and connectivity, and (e) situational benefits. Participants reported enhanced relationships and improved occupational functioning as key benefits. The remaining difficulties domain contained four categories (25 sub-categories): (a) hearing aid limitations, (b) hearing and communication issues, (c) situational difficulties, and (d) personal issues. Notable difficulties included hearing aid design issues and challenges in noisy environments.
Conclusion: Hearing aid users reported diverse benefits and persistent challenges related to device use, illustrating the complexity of their lived experiences. These findings can inform empathetic, effective rehabilitation strategies and user-centric hearing aid technologies.</p
What choices of visual correction do people make for recreational running?
No full textPurpose: Recreational runners who need refractive visual correction will need to choose the type of visual correction (spectacles, contact lenses, or no correction) to wear when running. The prevalence of correction choices and distinguishing demographic features associated with these choices of correction were investigated. Methods: A 26-item online questionnaire covering demographics, running habits, and visual corrections used was answered by 941 people. Participants were aged 18 years or older, considered themselves a recreational runner and reported needing refractive correction for everyday life. Bivariate analyses and binary logistic regression were used to determine the variables independently associated with including or avoiding types of correction for running. Results & Conclusions Participants ran an average of 3.8times, 3.6hours, and 33.4km per week. Running habits were not associated with type of visual correction, suggesting that visual correction does not present a barrier to participating in recreational running. Solely using spectacles for running was the most common choice (38.8%) and they were worn for running at least sometimes by 65.8%. Fewer people wore spectacles for running than for general purposes (98.9%), suggesting spectacles have limitations for running. Spectacle wear for running was significantly associated with not having contact lenses available and longer duration of wearing visual correction. Running without correction was a common choice, with 15.5% of the sample only running without correction, and 26.2% running at least sometimes without their visual correction. Not wearing correction was significantly associated with not having contact lenses, a shorter duration of wearing visual correction, and a lower myopic refractive error. Contact lenses were the sole correction for running for 15.6% and were worn for running at least sometimes by 40.5%. Contact lenses were significantly more likely to be used by women and younger runners. Signposting runners to contact lenses if this has not previously been considered is recommended.</p
Healthcare and research priorities for women with polycystic ovary syndrome in the UK National Health Service: A modified Delphi method
No full textObjective: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a chronic lifelong condition affecting up to 20% of women worldwide. There is limited input from affected women to guide the provision of healthcare services and future research needs. Our objective was to scope the healthcare and research priorities of women with PCOS in the United Kingdom.Design: A three‐staged modified Delphi method, consisting of two questionnaires and a consensus meeting involving lay representatives and healthcare professionals.Patients and Measurements: Lay patient representatives of women with PCOS. Participants were asked to identify and rank healthcare and research priorities for their importance.ResultsSix hundred and twenty‐four lay participants took part in our Delphi method. Over 98% were diagnosed with PCOS (614/624, 98.4%). More than half experienced difficulties to receive a PCOS diagnosis (375/624, 60%), and the majority found it difficult to access specialised PCOS health services in the NHS (594/624, 95%). The top two healthcare priorities included better education for health professionals on the diagnosis and management of PCOS (238/273, 87.1%) and the need to set up specialist PCOS services (234/273, 85.7%). The top two research priorities focused on identifying better treatments for irregular periods (233/273, 85.3%) followed by better tests for early PCOS diagnosis (230/273, 84.2%).Conclusions: We identified 13 healthcare and 14 research priorities that reflect the current health needs of women with PCOS in the United Kingdom. Adopting these priorities in future healthcare and research planning will help to optimise the health of women with PCOS and increase patient satisfaction.</p
The Round Letters of Percy Grainger
No full textThis thesis comprises the transcription, editing and critical commentary of thirty-nine selected letters—known as the Round Letters—of the Australian-born composer Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882–1961). The edited collection is intended to form a valuable contribution to the growing body of Grainger’s letters brought into the public domain, but otherwise not readily accessible.Drawing on a range of archival resources, this edition of the Round Letters includes an extended essay, detailed footnotes, a chronology of events, biographical sketches of principal characters, a glossary of Blue-eyed English, and a number of appendices of previously unpublished writings by Grainger intended to provide a framework for a critical reading of the letters.A key feature of the letters is Grainger’s use of ‘Blue-eyed English’, a sustained attempt at English language reform that sought to replace words of Latin or Greek origin with Anglo-Saxon equivalents. A critical consideration of Grainger’s word usage sheds light on his conceptions of race, nature, individual and societal behaviours, and notions of democracy that were integral to his identity as a musician. Grainger’s life-long progress towards the realisation of ‘Free Music’, music that is reflective of the natural world, and which is unrestricted by adherence to metrical rhythms or fixed pitches, also features prominently in the Round Letters and provides the second focus for investigation.I argue that Grainger’s use of language, and specifically ‘Blue-eyed English’, far from being an expression of eccentricity as many commentators have claimed, was both central to the articulation of his world-view and informed his approach to composition. ‘Blue-eyed English’, as an expression of Grainger’s ideas of democracy, is further found to lead to ‘Free Music’, a concept that is offered as a lens through which to read his compositional output as a whole.</p
A Review of the Current Landscape of Anti-Fibrotic Medicines
No full textFibrosis is defined as the excessive accumulation and disorganized deposition of extracellular matrix components, affecting any organ in the human body. Fibrotic diseases of the vital organs such as lung, heart, kidney and liver can be chronic, progressive, irreversible and fatal. Although fibrotic diseases account for 45% of the mortality in the Western world, the available treatment options are limited in numbers, efficacy and safety. There is certainly a lack of progress in developing novel anti-fibrotics even though the market size for fibrotic diseases is estimated to be ~$30B and several pharmaceutical companies have active R&D programmes in this field. We reviewed the current efforts in developing novel anti-fibrotic medicines focusing on lung, heart, kidney, liver and skin fibrosis. Our analysis revealed an estimated 83% attrition rate from Phase 2 to Phase 3 trials across the five fibrotic diseases. The possible reasons for the slow pace and high attrition rates in developing new anti-fibrotics are discussed and potential solutions are proposed. </p
Optimizing metadata enhancement workflow of current research information system via CrossRef – pilot study for a real-life project
No full textThis pilot study aims to explore the possibility of reducing human intervention in assuring metadata quality of a current research information system via CrossRef metadata ingestion. 5 key Dublin Core elements have been selected for review and a significant discrepancy in metadata accuracy between fields is observed. Further study is needed to confirm possibility of automation.</p
The impact of school exclusion on mental health and behavioural outcomes: A counterfactual analysis using a large UK-representative study
No full textResearch suggests that experiencing school exclusion is associated with poorer psychosocial outcomes for children; however, this association is vulnerable to confounding. Using a large UK-based longitudinal study, the Millennium Cohort Study (n=9551; 129 treated and 129 matched controls), and leveraging a wide range of matching variables we used counterfactual analyses to examine the effects of school exclusion at age 11 on emotional problems, conduct problems, ADHD symptoms, peer problems and prosociality at age 14, accounting for confounding. We found that young people who experienced school exclusion had significantly worse scores at age 14 on all of these outcomes. The use of propensity score matching (including matching on prior behavioural problems) strengthens confidence in the idea that the effects are causal. Results point to the need for policies oriented towards reducing school exclusions and ensuring mitigating measures are in place to minimise its impact on those who experience it.</p
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