6297 research outputs found
Sort by
UNDERSTANDING AND MODELLING OF RESIDENTIAL WATER USE BEHAVIOUR
Get PDFThere is an increasingly water scarcity issue, both for developed and developing countries. Water authorities are facing the challenges to secure the need of consumers and water saving due to the climate change and the population increase. To manage this water scarcity threat, water conservation projects are gaining overall attendances by water utilities and government. From the management perspective, it is desirable to investigate and understand how consumers use water and their water use behaviours. The main objective of this study is to develop a comprehensive understanding of residential household water use behaviour through theoretical and modelling perspectives.
This study is based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and proposed an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) for understanding the behaviour intervention mechanism. A survey of residential water use behaviour in China was designed and conducted in 2014 and the data was used to evaluate the extended theory. The theoretical evaluation has proved that the ETPB could increase the predictive power compared to original version of TPB, and also provide empirical evidence for the correlations among ETPB variables.
Traditionally, static behaviour intervention models are widely utilised to simulate behaviour intervention process. These static methods can predict targeted human behaviour reasonably well, but they lack capabilities on understanding and responding behaviour change process with concerned time changes. Using the proposed ETPB theory, a dynamic behaviour intervention model for household water use behaviour prediction is presented to introduce the dynamic behavioural modelling solution. This model is based on adopted Structure Equation Model approach and Control Engineering Concept. A case study for household water consumption model using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is proposed to explore the link between behaviour value and the water consumption amount, moreover, for evaluation of intervention trend of proposed ETPB dynamic behaviour model with system parameter identification.
This research findings demonstrated that household water consumption could be saved by using proper behaviour change management strategies. The significance of these findings about behaviour intervention modelling in water end use areas is discussed. Also, potential applications of the ETPB-ANN dynamic integrated modelling method for other research purpose are also presented
Universal Credit and Free School Meals
No full textThe Education Act 1996 requires all schools and academies to provide free school meals to disadvantaged children between the ages of five and sixteen. As we witness the continuing rollout of universal credit there have been some important changes to the eligibility criteria for free school meals (FSMs)
Predicting the Relationship Between Virtual Enterprises in an Agile Supply Chain through Structural Equation Modelling
Get PDFVirtual enterprises are formed in response to turbulent market conditions and are influenced by factors such as the changing relationship between customers and suppliers, the spread of agile supply chains and shorter product life cycles. Research suggests that successful virtual co-operation and supply chain agility are best achieved when the core capabilities of the partners are complementary. This paper therefore investigates the relationship between virtual enterprises in supply chains and provides further insights into the factors affecting agility. A hypothetical model is developed to examine the factors and a structural equation model is used to test the hypotheses, based on survey data from virtual enterprises in Mongolia. The structural equation model uses exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis. The results provide empirical evidence of the ability of the model to predict benefits arising from the formation of the virtual enterprise
Opportunism in buyer–supplier exchange: a critical examination of the concept and its implications for theory and practice
No full textClaims that opportunism is widespread in the process of buyer–supplier exchange are commonplace, but direct supporting evidence for such claims is largely absent from the relevant literature. This article offers a critique of the treatment of opportunism in supply chains by re-establishing the importance of guile in the concept and investigates existing published, empirical measures of buyer and supplier opportunistic behaviour. This article offers evidence that, despite the frequency with which the concept is discussed in the literature and applied in research and the emphasis given to the risks it generates for management, opportunism with guile between buyers and suppliers appears to be rare in practice. This article is the first critical assessment of the concept’s treatment in the Operations Management field, and it argues that practitioners are currently being poorly advised with respect to the phenomenon, as well as drawing conclusions for both practitioners and researchers that differ radically from the prevailing consensus on the subject
Re-stating the post-political: Depoliticization, social inequalities, and city-region growth
Get PDFThis paper argues that city-region building debates and relatedly ‘post-political’ literatures are missing critical perspectives on the state, particularly the state’s continued existence as a social relation and an arena for politics, its role in the regulation of uneven development and the conflicts and struggles that arise from this. The paper brings the state centrally into ‘post-political’ debates via a critical analysis of the interrelationships between depoliticization and neoliberalism. Focusing on Sheffield (South Yorkshire, England) in the context of devolution and deal-making public policy, the paper explores the seemingly consensual visionmaking dynamics of this city region and dissects the tensions around economic governance, welfare austerity and social inequalities to get a handle on the ‘postpolitical’ depoliticized state in, and of, contemporary capitalis
Quality of Life in Epilepsy: A review and analysis of psychosocial influences on quality of life in epilepsy
Get PDFThis research thesis examines whether psychosocial factors influence the wellbeing of people with epilepsy.
Paper one is a literature review, examining ten studies which investigated whether the ways in which people with epilepsy think about their condition (illness perceptions) influences their wellbeing. The findings suggested that illness perceptions were an important factor in influencing wellbeing, often more highly related to wellbeing than some clinical variables, such as seizure frequency. In view of this, clinical and future research implications are discussed, which include consideration of therapeutic interventions for people with epilepsy, such as peer support and psychological interventions.
Paper two is an empirical study investigating the role of psychosocial factors on the quality of life of people diagnosed with epilepsy in adulthood. The study examined whether illness perceptions, resilience, social support, years since diagnosis and psychological therapy predicted quality of life in people diagnosed with epilepsy in adulthood. Participants were recruited through NHS services, and online, completing a set of validated questionnaires which were analysed using regression analysis. Illness perceptions and resilience were significant predictors of quality of life, accounting for a large proportion of the variance in quality of life scores. Years since diagnosis, social support and psychological therapy did not significantly predict quality of life. The findings are discussed in relation to psychological theory, as well as consideration of the clinical and research implications. The study offers novel findings about the unique experience and needs of a group of people with epilepsy who receive little research attention.
Paper three summarises the main points, findings and recommendations in relation to the empirical paper, ‘Epilepsy in Adulthood’. It is written for a varied audience, including service users, healthcare professionals and epilepsy services
Investigating the Onset of Postpartum Psychosis: A Review of Psychosocial Factors and Analysis of Women’s Lived Experiences
Get PDFAs part of a Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, the author of this thesis was particularly interested in investigating the onset of Postpartum Psychosis from a psychological perspective. The investigation included a review of the literature to identify the psychosocial factors involved in the onset of Postpartum Psychosis and an analysis of the lived experiences of women during the onset of Postpartum Psychosis.
Paper one presents a comprehensive review of the literature pertaining to the psychosocial factors involved in the onset of Postpartum Psychosis. Ten papers were identified, and the findings were critically appraised, synthesised and analysed, and are presented as three succinct master themes. Each of the three master themes, Psychological Factors, Sociological Factors and Birth Characteristics contain explicit subordinate themes, depicting a more in-depth account of the evidence regarding the psychosocial factors involved in the onset of Postpartum Psychosis.
Paper two presents a qualitative analysis of women’s experiences of Postpartum Psychosis during the onset and early days. Purposive sampling was used to identify seven women from the UK who had lived experience of Postpartum Psychosis without any prior known risk indicators. Semi-structured interviews provided data for an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis and four superordinate themes describe phenomena associated with the experience during the onset of Postpartum Psychosis.
Paper three presents an executive summary of the findings described in paper two, in a succinct and accessible format. The summary is aimed at health care professionals and those interested in finding out more about the onset of Postpartum Psychosi
Optimisation of Tamper Localisation and Recovery Watermarking Techniques
Get PDFDigital watermarking has found many applications in many fields, such as:
copyright tracking, media authentication, tamper localisation and recovery,
hardware control, and data hiding. The idea of digital watermarking is to embed
arbitrary data inside a multimedia cover without affecting the perceptibility of the
multimedia cover itself. The main advantage of using digital watermarking over
other techniques, such as signature based techniques, is that the watermark is
embedded into the multimedia cover itself and will not be removed even with the
format change.
Image watermarking techniques are categorised according to their robustness
against modification into: fragile, semi-fragile, and robust watermarking. In fragile
watermarking any change to the image will affect the watermark, this makes fragile
watermarking very useful in image authentication applications, as in medical and
forensic fields, where any tampering of the image is: detected, localised, and
possibly recovered. Fragile watermarking techniques are also characterised by a
higher capacity when compared to semi-fragile and robust watermarking. Semifragile
watermarking techniques resist some modifications, such as lossy
compression and low pass filtering. Semi-fragile watermarking can be used in
authentication and copyright validation applications whenever the amount of
embedded information is small and the expected modifications are not severe.
Robust watermarking techniques are supposed to withstand more severe
modifications, such as rotation and geometrical bending. Robust watermarking is
used in copyright validation applications, where copyright information in the image
must remains accessible even after severe modification.
This research focuses on the application of image watermarking in tamper
localisation and recovery and it aims to provide optimisation for some of its
aspects. The optimisation aims to produce watermarking techniques that enhance
one or more of the following aspects: consuming less payload, having better
recovery quality, recovering larger tampered area, requiring less calculations, and
being robust against the different counterfeiting attacks. Through the survey of the main existing techniques, it was found that most of them
are using two separate sets of data for the localisation and the recovery of the
tampered area, which is considered as a redundancy. The main focus in this
research is to investigate employing image filtering techniques in order to use only
one set of data for both purposes, leading to a reduced redundancy in the
watermark embedding and enhanced capacity. Four tamper localisation and
recovery techniques were proposed, three of them use one set of data for
localisation and recovery while the fourth one is designed to be optimised and
gives a better performance even though it uses separate sets of data for
localisation and recovery.
The four techniques were analysed and compared to two recent techniques in the
literature. The performance of the proposed techniques vary from one technique to
another. The fourth technique shows the best results regarding recovery quality
and Probability of False Acceptance (PFA) when compared to the other proposed
techniques and the two techniques in the literature, also, all proposed techniques
show better recovery quality when compared to the two techniques in the
literature
Small Foot Orthoses.
No full textAccurate assessment and correct diagnosis of digital deformities aids clinicians to develop a specific conservative management plan. Evaluation of the progression toe pathologies make over time, provides the clinician with adequate information to decide whether to improve muscle function during gait or offload and deflect pressure when required. Improved muscle function can be achieved with intrinsic foot exercise specifically for the flexor muscles, which can change the dynamics of the toes. Simple insoles with metatarsal pads have a similar effect on muscle function and can alleviate digital pain. Off-loading digits with specific splinting can be used to provide patients with comfort and support when hyperkeratotic skin lesions become irritable. Splinting can also be used to prevent ulcers from forming. When conservative measures no longer pacify patients symptoms a surgical alternative should be considered
Chemical Detection of Non-Volatile and Semi-Volatile Decomposition Markers from Clandestine Gravesites
Get PDFOver 134,000 individuals went missing last year of which 1,340 were not found at
all, the number of people who disappear due to a homicide is indeterminate as a
victim’s body is required to prove a homicide unequivocally. A variety of search
methodologies are applied to locate clandestine graves ranging from victim recovery
dogs to geophysics. It has been highlighted that the current search methodologies
to locate clandestine gravesites are not always successful and require a significant
amount of time and public funding. This study sought therefore to detect the
non-volatile and semi-volatile decomposition products from soil and water samples
which could aid the detection of clandestine gravesites and lead to the development
of field based chemical tests to speed up the search process.
Three novel alternative analytical methodologies have been developed in order to
allow for the detection of non-volatile and semi-volatile decomposition products in
in soil and water samples from a simulated grave environment and actual casework
samples. The first methodology utilised high performance liquid chromatography
(HPLC), which indicated that over 100 decomposition specific chemicals were
detected in the leachate samples. This highlighted the potential for using HPLC as
an alternative method for the detection of non-volatile and semi-volatile
decomposition products from soil-water samples. The second methodology
developed utilised ion chromatography (IC) and has proven its capabilities for the
analysis of forensic samples by differentiating between the soil samples provided
and highlighting areas of interest. The third and final methodology developed utilised
derivatisation gas chromatography (GC) for the targeted analysis of biogenic
amines putrescine, cadaverine and methylamine. A highly specific methodology
was developed for the analysis of primary amines in soil-water samples following
simultaneous derivatisation of these amines using pentafluorobenazaldehyde.
These amines were detected in the leachate samples from 28 to 669 days post
burial, which far exceeded other longevity studies conducted within the discipline of
forensic taphonomy. Putrescine was detected in the casework samples where the
individual went missing more than 15 years ago and therefore highlights the
suitability of the established methodology to aid in the search and recovery process
of clandestine gravesites. Utilisation of these methodologies will lead to further
identification of the key decomposition products produced during the human
decomposition process and allows for the development of field-based chemica
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage STORE - Staffordshire Online Repository? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!