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Policy briefing: wellbeing in the lives of young refugees in Scotland
Get PDFThe Drawing Together project explored how 53 young refugees experience integration through rebuilding their everyday lives in Scotland, Finland and Norway. This policy briefing focuses on the findings from Scotland. It provides insights for Scottish policy makers and practitioners to better equip them in promoting the wellbeing of young refugees
Inclusion, exclusion, social justice, and children's rights to education: reflections of a former secondary school inclusion manager
No full textThis chapter will examine the complex and, at times, contradictory nature of the role of inclusion manager from the perspective of a former secondary school teacher, later special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCo) and vice principal in a secondary comprehensive school in an urban area of the East Midlands in England. In particular, the chapter, written in the first person of the author, will consider her views in relation to her role alongside established and up-to-date policy and research regarding ‘inclusion’ in education, in particular with regard to social justice and the reality of practice
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on an integrated care programme for Older People with Different Frailty Levels (OPDFL):a qualitative study with service providers in the East of England
Get PDFWhile populations of all ages were affected by the pandemic, older people with frailty had much worse outcomes. The NHS England has mandated identifying and proactively managing older people with moderate and severe frailty in the General medical services (GMS) contract 2017/18. As a result of this policy, an integrated care programme for older people with different frailty levels (OPDFL) was introduced in Luton in 2018 (known as, Luton Framework for Frailty - LFF). This study was conducted to explore the views of service providers in Luton regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of LFF. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with service providers in Luton between April 2021 to July 2021. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Eighteen service providers took part in the study. Three main themes were identified, the first of which was that proactive and frailty-related health promotion services were halted. Secondly, existing relationships due to the LFF facilitated the implementation of services for care home residents during the pandemic. Finally, participants identified that some of the challenges impacting the delivery of health promotion services were those that affected the health system in general, such as healthcare staff feeling stressed and the centralised decision-making by the government. The lessons learnt from this study could be useful in managing services for older people with frailty in times of emergencies or epidemics
Mitigating the impact of harmful algal blooms on aquaculture using technological interventions: case study on a South African farm
Get PDFSeafood, especially from the ocean, is now seen as a greener and more sustainable source of protein, causing an increase in its demand. This has also led to people making choices towards seafood as a replacement for carbon-intensive protein sources. As a result, the demand for seafood is growing, and as the aquaculture industry looks to increase production, keeping products safe and sustainable is imperative. There are many challenges faced by the aquaculture industry in meeting these increased demands. One such challenge is the presence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the ocean, which can have a major impact on aquatic life. In this paper, we look at the impact of this challenge on aquaculture and monitoring strategies whilst illustrating the potential for technological interventions to help mitigate the impact of an HAB. We will focus on Abagold Limited, a land-based marine aquaculture business that specialises in the large-scale production of abalone (Haliotis midae) based in Hermanus, South Africa. HABs are considered a threat to commercial-scale abalone farming along the South African coastline and require continuous monitoring. The most recent HAB was in February–April 2019, when the area experienced a severe red-tide event with blooms of predominantly Lingulodinium polyedrum. We present some of the monitoring strategies employing digital technologies to future-proof the industry. This article presents the development of a novel hybrid water quality forecasting model based on a TriLux multi-parameter sensor to monitor key water quality parameters. The actual experimental real water quality data from Abagold Limited show a good correlation as a basis for a forecasting model which would be a useful tool for the management of HABs in the aquaculture industry
High-resolution precipitation prediction in Bangladesh via ensemble learning
Get PDFAs a developing agricultural country, Bangladesh is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, so accurate precipitation prediction is of great value to Bangladesh in achieving sustainable development. Traditional climate simulation models and prediction tools find it challenging to meet the growing needs on high spatial resolution. In this paper, we developed a XGBoost-based spatio-temporal precipitation prediction model and then generated high-resolution precipitation distribution maps in Bangladesh from 2025 to 2035, where the spatial resolution can reach 0.1° latitude and longitude. Finally, the EOF analysis reveals three leading modes in high-resolution precipitation evolution during 2025–2035
Factors that affect the implementation of an integrated care programme for older people with different frailty levels: a qualitative study of commissioners and provider stakeholders
Get PDFIntroduction: The NHS has made it mandatory for General Practices in England to proactively identify and manage older people with moderate and severe frailty since the GMS contract of 2017/2018. In Luton, stakeholders developed the Luton Framework of Frailty (LFF) to implement this national policy. The aim of this study was to explore the factors that affect the implementation of this national policy at a local level. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 commissioners and service providers, all of whom were involved in providing services for older people with different frailty levels (OPDFL). Purposive and snowball sampling methods were used, with thematic analysis used for data analysis. Results: Two main themes with several sub-themes were found. The first theme was the tension within existing national policy initiatives to provide integrated care services for OPDFL, which illuminated their strengths and limitations. Participants felt that new initiatives, such as the development of Primary Care Networks and Enhanced Health in Care Homes, have improved primary care coordination. However, the traditional reactive approach for managing older people who are frail was thought to be counterproductive, when an approach that focused on prevention and early intervention would have been better. The second theme concerned the contextual factors that affect implementation of integrated care. These included having key leaders at a local level, the requirement for more funding, as well as the need for good working relationships among service providers. However, the lack of awareness about the care pathways among GPs was thought to be a reason for the variation in the implementation of the LFF. The COVID-19 pandemic was perceived as a challenge for the implementation of the LFF. Finally, polices were thought to succeed only if more resources are provided, while the term frailty should be used with caution due to the negative connotations of OPDFL towards this term. Conclusion: The implementation of an integrated care programme for OPDFL can be affected by several factors. Having proactive national policies that facilitate coordination and, having key leaders locally, the need for more funding, and good working relationships, are some of the contextual factors that could facilitate a successful implementation. In contrast, the lack of awareness of the care pathways that have been introduced locally, insufficient resources to deliver the programmes efficiently and a lack of careful consideration of how the term frailty is used could hinder this being put into practice.</p
Community readiness to address disparities in access to cancer, palliative and end-of-life care for ethnic minorities
Get PDFBackground Inequalities in cancer, palliative, and end-of-life care services remain a significant challenge, particularly for ethnic minorities who face systemic barriers such as limited awareness, cultural stigmas, and language differences. These disparities hinder equitable access to essential services and contribute to poorer health outcomes for affected communities. Addressing these challenges requires targeted, culturally sensitive initiatives that promote both awareness and uptake of care. Community readiness is a critical factor in the success of such interventions, as it reflects the willingness and capacity of a community to engage with and support change. Methods A mixed-methods approach was used, combining individual interviews and two focus groups with key informants (N = 14). This study, conducted in the ethnically and geographically diverse region of Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes in southeast England, aimed to assess community readiness to embrace initiatives designed to reduce health inequalities in cancer, palliative, and end-of-life care. The key informants, including faith leaders and professional stakeholders, rated community readiness on five anchored scales: Knowledge of efforts, Leadership, Knowledge of the issue, Community Climate, and Resources. The focus groups facilitated a discussion of the ratings, providing deeper insights into community dynamics and barriers. Results Overall, the community was identified as being at the pre-planning stage of readiness to address disparities in cancer, palliative, and end-of-life care for ethnic minorities. Quantitatively, faith and religious leaders assessed readiness at the vague awareness stage (mean: 3.88), while professional stakeholders rated it at the pre-planning stage (mean: 4.87). Qualitative findings highlighted limited community knowledge, passive leadership with potential for ‘community champions’ to foster openness, a positive climate influenced by younger generations, widespread misconceptions, language barriers, and resource constraints affecting service accessibility. Conclusions The Community Readiness Model provides an insight into the community’s position regarding disparities in access to cancer, palliative and end-of-life services. In order to ensure that continuing efforts are successful in addressing existing inequalities rather than exacerbating them, this study emphasises how critical it is to evaluate the readiness of the community in order to avoid widening inequalities in access and use of services
Over the kitchen table: British storytelling as working-class art, belonging and resistance
No full textThis article introduces a contemporary art and storytelling project that took place in January 2024 in Bestwood Village, an ex-coal community, showing a televised play filmed in the village (1963) written by Dennis Potter, Stand Up, Nigel Barton, about the son of a coal miner gaining a place at Oxford University during this period of social change. The project and the article show that the art of working-class storytelling is both political and personal, and despite the lack of working-class voices in the arts, in the culture industries and in academia, small storytelling events such as this one play an important part in strengthening working-class communities
Half of Atlantic reef-building corals at elevated risk of extinction due to climate change and other threats
Get PDFAtlantic reef-building corals and coral reefs continue to experience extensive decline due to increased stressors related to climate change, disease, pollution, and numerous anthropogenic threats. To understand the impact of ocean warming and reef loss on the estimated extinction risk of shallow water Atlantic reef-building scleractinians and milleporids, all 85 valid species were reassessed under the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, updating the previous Red List assessment of Atlantic corals published in 2008. For the present assessment, individual species declines were estimated based on the modeled coral cover loss (1989–2019) and projected onset of annual severe bleaching events (2020–2050) across the Atlantic. Species traits were used to scale species’ relative vulnerability to the modeled cover declines and forecasted bleaching events. The updated assessments place 45.88%–54.12% of Atlantic shallow water corals at an elevated extinction risk compared to the previous assessments conducted in 2008 (15.19%–40.51%). However, coral cover loss estimates indicate an improvement in reef coverage compared to the historic time-series used for the 2008 assessments. Based on this, we infer that, although remaining dangerously high, the rate of Atlantic reef coral cover decline has surprisingly slowed in recent decades. However, based on modeled projections of sea-surface temperature that predict the onset of annual severe bleaching events within the next 30 years, we listed 26 (out of 85) species as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List. Each of these species had previously been listed under a lower threatened category and this result alone highlights the severe threat future bleaching events pose to coral survival and the reef ecosystems they support
FedLSTM: a federated learning framework for sensor fault detection in wireless sensor networks
Get PDFThe rapid growth of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has significantly increased reliance on sensor-generated data, which are essential to a wide range of systems and services. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs), crucial to this ecosystem, are often deployed in diverse and challenging environments, making them susceptible to faults such as software bugs, communication breakdowns, and hardware malfunctions. These issues can compromise data accuracy, stability, and reliability, ultimately jeopardizing system security. While advanced sensor fault detection methods in WSNs leverage a machine learning approach to achieve high accuracy, they typically rely on centralized learning, and face scalability and privacy challenges, especially when transferring large volumes of data. In our experimental setup, we employ a decentralized approach using federated learning with long short-term memory (FedLSTM) for sensor fault detection in WSNs, thereby preserving client privacy. This study utilizes temperature data enhanced with synthetic sensor data to simulate various common sensor faults: bias, drift, spike, erratic, stuck, and data-loss. We evaluate the performance of FedLSTM against the centralized approach based on accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and F1-score. Additionally, we analyze the impacts of varying the client participation rates and the number of local training epochs. In federated learning environments, comparative analysis with established models like the one-dimensional convolutional neural network and multilayer perceptron demonstrate the promising results of FedLSTM in maintaining client privacy while reducing communication overheads and the server load
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