11237 research outputs found
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A dynamic configurable model for addressing trust and privacy in IoT networks
No full textThe proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) heralds a transformative era where collaborative technologies seamlessly capture, analyse, and interpret environmental data in our daily lives. Positioned as one of the most influential technologies of the 21st century, IoT presents vast possibilities for enhanced services in healthcare, smart homes, and industries. However, this rapid integration of IoT technologies in personal devices and service infrastructures exposes users to escalating threats and digital attacks.This thesis investigates the limitations inherent in existing IoT models, notably the reliance on outdated centralised architectures built upon implicit trust paradigms, which hinders the widespread adoption of IoT technologies. The research introduces a novel and dynamic configurable model, the Distributed Trust Enhancing Framework for IoT (DTEFI), tailored to mitigate security, privacy, and trust concerns in IoT. Departing from the conventional centralised model, DTEFI leverages Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Ethereum Smart Contracts, MQTT, IPFS, and a novel trust model to address the identified issues in IoT. This innovative approach is thoroughly tested in a simulated community of decentralised nodes typifying an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) use case, providing users with secure, private, and trustless interactions and transactions within the simulated AAL community.DTEFI represents a paradigm shift in the design and development of IoT systems by eliminating the reliance on implicit trust mechanisms used in centralised models. Test results validate the design's feasibility while illuminating areas requiring optimisation to mitigate delays. Rigorous testing identifies optimal configurations for DTEFI, showcasing its adaptability in scenarios characterised by limited or absent trust among system actors.The successful implementation of the proposed architecture and model serves as a testament to its feasibility, particularly in environments where trust is scarce. By amalgamating tools and technologies initially designed for diverse systems, DTEFI establishes a Proof-of-Concept solution, empowering users to retain control over their data, manage privacy effectively, and enhance data security without recourse to the traditional brokered model.</p
Co-creating a community visioning methodology for energy transitions: Principles, practices, and reflections
No full textVisions of energy futures produced via co-created methodologies can provide robust alternatives to the prevailing imaginaries held by international and state actors – crucial for sustaining progress towards energy transitions that meet community needs and realities. This paper explores the co-creative design of a methodology for community visions for energy transitions. Insights are drawn from the development and outputs of a collaborative workshop aimed at adapting community visioning to different local contexts with four partners from across Europe. We analyse empirical evidence, including transcripts of conversations with participating local authorities and NGO representatives and resources prepared for the workshop, to detail how collaboration proceeded. The results highlight that practices fostering inclusion, mutual learning, and relationship building can give partners ownership over visioning to better ensure that its design reflects local, situated knowledges and is well suited to communities. However, the messy, human nature of co-creation requires commitment to flexibility and ongoing dialogue. Overall, the experiences highlighted in this paper serve as a valuable resource for future researchers and practitioners interested in exploring how to further energy system transformation and support community-driven local energy transitions.</p
Exploring drought‐to‐flood interactions and dynamics: a global case review
No full textThis study synthesizes the current understanding of the hydrological, impact, and adaptation processes underlying drought‐to‐flood events (i.e., consecutive drought and flood events), and how they interact. Based on an analysis of literature and a global assessment of historic cases, we show how drought can affect flood risk and assess under which circumstances drought‐to‐flood interactions can lead to increased or decreased risk. We make a distinction between hydrological, socio‐economic and adaptation processes. Hydrological processes include storage and runoff processes, which both seem to mostly play a role when the drought is a multiyear event and when the flood occurs during the drought. However, which process is dominant when and where, and how this is influenced by human intervention needs further research. Processes related to socio‐economic impacts have been studied less than hydrological processes, but in general, changes in vulnerability seem to play an important role in increasing or decreasing drought‐to‐flood impacts. Additionally, there is evidence of increased water quality problems due to drought‐to‐flood events, when compared to drought or flood events by themselves. Adaptation affects both hydrological (e.g., through groundwater extraction) or socio‐economic (e.g., influencing vulnerability) processes. There are many examples of adaptation, but there is limited evidence of when and where certain processes occur and why. Overall, research on drought‐to‐flood events is scarce. To increase our understanding of drought‐to‐flood events we need more comprehensive studies on the underlying hydrological, socio‐economic, and adaptation processes and their interactions, as well as the circumstances that lead to the dominance of certain processes.This article is categorized under: Science of Water > Hydrological Processes Science of Water > Water Extremes</p
Scoping Review of Pressure Ulcer Prevalence and Prevention in Elderly Inpatient Care in England
No full textBackground: Treatment of pressure ulcer brings significant financial burden to NHS Commissioners in UK. Currently the prevalence of the issue shows a consistent yearly increase based on the research data. Purpose: To evaluate the Pressure Ulcer Prevalence and Prevention on Care of the Elderly Inpatient Wards in England. Methods: A scoping review was conducted to explore the available sources of information on the pressure ulcer prevalence and prevention specific to care of elderly wards in UK. This review is focussed on patients above the age of 65 and involves desk research. Results: Inappropriate use and over-prescription of manual handling equipment, lack of timely risk assessment completion, education and training discrepancies, ineffective use of technology and specialist bedding were found to be the key reasons for increased prevalence of pressure ulcer cases in England. Conclusions: The preliminary results conclude that, for the pressure ulcer prevention strategies to be effective, appropriate use of pressure relieving equipment and staff trainings on its use is imperative. Timely risk assessments are of utmost importance to reduce the cases of pressure ulcer in the care of elderly patients</p
Technologies to enhance patient discharge from hospital: A scoping review
No full textBackground: Patients are discharged from hospital every day. To inform the development of a new technology to enhance patient discharge from two wards in the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust we conducted a scoping review of the literature. Aim: To identify technologies used to enhance patient discharge from hospital. Methods: Keywords from an initial search of CINAHL were used to build our search strategy for Embase, CINAHL+ Medline, and Cochrane library. We included qualitative and quantitative studies that examined the effectiveness and experience of using technologies to enhance patient discharge from hospital. Studies published in English between 2014-2024 were included. Two authors discussed potentially eligible studies. Data on author, publication year, database, country, study aim, clinical area, patient group, sample size, research method, technology type, and key findings were entered into Excel for each eligible study. For quantitative studies, data on comparator/s, outcomes measured, and outcome measurement tools were recorded (Peters 2015). For qualitative studies, themes, method/s of data collection and analyses were recorded. Counts and descriptions of technologies, patient groups, number of participants, clinical area, outcomes measured and tools were complied. Results From 2023 abstracts, 64 eligible studies were identified from: Embase=4, CINAHL+Medline=9, Cochrane=51. Most studies were randomised controlled trial feasibility studies. Technologies identified were: mobile applications, telephone calls, websites, videos, tablets, wearable technologies, and phones. Technologies are used in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, UK, Africa and USA, in orthopaedics, cardiology, respiratory disease, cancer, eating disorders, and stroke. Outcomes measured included: quality of life, user experience and satisfaction, emergency department visits within 30 days after discharge, unplanned 30 day readmission, major adverse event/s, medication adherence, and cost effectiveness. Discussion and conclusion Technologies to enhance patient discharge from hospital have been developed and evaluated in some clinical areas during the past ten years. More research on patient and staff experiences of using these technologies is needed. References Peters, M; Marnie, C; Tricco, A; Pollock, D; Munn, Z; Alexander, L, McInerney, P; Godfrey, C; Khalil, H. Updated methodological guidance for the conduct of scoping reviews. JBI Evidence Implementation 19(1):p 3-10, March 2021.</p
Telling tales in sport, exercise, and performance psychology - The how, what, and why of creative analytical practices
No full textThere has been a significant increase in interest in qualitative methodologies since the turn of the century. One reason for this increased interest is a desire to understand the different ways which can inform how we understand social reality and, as researchers, describe and represent the social reality of those we work with. Creative analytical practices (CAPs) are one novel way in which researchers have worked to analyze and (re-)present knowledge developed through stories shared by those they have engaged in the research process. This scoping review provides a descriptive overview of the extent, range, and nature of the use of CAPs in sport, exercise, and performance psychology by reviewing research using a form of CAP to represent research findings published over the past 20 years in six high-profile sport, exercise, and performance psychology journals. Based on the analysis of 43 published articles, four descriptive themes are presented: “the ascent of creative nonfiction and composite stories,”“centralizing marginalized voices,” “researchers as storytellers,” and “judging the quality of CAPs.” Critical thoughts, developed from a connoisseurship position, are then shared in the form of three questions posed to current and potential authors of CAPs: “Is there a hesitancy to push the boundaries?”“Why choose to engage with CAPs as a form of representation?” and “Who are we writing our stories with?” The review ends with the authors’ thoughts on how sport, exercise, and performance psychology researchers can begin to use CAPs to move from describing “what is” to imagining “what could be.”</p
Low physical activity level in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors with obesity, mobility problems and cognitive impairment: results from the TTM2 trial
No full textAims: To describe the level of physical activity 6 months after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and to explore potential risk factors of a low level of physical activity. Methods: Post-hoc analyses of the international multicentre Targeted Hypothermia versus Targeted Normothermia after Out-of-Hospital Cardiac arrest (TTM2) trial. At 6 months, survivors at 61 sites in Europe, Australia and New Zeeland were invited to a follow-up. The participants answered two questions on self-reported physical activity. Answers were categorized as a low, moderate, or high level of physical activity and further dichotomized into a low versus moderate/high level of physical activity. Potential risk factors for a low level of physical activity were collected and investigated by univariable and multivariable logistic regression. Results: At 6 months, 807 of 939 (86%) OHCA survivors answered the two questions of physical activity; 34% reported a low, 44% moderate and 22% high level of physical activity. Obesity (OR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.10–2.77, p = 0.018), mobility problems by EuroQol 5 dimensions 5 levels (OR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.06–2.84, p = 0.029), and cognitive impairment by Symbol Digit Modalities Test (OR = 1.78, 95% CI 1.13–2.82, p = 0.013) were significantly associated with a low level of physical activity in the multivariable analysis. Conclusion: One third of the OHCA survivors reported a low level of physical activity. Obesity, mobility problems, and cognitive impairment were associated with a low level of physical activity. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02908308
The Connection Between Anemia and Limitations in Daily Activities Among Older Males: The Critical Role of Dynapenia
No full textAim:
The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between anemia and basic and instrumental activities of daily living in older male patients.
Methods:
A total of 223 older males attending one geriatric outpatient clinic were included in this cross-sectional study. Anemia was defined as a hemoglobin level below 13 g/dL. Patients’ demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and comprehensive geriatric assessment parameters were also recorded. Handgrip strength of
Results:
The mean age (standard deviation) of the participants was 80.17 (7.69) years. The prevalence of patients with anemia was 43.9%. There was differences between anemic and non-anemic groups in terms of presence of diabetes mellitus (DM), congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic kidney disease (CKD), malnutrition, dynapenia, geriatric depression, BADL and IADL scores (all p 0.05).
Conclusion:
Close to one in two older outpatient men had anemia. Anemic men had a higher incidence of DM, CHF, CKD, malnutrition, geriatric depression and dynapenia. Anemia was associated with dependence in both BADL and IADL in older men. However, comorbidities, nutritional status, depressive mood and, specifically muscle strength, were important contributors to this association.</p
Digitalisation and Economic Regulation in the Energy Sector
No full textThe green energy transition relies on electricity generation from intermittent renewable energy sources and the electrification of end-consumption
such as heating or mobility. At the same time, an increasing number of previously passive consumers are becoming active actors in the energy system, while the quantity of electric devices connected to the grid increases. These trends pose new operational, economic, and regulatory questions
as the traditional roles of certain agents are mutating and multiplying. Digitalisation offers the possibility of implementing innovative solutions
to the new challenges faced by grid operators, especially at the distribution grid level. We present some potential digital solutions to overcome the
operational challenges imposed by the ‘future-proof’ energy systems currently being devised and we address their economic implications. We also
tackle some aspects related to the digitalisation of the energy sector (efficiency and innovation, interoperability and standardisation, centralised
vs decentralised solutions) from an economic perspective. Finally, a successful digitalisation of the sector requires adjustments in the regulatory
frameworks. In conclusion, we detail some regulatory improvements that are needed
A Comparison of maximal acceleration between the “tic-tac” parkour action, drop jump and lay-up shot in youth basketball players
No full textThe aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare acceleration outputs of the parkour-style “tic tac” action with those of the drop jump and the lay-up shot in youth basketball players. A total of 25 participants (17 males, 13.80 ± 1.30 years of age; and 8 females, 15.00 ± 0.80 years of age) completed three trials of each action while wearing a single inertial motion capture unit with a sampling frequency of 200 Hz, positioned at the lumbar spine. All data was captured in a single session, using the same test order for all participants. Maximum resultant acceleration was calculated from the raw data for each action. Using sex and maturation status as covariates, data were analysed using a Bayesian one-way repeated measures ANCOVA. Results revealed the jump + sex model to be the best fitting (BF10 = 9.22 x 105). Post hoc comparisons revealed that the tic tac produced greater maximal acceleration than the drop jump and the lay-up. These findings provide a biomechanical basis for the potential use of the parkour tic tac as an activity that could be used within the athletic development of youth basketball players
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