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Detection and modeling techniques for the monitoring of harmful algal blooms: a systematic literature review
Get PDFHarmful algal blooms (HABs) are caused by naturally occurring species of phytoplankton that generate toxins that can harm humans and aquatic animals. Although these HABs have been present in our waters, recent anthropogenic activities have made their occurrence more frequent and erratic. Due to the increasing number of poisonous and blooming species in water bodies worldwide, there is a need for more effective systems to mitigate their effect. A systematic review was conducted to evaluate and understand the various detection and modeling techniques used for HABs in the marine environment, largely focusing on the aquaculture and fisheries sectors. Our investigation identified 2338 papers published from January 2000 to April 2024 from reputable databases. After screening for eligibility using predetermined criteria, 74 eligible studies were found and categorized into pigment-based technology, morphological-based technology, and nucleic acid technology. Additionally, only seven studies applied modeling approaches to forecast harmful blooms by employing pigment-based technology and offline learning models. Early warning systems are crucial for managing HABs, since it is the first step toward implementing mitigation strategies. However, there is a greater need for real-time in situ analysis geared toward identifying microalgae species that can proactively manage this threat and protect aquaculture and fisheries resources.<br/
Co-producing research with care experienced young adults and social work professionals
Get PDFDrawing on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) principles of co-production, the chapter reflects on and critiques the approaches adopted in two leaving care studies. The first employed care-experienced young adults as peer researchers in a study that aimed to advance understanding of the ‘ingredients’ to implement and sustain innovations. In the second study, a Networked Learning Community (NLC) was established, bringing together care-experienced young people, frontline practitioners, and managers to develop accessible tools and resources to support social work practice. The findings highlight the need for attentiveness to relational safety, capacity-building, and reflective practices. They also demonstrate the role that values play in building authentic relationships, and disrupting traditional power hierarchies. However, practical considerations, including training, adequate time and resources, and the use of a range of communications channels, are also important. The chapter concludes with a call for further formal evaluation of co-production models, particularly the NLC model, and their long-term effects on both research outcomes and the development of participants’ skills and confidence.<br/
Nursing autonomy and evidence-based practice in acute care:navigating power and promoting collaboration
Get PDFAim: This study explores how power dynamics between nurses and physicians in acute care settings influence nursing autonomy and the implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP). It also identifies organisational strategies that can enhance interprofessional collaboration (IPE), leadership and shared decision-making. Design: A qualitative case study approach was used, underpinned by social constructivism to explore nurses’ lived experiences within the context of acute care hierarchies. Methods: Data were collected from two large NHS acute care hospitals in the Midlands, through 33 semistructured interviews, 12 nonparticipant observations and document reviews. The sample included 37 staff nurses, ward managers, nurse managers and physicians. Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis framework guided data analysis, supported by reflexive field notes and triangulation of data sources. Findings: Nurses reported restricted autonomy due to entrenched medical dominance and were frequently excluded from key decision-making processes. These hierarchical imbalances contributed to moral distress, burnout and disengagement from EBP. However, the study also uncovered everyday acts of resistance, including subtle negotiation and knowledge-based advocacy. Leadership training, IPE, shared governance and structural reforms were cited as effective strategies for enhancing collaboration and restoring nursing voice. Participants who experienced nurse-led initiatives and inclusive decision-making reported improved confidence and patient care outcomes. Conclusion: Hierarchical power dynamics significantly constrain nursing autonomy and hinder EBP implementation in acute care. Nurses respond with resilience and agency, often advocating for evidence use in informal ways. Organisational reforms that promote shared governance, empower nurse leaders and foster respectful collaboration are essential for shifting entrenched dynamics and improving care quality.</p
Enhancing biometric security:advancements in environment-independent channel state information analysis
No full textThis study explores the use of Channel State Information for biometric authentication, focusing on addressing the challenges posed by environmental variations. To achieve this, experiments were conducted using off-the-shelf ESP32 devices to collect CSI data across different environments, including urban, suburban, and rural settings. The primary objective was to analyze the influence of external environmental factors on the accuracy of CSI-based biometric systems and to develop methods to mitigate these effects. The significant subcarrier selection method was combined with a weighted Random Forest classifier to improve the system's performance. The results demonstrated that certain subcarriers are more sensitive to environmental changes, and by assigning different weights to these subcarriers the authentication accuracy improved to 93.33%. These findings highlight the potential of CSI-based biometrics to offer reliable and environment-independent authentication, making them suitable for real-world applications in dynamic settings, such as smart homes and vehicular systems. This research lays the groundwork for further studies aimed at developing more resilient biometric systems capable of operating effectively across diverse environments.</p
What does it mean to be a member of a professional association in our field?
No full textIn July 2025, I posted a tentative message to the LTEST-L listserv with the subject title “Initiating a conversation about what it means to be a member of a professional association in our field.” My message provoked several positive responses, both on- and off-list, from individuals keen to take part in such a conversation. One such response came from the Language Testing Editors, Talia Isaacs and Xun Yan, who kindly invited me to submit my thoughts and suggestions in the form of a Letter to the Editor to encourage wider dissemination and discussion. What follows in this letter is based largely on my original LTEST-L post, but it also includes some additional comments informed by subsequent conversations with colleagues, together with a few practical suggestions for action
Impact of breakfast consumption timing v. breakfast omission on post-lunch glycaemia and insulinaemia in adolescent girls:A randomised crossover trial
Get PDFAdolescent girls often skip breakfast due to time constraints and reduced morning appetite. This study examined the acute impact of breakfast consumption timing versus breakfast omission (BO) on glycaemic and insulinaemic responses to lunch in infrequent breakfast-consuming girls. Fifteen girls (13.1±0.8 years) completed three conditions in a randomised crossover design: early-morning breakfast consumption (EM-BC; 8:30), mid-morning breakfast consumption (MM-BC; 10:30), and BO. A standardised lunch was provided at 12:30, followed by a 2-h post-lunch observation period. Blood and expired gas samples were collected periodically. Linear mixed models with Cohen's d effect sizes compared outcomes between conditions. Pre-lunch glucose and insulin incremental area under the curve (iAUC) were higher in the breakfast conditions versus BO (P≤0.009), with no differences between breakfast conditions. MM-BC reduced post-lunch glucose iAUC by 36% and 25% compared with BO and EM-BC, respectively (P<0.001, d=0.92-1.44). A moderate, non-significant 15% reduction in post-lunch glucose iAUC was seen with EM-BC versus BO (P=0.077, d=0.52). These reductions occurred without changes in post-lunch insulinemia (P≥0.323) and were accompanied by increased post-lunch carbohydrate oxidation compared with BO (P≤0.018, d=0.58-0.75); with no differences between EM-BC and MM-BC. MM-BC lowered glycaemic response over the experimental period compared with BO (P=0.033, d=0.98) and EM-BC (P=0.123, d=0.93), with no difference between EM-BC and BO. Compared with BO, both breakfast conditions lowered post-lunch glycaemic responses with mid-morning breakfast eliciting a greater second-meal effect than early-morning breakfast. These findings indicate the breakfast-to-lunch meal interval may be a crucial factor affecting postprandial glycaemia in infrequent breakfast-consuming girls
Perceived intensity of extreme events and employees’ safety performance: an affective events perspective
Get PDFOccupational accidents, injuries, and illnesses remain critical challenges for organizations, particularly in extreme contexts where unusual or atypical events occur. While organizational responses to extreme events have been widely studied, there is less research on how individuals appraise and respond to such events. This leaves us with insufficient evidence on the microfoundations of extreme events, including differences in how individuals perceive the intensity or severity of such events, as well as the implications for safety performance. Drawing on affective events theory, we conducted two quasiexperiments to understand how three distinct levels of exposure to extreme events affect safety performance. In Study 1, data from 292 Iranian male firefighters reveal a significant reduction in safety performance among employees experiencing high, rather than medium and low, exposure to extreme events. This reduction is mediated by heightened negative emotions and lower work engagement. Study 2 replicates these findings with data from 315 Iranian male seafarers and further examines the moderating role of self-emotion appraisal. We find that individuals with strong self-emotion appraisal experience reduced negative emotions confronted with high exposure to extreme events. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.</p
Demonstrating the values-based WeValue InSitu approach to capture hidden intangible benefits of ecosystem services in Nigeria
Get PDFThe valuation of the benefits to humans of ecosystem services (ESs) provided by nature has become increasingly important. A current challenge is the measurement of the range of benefits which are not traded in the marketplace and are generally considered intangible, with further challenges to even classify them formally, e.g., as cultural ecosystem services (CESs). Previous studies have emphasized a related challenge: the strong need for engagement of not just experts but ’ordinary people’. Approaches using participatory approaches and less formal communication pathways to draw out local CES values have been reported. However, critical reflections of those studies reported significant differences in understanding between ’outsider researchers’ and ’locals’, calling validity deeply into question. Even deliberative approaches backfired by significantly modifying local social constructs during elicitation. In this study, we demonstrate a fundamentally different kind of approach, developed from the bottom–up sustainability indicator development process called WeValue InSitu. It focuses not on improving deeper top–down ‘engagement’ of a specific topic, but instead on improving local articulation of existing envelopes of in situ human shared values, naturally integrated. The WeValue InSitu output is a framework of separate but interlinked concise Statements of local shared values. Some of these Statements may refer to values concerning ecosystems, but situated amongst others. Here, we analyze the outputs from 23 convenience groups in three sites in Nigeria and investigate the shared values found empirically against existing economics-based MEA classifications. The findings include hybrid values which span existing CES sub-categories and even across into market-based categories. This opens a discussion as to whether future ES valuation frameworks might evolve more usefully with foundations built on empirically derived typologies of human values, rather than bolt-on modifications to financially based economics concepts. It also raises questions about the validity of current valuations made which cannot capture empirically found human values
An integrated system framework for preventing crime in retail supermarket
Get PDFRetail supermarkets have been investing billions of poundsto prevent and reduce crime in their stores, but the rate of crime keep increasing. Retail shrinkage monitoring as far back as 1995 showed that the retail stores were losing the equivalent of 0.3 per cent of their gross revenues which have taken up to 20 to 30 percent of their profit. Also recently, the British Retail Crime Report (2023)showed a significant increase from the 2019 report in retail crime and subsequent loss to retailers. In 2021/2022, the retail staff incidents of violence stood at 850 per day, and the cost of retail crime was £1.76b. There were eight million incidents of theft over the year and a total of £715 million was spent on crime prevention. As crime keeps increasing, examining the three security solutions (Cyber, Physical and System) that are used in retail supermarkets becomes paramount. This article will look into if the lack of interconnectedness is the cause of continuous porosity in criminality in stores using Aldi and Sainsbury in the United Kingdom as a case study. A combination of mix method approach has been used in this study which allows a combination of quantitative data gathering through questionnaires and qualitative data through interviews. Accessing the current effectiveness of the three security solution (Cyber, System and Physical), it becomes important to identify the strategic gap between actual and potential performance so that steps can be taken to identify the shortfall in the Security solutions. The Ishikawa fishbone model is used as a theoretical tool to examine the cause and effect of retail crime. This will identify other causes that affect the effectiveness of security solutions. From the findings, a Hierarchical Taxonomy of Crime Prevention Framework in line with the Ishikawa fishbone theoretical tool was developed to help supermarkets reduce and prevent crimes. For many years supermarkets have been investing lots of money on security solutions but the rate of crimes keep increasing
Detection for user impersonation attacks in mobile social networks based on high-order Markov chains
Get PDFIn security defense of MSN (MSN), attackers often impersonate themselves as other users, making it difficult to detect network user attacks based on user behavior. Multi-order Markov chains can consider the front-to-back correlation of user behavior, thereby more accurately identifying disguised users. Therefore, this paper proposes a user impersonation attack detection method based on multi-order Markov chains. First, the relevance coefficient method is used to determine the order of the multi-order Markov chain, and by defining appropriate multi-order Markov chain states to capture key features in user behavior, a multi-order Markov chain is established. Then, through the multi-order Markov chain combined with Shell commands, the normal behavior profile of legitimate users is established, and based on this, the probability of occurrence of the state sequence is calculated to complete the detection of userimpersonation attacks. The experimental results show that the similarity between the results of the proposed method and the actual situation in detecting impersonation attacks is more than 97%, indicating that this method can detect MSN user impersonation attacks with high accuracy
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