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Cross sectoral FDI spillovers and their impact on manufacturing productivity
Get PDFThis paper explores the relationship between FDI spillovers and productivity in manufacturing firms in five European transition countries. The novelty of our approach lies in exploring different mechanisms of horizontal spillovers and disentangling the impact of backward and forward vertical spillovers from services and manufacturing sectors. We rely on firm level data obtained from the Amadeus database and annual input-output tables. The results from dynamic panel model estimations reveal that local manufacturing firms benefit from the presence of foreign firms in upstream services, especially in the knowledge intensive services, and in downstream manufacturing sector. Demonstration effect is found to be negatively associated with domestic firms’ productivity, while worker mobility and increased competition appear to be the main channels of horizontal knowledge diffusion. The firms’ productivity is also influenced positively by human capital and intangible assets. Finally, we show that the direction and intensity of both vertical and horizontal spillovers depend on the absorptive capacity of domestic firms
Why it is important that we build up a head of STEAM
Get PDFYou will now find STEM ambassadors and professional experts delivering workshops, training, mentoring and networking in our key stage education system. But what about the early years age range
The effects of biomechanically optimised ankle-foot orthoses-footwear combinations on the gait of children with cerebral palsy
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the biomechanical optimisation of ankle-foot orthoses and footwear combinations (AFO-FCs) on the gait and energy expenditure of children with cerebral palsy (CP). The child's perception and compliance of wearing AFO-FCs were also investigated. Additional aims were to examine common clinical practice regarding AFO-FC tuning in the UK and to study the validity of using the static shank to vertical angle (SVA) to measure the dynamic SVA during gait.
The study included five children with CP. Outcome measurements included sagittal plane kinematics and kinetics derived using 3D motion analysis, physical examination, heart rate (HR), energy expenditure, speed, distance, energy expenditure index (EEI), static SVA and dynamic SVA and an after study questionnaire.
When studying children with CP, beneficial effects of biomechanically optimised AFO-FCs on gait parameters were evident; the results identified improvements to knee, hip and pelvic kinematics, particularly in cases where the principal gait deviation was hyperextension of the knee in stance.
There were also beneficial effects on energy expenditure with the study highlighting a reduction in energy expenditure, and an increase in self-selected speed and distance covered, when walking in a biomechanically optimised AFO-FC compared to a non-tuned AFO-FC.
The study demonstrated validity in using the static measurement of the SVA to estimate the dynamic SVA during temporal mid-stance (TMST).
The importance of cosmesis and social inclusion was also highlighted as being important for disabled children who are asked to wear adapted footwear and AFOs. However, the results of this study indicated that when there is an improvement in physical function and activities of daily living, children will choose to comply with what they perceive to be uncosmetic orthoses.
It was concluded that biomechanically optimised AFO-FCs have the potential to improve the kinematics and kinetics of gait, energy expenditure, speed and distance covered for children with CP, and that tuning the AFO-FC should be mandatory
Exploring truth and deception as strategies used within everyday communication by carers towards people with dementia
Get PDFPaper one, the literature review, considered the use of truth and deception within the care of people with dementia. Nine papers were included within the review, which explored the experiences of professional carers, informal carers and people with dementia. The studies identified continuing dilemmas about the use of truth or deception strategies within dementia care, for instance, when truthful strategies were less effective, due to characteristics associated with dementia, carers resorted to deceptive strategies, like lies, which were seen as least acceptable. The findings highlight the emotional impact of deceptive strategies, the impact on relational dynamics and issues about the lack of formal guidance. The review recommends that more research be undertaken to understand more about the use of truth and deception strategies within dementia care, especially for informal carers, who were under-represented. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
Paper two, the empirical paper, explored how informal carers made decisions about using truth or deception within everyday communication at home with a person with dementia. The study adopted Grounded Theory methodology to create a theory about the processes underlying carers’ decision-making about using truth or deception. The findings revealed that in everyday life, carers’ use of truth or deception strategies depended upon a number of triggers, motivations and conditional judgments. The core concept of the theory was that decisions about using truth and deception were ultimately made in the moment. This study adds to research by proposing a theory of decision-making for informal dementia carers. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
Paper three, the executive summary, describes the main features of the study alongside recommendations for clinical practice and future research. It is more accessibly written so that it can be easily disseminated with a diverse audience, which includes informal and professional carers of people with dementia
Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining: How To Cope When Your Research Does Not Go To Plan
No full textPeople living with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) experience frustration with the lack of knowledge and understanding of CRPS as a pain condition. In this case study, we explain how we worked with a group of people living with CRPS with the intention of helping them create a Wikipedia page about CRPS written by them, for people like them. We share what happened when our participants did not engage. We show you how we found a solution and in so doing, show how you can be creative when facing research challenges, yet still meet the essence of the original goal of the research
Evolving a least square support vector machine using real coded shuffled complex evolution for property estimation of aqueous ionic liquids
Get PDFIn this study, we demonstrate how least square support vector machine (LSSVM) evolution with the shuffled complex evolution (SCE) ameliorates the predictability and reliability of the support vector machine as an estimation tool for thermodynamic of ionic liquids solutions. This strategy is applied to forecast the osmotic-coefficient of the 26 different ionic liquids by utilizing the 1409 available archival literature data points. Our methodology is the development of a hybrid SCE-LSSVM algorithm. Shuffled complex evolution is used to decide the hyper parameters of support vector machines so that all the initial weights can be searched and obtained intelligently. The evolution operators and parameters are carefully designed and set to avoid premature convergence and permutation problems. The results demonstrate that carefully designed SCE-LSSVM outperforms the structural risk minimization of support vector machines, predicting the properties of aqueous solutions in a way, even better than the available models.
Razazab
EU-NATO Relations Running on the Fumes of Informed Deconfliction
No full textFor almost fifteen years, both the EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have claimed to partake in a relationship that is purported to be a ‘Strategic Partnership’, albeit one that is troubled by lasting political blockages. The constraints that affect the formal relationship between the two organizations are well-covered terrain in the academic literature – including by most of the contributors to this volume; however, the popular argument that the EU and NATO simply do not cooperate in any substantive way warrants deeper investigation, both theoretically and thematically. Thus, EU-NATO relations might not at first seem like an under-researched area, but much of the existing literature on the issue re-engages oversimplified and formulaic statements about the nature, quality, and practice of interactions between the EU and NATO.
This volume aims to develop the EU-NATO research agenda by pursuing three key objectives: (1) reduce the lacuna of theoretically informed analyses of the relationship, (2) add empirically and analytically rigorous case studies to the relevant body of literature, and (3) point to possible developments and solutions in the 'Strategic Partnership'.
The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue in European Security
Exploring the facilitators and barriers to physical activity in older people with sight loss.
No full textThis study aimed to explore facilitators and barriers to physical activity in older people with sight loss. Focus groups were conducted with 13 community dwelling older adults with sight loss ranging from poor to completely blind. Transcripts were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis. Facilitators and barriers are experienced in three ways: psychologically; through opportunity and access; and at a societal and policy level. Campaigns are needed to challenge unhelpful age-related stereotypes at both psychological and societal levels. Additionally, interventions grounded in evidence and theory should be trialled and evaluated for increasing physical activity in this population
Westerbork Listens
No full text“Westerbork Listens” responds to the complex afterlife of Westerbork,as it became temporary accommodation for Moluccan Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) soldiers and their families before being transformed by the presence of radio telescopes after 1970 (IC-ACCESS 2016). Hence, as Dolghin et al (2017: 34-35) have shown: ‘despite the solemn intention of its symbolic topography, memories attached to the site continue to evince divergent affective responses. The artwork responds to these themes using, first video footage of Westerbork mixed with several primary sources to create a video collage of remnants, and secondly a screengrab of this process to make a photographic lightbox that reconstructions and material culture from when the camp was in use and after. The image may at first appear sinister but the radar devices are an interactive educational feature of the radio telescope facility, their potency is driven by the context of there surroundings and the ways in which historical narratives can be reused for contemporary means.
The dissected image signifies the multiple functions and truths related to the site, as well as the nefarious ways some narratives have been created. The imagery also refers to the site’s fractured and incomplete nature, which comprises a few original traces and reconstructed elements indicative of the camp’s presence alongside modern interventions such as the radio telescopes. (Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork 2014; van der Laarse, 2018)
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