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Unifying and Analysing Activities of Daily Living in Extra Care Homes
Get PDFThis work presents the unification and formal analysis of occurring Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) identified by an intelligent well-being monitoring system used for elderly residents in extra care homes. The ADLs considered in this paper are: i) personal grooming and toilet, ii) preparation of breakfast, iii) preparation of lunch, iv) preparation of evening meal and v) sleep. These ADLs are examined as they exhibit multiple or similar occurrences during a typical day. The novelty of this work lies in the introduction of a unification approach that could help for the detection of normal and abnormal behaviour based on the execution of the ADLs from elders in extra care homes equipped with different types of sensors. To unify and detect these types of behaviour, temporal aspects of the ADLs' execution like their duration and time of day are scrutinised. Moreover, the formal analysis of the identified ADLs is conducted, using Petri Nets for the modelling of these activities and model checking for their verification. Finally, the verification results are used to indicate whether an abnormal behaviour takes places during an activity, which could be used as a measure for spotting potential health issues regarding the elders that reside in the monitored homes
Text Mining Approach to Analyse Stock Market Movement.
No full textStock Market (SM) is a significant sector of countries’ economy and represents a crucial role in the growth of their commerce and industry. Hence, discovering efficient ways to analyse and visualise stock market data is considered a significant issue in modern finance. The use of Data Mining (DM) techniques to predict stock market has been extensively studied using historical market prices but such approaches are constrained to make assessments within the scope of existing information, and thus they are not able to model any random behaviour of stock market or provide causes behind events. One area of limited success in stock market prediction comes from textual data, which is a rich source of information and analysing it may provide better understanding of random behaviours of the market. Text Mining (TM) combined with Random Forest (RF) algorithm offers a novel approach to study critical indicators, which contribute to the prediction of stock market abnormal movements. A Stock Market Random Forest-Text Mining system (SMRF-TM) is developed to mine the critical indicators related to the 2009 Dubai stock market debt standstill. Random forest is applied to classify the extracted features into a set of semantic classes, thus extending current approaches from three to eight classes: critical down, down, neutral, up, critical up, economic, social and political. The study demonstrates that Random Forest has outperformed the other classifiers and has achieved the best accuracy in classifying the bigram features extracted from the corpus
An analysis of the pedagogical concepts used by anatomy teachers to facilitate the teaching and learning of anatomy to physiotherapy undergraduates in the United Kingdom: A constructivist grounded theory study
Get PDFAnatomy is a challenging subject to learn because it is voluminous, requires three-dimensional cognitive skills and is easily forgotten. Furthermore, anatomy is facing diminishing teaching attention and time. There is a scarcity of literature offering pedagogical guidance for teaching anatomy for physiotherapy in the UK, despite anatomical knowledge underpinning an ever widening scope of physiotherapy. The study provides a pedagogical theory and guidance on how anatomy for physiotherapy undergraduates could be taught more effectively in the UK.
The research design generated data through in-depth semi-structured interviews with eight anatomy teachers for physiotherapy from an identified sample of 50 participants in the UK who taught anatomy modules and were registered physiotherapists. The combined interview transcripts generated 72,292 words of data that were analysed using coding techniques of grounded theory.
Chronologically, the study found that anatomy teachers explicitly taught anatomy during the 1st year, largely through practical anatomy tutorials. During the 2nd and 3rd years, clinical physiotherapy lecturers implicitly revised anatomy during their teaching sessions, while student placement supervisors implicitly reinforced anatomical knowledge and skills during hospital placements. Conceptually, five pedagogical concepts emerged that are supported by literature for medical education and were explained using the Four-Component-Instructional-Design framework derived from the Cognitive-Load theory. The anatomy-teachers-for-physiotherapy used a spirally arranged curriculum, extensive use of visual anatomical imagery, promoted kinaesthetic anatomical skills, applied anatomical knowledge and skills to physiotherapy situations and used anatomical principles for metacognitive strategies. The study deviated from the Cognitive-Load theory in three ways. The long-term memories of physiotherapy students had limited capacities that stored temporary anatomical information, instead of having unlimited capacities for permanent information. The teachers used haptic learning that is ignored by the Cognitive-Load theory. Recommendations were made on how anatomical teaching could be improved and are addressed to Anatomy Theme-Leads, anatomy-teachers-for-physiotherapy and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
Evaluating the impact of individual leaf traits on atmospheric particulate matter accumulation using natural and synthetic leaves
Get PDFThe ability of vegetation to capture and retain atmospheric Particulate Matter (PM) is directly dependent on the interactions between PM and plant surfaces. However, the impact of individual leaf traits in this respect is still under debate due to variations in published findings. This study employed standardised experimental designs with natural and synthetic leaves in three experiments to explore the impact of individual leaf traits on traffic-generated PM accumulation whilst other influential variables were controlled. The impact of leaf size on PM deposition was explored using synthetic leaves of different sizes (small, medium and large) but with the same shape and surface characteristics (n = 20 for each category). The impact of leaf shape was examined using another set of synthetic leaves of different shape (elliptical, palmately-lobed and linear) but with the same surface area and the same surface characteristics (n = 20 for each category). PM accumulation (PM1, PM2.5 and PM10) on these leaves was quantified using an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) and ImageJ software. Any differences in PM capture levels due to leaf size and leaf shape were identified using one-way Anova and Tukey’s pairwise comparison. In a subsequent experiment, equal-sized, square-shaped leaf sections obtained from four plant species (n = 20 for each species) with different micromorphology were exposed to traffic-generated pollution and any PM capture differences due to leaf micromorphology identified employing the same SEM/ImageJ and statistical approach. The results of all three experiments showed significant differences in PM accumulation between different leaf sizes (p < 0.001), between different leaf shapes (p < 0.001) and between different leaf micromorphology (p < 0.001) suggesting that all these characters are influential in the capture and retention of PM on leaves. Smaller leaves and complex leaf shapes (lobed leaves) showed a greater potential to capture and retain PM. Leaf surfaces with hair/trichomes, epicuticular wax, and surface-ridges accumulated more PM compared to smooth surfaces; of these characters, leaf hairiness/presence of trichomes was found to be the most important. Species sharing most of these important leaf traits are recommended as effective PM filters
Embodying regenring: Analysing the Genre Furoshiki using English’s theoretical framework
Get PDFReally my contribution to this issue is an artefact – a regenring of Fiona English’s Orientations of Genres framework as a furoshiki, a Japanese wrapping cloth. But as I cannot share this with all of you beyond a photograph, the best way of describing it within the constraints of a (printed) journal is as this article, part origin story, part analysis… but really this is the story of how by applying the framework, I started to understand it much better (and how I now propose to change it)! The purpose of this article is to use English’s Orientations of Genres framework to compare the Genre Furoshiki (a Japanese wrapping cloth designed to represent said framework and to serve as a delegate pack for a workshop on using genre in higher education) to the two genres it grew out of – a summary of the framework itself, namely English’s 2015 chapter ‘Using genre as a pedagogical resource’ (which we included in the material disseminated to delegates after the workshop), and the traditional conference tote bag so often used as a receptacle for a delegate pack. As the framework was developed with mainly linguistic genres in mind, it will be critiqued as to its suitability in discussing artefactual genres, and I argue that Gestalt Principles and Jacques Bertin’s visual attributes make a useful extension to the framework itself
Regulation of Mitochondrial Dynamics by Proteolytic Processing and Turnover
Get PDFThe mitochondrial network is a dynamic organization within eukaryotic cells that participates in a variety of essential cellular processes, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis, central metabolism, apoptosis and inflammation. The mitochondrial network is balanced between rates of fusion and fission that respond to pathophysiologic signals to coordinate appropriate mitochondrial processes. Mitochondrial fusion and fission are regulated by proteins that either reside in or translocate to the inner or outer mitochondrial membranes or are soluble in the inter-membrane space. Mitochondrial fission and fusion are performed by guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) on the outer and inner mitochondrial membranes with the assistance of other mitochondrial proteins. Due to the essential nature of mitochondrial function for cellular homeostasis, regulation of mitochondrial dynamics is under strict control. Some of the mechanisms used to regulate the function of these proteins are post-translational proteolysis and/or turnover, and this review will discuss these mechanisms required for correct mitochondrial network organization
‘Leaders in the UK Respond to the Shock of Brexit’
No full textAfter the 2019 intake there will be a loss of EU students, currently comprising 25% of the enrolment at some universities as well as the likely loss of top EU research staff at the end of the Horizon 2020 programme
Morphometric Identification, Ecology And Olfactory Mediated Sugar Feeding Behaviour Of Culex Pipiens S.S. And Culex Torrentium Mosquitoes Of The North West Midlands Of England
Get PDFMosquito distribution data in the UK are patchy and much are too old to be useful to describe the current distribution. Compounding this, species that are particularly challenging to identify result in them often being collated as complexes rather than species. Within the Culex pipiens complex, members of which have demonstrated roles as vectors internationally, morphological discrimination between female Culex pipiens L. and Culex torrentium Martini cannot reliably be made without using molecular identification methods. This often results in species discrimination not being made. We also know relatively little about the sugar feeding preferences of these mosquito species, particularly in terms of males. Male mosquitoes are generally not considered as targets for control. However, recent research has demonstrated swarming male targeting strategies that show potential. Therefore, knowledge of these behaviours might lead to novel approaches for control interventions or improve the effectiveness of those in development.
In this thesis, current mosquito distribution data were investigated and fieldwork conducted to add to new species presence data for North Staffordshire and environs. A recently published wing morphometric technique for the discrimination of Culex pipiens s.s. and Culex torrentium was tested for suitability for locally collected specimens, and subsequently optimised and semi‐automated using a new coded workflow. Behavioural assays were conducted to assay behaviour of male Culex pipiens s.s. and Culex torrentium to olfactory cues associated with sugar feeding from flowers of various species of Apiaceae. Subsequently, a synthetic chemical lure, derived from the odours of these flowers, was tested in the laboratory and the field.
Fieldwork surveys collected eleven of the thirty‐four British mosquito species within the survey, adding eight more species to the local record.
The wing morphometric approach for species discrimination, following optimisation, led to the development of a new computerised approach and workflow that demonstrated 84% accurate species identification. This technique represents a viable, cost effective identification method for those without access to molecular methods, subsequently leading to better data relating to their distributions.
In behavioural assays, both Culex pipiens s.s. and Culex torrentium were shown to be attracted to Apiaceae flowers. However, there was no significant difference in preference to different flower species within the Apiaceae, nor between the two mosquito species. Following field and laboratory testing, the synthetic lures were found to have no significant influence on behaviour or detectable catch rate increase in traps in the field
Creative Learners at the end a Golden Era? Exploration of educational gaps in the current UK creative industry strategy.
No full textThe UK creative industries are currently perceived as healthy, resilient and strong. However, with the ongoing policy changes in UK secondary and higher education this golden era of the creative industries in the UK may not last. In this current paper, I explore current critical themes relevant for developing our future talent for the UK Creative Industries. Current national policy expressions often omit to address these themes necessary to safeguard our future creative resilience
Handbook for Moving towards Multiprofessional Work
Get PDFThis handbook was supposed to be a choral artwork and the result is a very choral
and artistic patchwork.
In the process of building up the project ‘MOMU – Moving towards
Multiprofessional Work’, we sewed, we combined patterns to define new ones. We
knew our shapes were different as were our fabrics but we learned to measure and
cut in order to create a larger design. The results of this is what you can see in this
handbook. We hope you’ll agree that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
It has not been easy to piece this together. These types of processes bring with
them discussions, arguments, discoveries, hopes, despair and bureaucratic
requirements; all inevitable parts of such a complex process. However, it is
honest to say that the process has been exciting and paves the way for future and
productive collaborations.
Along the way some of the participants left us: Carola Boehm and Esther Mercado;
some others joined us: Pedro de la Paz. Some changes took place in our universities,
new roles were assumed. This is also part of the richness of the tapestry. We are
very thankful to all of them for their contribution.
We thank the European Union for funding this project. For all of us it was the first
time we had developed an Erasmus+ KA2 project and we had to apply the ‘learning
by doing formula’, but we managed.
We are very thankful to teachers who volunteered to participate in the training
sessions, to practitioners who gave us important input and feedback and showed us
how to improve and make our teaching more practical. Thanks also to our national
steering groups for their clarity and recommendations. Importantly, our gratitude
extends to our students: social work and art students, who were open to new
perspectives and ways of exploring their place in the world and the job market.
Youth unemployment in Europe continues to be an issue, but projects like MOMU
aim to address this challenge in creative ways. However, we are at the very starting
point and further steps are needed to make the new competence framework we
have created a reality.
This handbook intends to suggest and inspire instead of guiding the reader. It
offers training packages to be adapted depending on contexts, whilst highlighting
our successes and failures. We suggest it is read, considered and adapted. In other
words, each person willing to put it into practice will have to assume that they will
have to make their own patchwork
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