11237 research outputs found
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<b>Deliverable 1.1 </b>“State of the art in political, economic and social decarbonising actions for the EU27 Member States”.
No full textThe purpose of deliverable 1.1 is to provide an open access Review article that highlights the state of the art in decarbonization policy and incentives strategy for EU27 as a whole and each Member State.</p
Rehabilitation of writing for older adults with acquired vision loss: a scoping review protocol.
No full textA scoping review will be conducted to investigate what is known about the rehabilitation of writing, focussing on older adults with acquired vision loss. The review will specifically explore what is known about the tasks that people with sight loss need and want to write, the aspects of writing that are most and least problematic, and interventions or adaptations for writing that have been evaluated. The following protocol was developed to ensure that the scoping review followed guidance from the Joanna Briggs Institute and the PRISMA ScR flow chart.</p
Implementing regulatory policy: a study of frontline inspectors and SMEs
No full textResearch on the impact of regulation on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) has centred on SMEs' perceptions, engagement with, and adaptations to regulation. Yet, the perspective of regulators, particularly within the UK's regulatory system, has often been overlooked. These actors—regulatory organisations and inspectors—are pivotal in enacting policies that shape regulatory experience. In the UK, the regulatory system is significantly influenced by the 'better regulation' agenda, a policy initiative aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on businesses to foster economic growth. This initiative also seeks to transform regulators' interactions with businesses into a more collaborative and supportive engagement. This thesis aims to bridge the identified research gap by examining regulation from the regulators' viewpoint. Through a qualitative exploration involving in-field observations and interviews with those directly involved in implementing this agenda, the study seeks to understand how the institutional environment influences TS organisations and inspectors' approaches to SMEs within the context of the 'better regulation' agenda.Findings reveal a transformation in the roles of TS organisations and inspectors towards being advocates and facilitators for SMEs. However, the findings also suggest a complex form of resistance to these mandates. Inspectors integrate the promoted supportive stance with traditional enforcement activities, aiming to protect consumers and advocate for SMEs against larger businesses better equipped to meet compliance standards. This integration highlights a critical observation: the shift to supportive roles is neither as straightforward nor as complete as policymakers might anticipate. Moreover, the study underscores the influence of local authorities in directing TS organisations towards supporting SMEs and fostering local economic development. This dynamic illustrates the symbiotic relationship between local governance structures and the effectiveness of regulatory practices targeting SMEs.The study concludes that marketisation efforts within regulatory services, such as those implemented by TS organisations, offer mixed outcomes. While these strategies can enhance operational efficiency and generate essential incomes, they simultaneously pose dilemmas for inspectors. Notably, there is a perceived risk amongst inspectors that these efforts could shift the focus away from traditional regulatory public service mandates in favour of income-generation-oriented activities, which could potentially exacerbate disparities between big businesses and SMEs.</p
Recognising clinical signs and symptoms on black, asian and minority ethnic (BAME) skin types
No full textThere is a growing body of literature emphasising the importance of medical schools addressing issues related to equality and diversity. This is crucial to ensure that future healthcare professionals are well-equipped to effectively care for the diverse population in the UK and overseas. The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the fact that marginalised and specifically BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) communities often experience poorer health outcomes.
If we fail to integrate diversity into medical education, which involves decolonising the curriculum and helping students identify signs and symptoms in individuals with darker skin tones, it could lead to delayed diagnoses or misdiagnoses.0
At the time of writing (April 2024), the NHS e-learning for health (e-LFH) still predominantly presents light-skinned models exclusively. For simplicity, light-skinned in this context refers to less than or equal to Fitzpatrick III.
This article aims to show common signs and symptoms for a variety of general medical conditions on a diverse range skin types in an effort to achieve equality in disease and disorder recognition. </p
Navigating Political Minefields: Applying Frames of Reference of the Employment Relation to Access Negotiations to Workplace Ethnographies
No full textPurpose: This paper aims to help workplace ethnographers navigate and reflect on primary access negotiations by scrutinising two of the concepts mentioned in the call for papers on this special issue: workplace relations and tensions. We introduce the frames of reference (FoRs) concept as used in the field of employment relations to the ethnographic community. We propose that the implicit frames of gatekeeper and researcher influence what they deem interesting for research, thus influencing the content of access negotiations. Moreover, we propose that tensions typically emerge when gatekeepers and ethnographers do not share the same frame of the employment relationship (ER).
Design/methodology/approach: We explore the ER through Fox’s (1966, 1974) framework, taking inspiration from Budd et al. (2022), who applied FoRs to employer–employee relations. We adapt the framework to the relationships between workplace ethnographers and gatekeepers by theorising the characteristics of ideal types of gatekeepers and workplace ethnographers and exploring possible implications for when they meet in access negotiations. We distil lessons learnt from previous research by drawing on illustrative examples from the literature to suggest strategies for interacting with gatekeepers when tensions emerge, providing a pragmatic application of our contribution.
Findings: Assuming that their FoR of the ER contributes to what they find to be of practical relevance/academic interest, we suggest that a (mis)match of gatekeepers’ and workplace ethnographers’ FoRs can lead to tensions between workplace ethnographers and gatekeepers, either remaining latent or becoming salient. We propose three possible strategies as to how to navigate these tensions during primary access negotiations.
Originality/value: Whilst previous research has mainly focused on the ethnographer as an individual who needs to give gatekeepers a reassuring and enticing impression, we discuss how an important structural factor, an organisation’s ER setup, may influence access. We thus bring an important yet hitherto neglected aspect of organisational life into the debate on the pragmatic realities of ethnography, contributing to the discussion of how to navigate the tension between the “practical” need to convince gatekeepers and the need to fulfil one’s own standards of rigorous research and ethics.
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Landscape Narratives: The Sacro Monte d’Orta (Italy)
No full textThe Holy Mountains, or Sacri Monti, in Northern Italy are devotional places created for pilgrims during the Counter-Reformation. Their design is based on the sequence of a series of chapels arranged in the landscape, which narrate the life of Jesus or a Saint. Recently, scholars analysing the artistic features of the Holy Mountains focused on their paintings and sculptures, while the landscape design methods on which the pathways are based have been little studied. This paper addresses this lacuna by focusing on, one of the earliest examples, the Sacro Monte of Orta, and investigating its strong relationship with the landscape and the innovative design method behind the project. The analysis is based on the collection of historical documents and the physical exploration and related visual and photographic interpretation of the still well-maintained place. The research revealed a series of strong similarities between the design principles of the Sacro Monte of Orta and the picturesque gardens realised in England and France some decades after. The article aims to provide more insights regarding the Sacri Monti, interpreting them as cinematic sequences into the landscape and suggesting them as early picturesque devices.</p
Research letter: Chemical profiling of the street drug Nyaope in South Africa using GC–MS
No full textNyaope, a Tswana word for a mixture or ‘mish-mash’, describes a drug cocktail consisting of heroin, cannabis, and on occasion other controlled substances and warfarin. It is highly addictive with extremely unpleasant side effects caused by withdrawal from the drug. It is a problem drug especially in townships in South Africa. However, its prevalence in neighbouring southern African states and further afield is not yet known. There is currently no validated method for the analysis and comparison of nyaope. We describe a validated method for the gas chromatography – mass spectrometry analysis of nyaope so that within-batch and between-batch comparisons of nyaope can successfully be made for the first time. The validated method managed an accuracy within the range 80–120%, the precision was less than 20% for all analytes and managed linearity with R2≥0.99. The detection limits for diamorphine, efavirenz, nevirapine and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol were 14.2, 18.6, 18.7 and 9.94 pg on column, respectively, and the limits of quantitation were 43.1, 56.3, 56.6 and 30.1 pg on column, respectively. The simulated and casework samples were successfully discriminated into original batches using the identified nyaope components, the unsupervised chemometric methods principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering, as well as chromatographic profiles.</p
Experiences of participant and public involvement in an international randomized controlled trial for people living with dementia and their informal caregivers
No full textBackgroundThis study was initiated and co-designed by a Participant and Public Involvement (PPI) group attached to HOMESIDE, a randomized controlled trial that investigated music and reading interventions for people living with dementia and their family caregivers across five countries: Australia, Germany, Norway, Poland, and the UK. The aim was to capture experiences of PPI across the five countries, explore the benefits and challenges of PPI in dementia research, and identify contributions made to the study.MethodsWe surveyed PPI members and academic researchers who collaborated on the HOMESIDE study. The survey was co-designed through consultation with PPI members and academics, alongside a small scoping literature review. Survey questions covered four topics: (1) expectations for PPI, (2) perceived contributions of PPI to the research study, (3) benefits and challenges of PPI, and (4) recommendations for future PPI in dementia research.ResultsThere were 23 responses, representing 50% of the PPI members (n = 16) and 29% of academics (n = 7). PPI was found to be beneficial to the research and individuals involved. Contributions to the research included supporting recruitment and publicity, advising on the design of participant-facing materials, guiding the design and delivery of the interventions, and identifying cultural differences affecting research delivery. PPI members benefited from building connections, sharing experiences and receiving support, learning about dementia and research, and gaining new unexpected experiences. Academics learned about the realities of living with dementia, which they felt informed and grounded their work. Several challenges were identified, including the need for clear expectations and objectives, inconsistency of PPI members across research stages, limitations of meeting online versus in-person, scheduling difficulties, and language barriers.ConclusionsThis study identifies important considerations for implementing PPI within dementia studies and international healthcare research more broadly. Our findings guided the development of five recommendations: (1) involve PPI members as early as possible and throughout the research process; (2) create a space for constructive criticism and feedback; (3) have clear tasks, roles, and expectations for PPI members; (4) involve PPI members with a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds; and (5) embed infrastructure and planning to support PPI.</p
Hybrid external fixator for treatment of a tibial proximal comminuted diaphyseal fracture in a foal
No full textA 15‐day‐old colt was presented with grade 5 lameness (American Association of Equine Practitioners ‐ lameness scale), oedema of the right pelvic limb and stifle joint instability. A radiographic examination revealed a complete comminuted fracture of the proximal right tibia. To treat this, a surgical reduction was performed using a hybrid external fixator. The hybrid external fixator consisted of two rings placed above the proximal and distal epiphyseal plates, respectively, which were then linked with threaded rods. Within 24 hours of the surgery, the foal started weight‐bearing again. After 6 days, the hybrid external fixator rings were distracted by 1 mm per day for 17 days, which helped to increase the bone length. Once the hybrid external fixator was removed, a small shortening of the tibia (1 cm) was observed compared to the contralateral limb, but the epiphyseal cartilage was maintained.</p
A deep learning-based compression and classification technique for whole slide histopathology images
No full textThis paper presents an autoencoder-based neural network architecture to compress histopathological images while retaining the denser and more meaningful representation of the original images. Current research into improving compression algorithms is focused on methods allowing lower compression rates for Regions of Interest (ROI-based approaches). Neural networks are great at extracting meaningful semantic representations from images and, therefore can select the regions to be considered of interest for the compression process. In this work, we focus on the compression of whole slide histopathology images. The objective is to build an ensemble of neural networks that enables a compressive autoencoder in a supervised fashion to retain a denser and more meaningful representation of the input histology images. Our proposed system is a simple and novel method to supervise compressive neural networks. We test the compressed images using transfer learning-based classifiers and show that they provide promising accuracy and classification performance.</p
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