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Future directions for the discipline of health psychology
No full textFor the profession of health psychology to continuously evolve, we need to consider our history, roots, and core philosophy. We further need to embrace teachable moments, critically evaluate where we may have missed opportunities to contribute or lead and identify how we can overcome historical challenges for the discipline and profession. In doing so, we can strategically consider where we are heading and how we can work together to achieve great things. This chapter will consider the previous four chapters in this section, and offer a strategic vision of the future direction of health psychology. This will include a global view of the growth of the discipline, linking to research and the paradigms that are drawn upon, education, policy and practice. The relevance of health psychology to achieving national and international goals will be highlighted, and the need for wider funded opportunities, placements, mentoring, career pathways, and connections with stakeholders, employers, and policy will be discussed. The chapter will set the scene for future sections of the book that will discuss these issues in more detail. This chapter will end with a call to action to unite the global ‘divisions’ of health psychology, connecting countries to a central family tree, reducing structural barriers and silos, and optimising opportunities wherever they may lie
Theoretical mapping of the barriers and enablers to having blood pressure checked among adults without a hypertension diagnosis: a systematic review and theoretical synthesis using behaviour change frameworks
Get PDFIdentifying influences on engagement with blood pressure (BP) checks can assist with intervention design for hypertension detection. This systematic review searched four databases (Embase, Emcare, MEDLINE and Web of Science) for papers published from 2015 to 2023 (PROSPERO ID: CRD42023398002). Eligible studies reported influences on BP checks in community or primary care settings. Data were coded and mapped using the Action, Actor, Context, Target, Time framework and Behaviour Change Wheel. Analysis of 18 studies generated eight themes: (1) ‘Difficult-to-use devices with no accessible information on how to use them' (2) ‘Lack of awareness about hypertension and BP checks', (3) ‘Stigma and disconnect with identity' (4) ‘Beliefs about the value of BP checks', (5) ‘Fear and uncertainty', (6) ‘Lack of appropriate and comfortable local services' (7) ‘Financial cost of engaging with BP check services' and (8) ‘Social contacts or health professional recommended a check'. Knowledge, identity, emotions, social contacts and environmental factors are key behavioural influences on adults’ engagement with BP checks. Potential intervention strategies include education on hypertension, addressing misconceptions about BP checks, increasing access to BP check services and harnessing the influence of social norms, social connections and trusted sources to improve engagement.</p
True awareness of mental health remains in the shadow: an exploratory study on implementing mental health support in the workplace
Get PDFMental health in the workplace is critical for employee engagement, productivity, and profitability. In India, only 0.09% of the 1.1 million registered companies have implemented Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) for providing mental health support. This study leverages the Socio-Ecological Model (SEM) framework to examine the multi-layered dimensions impacting the implementation of mental health activities in the corporate sector in emerging economies, such as India. For a qualitative study, interviews were conducted with thirty-six industry experts representing diverse sectors to glean insights into the implementation of EAPs. Our analysis indicates that while the advantages of EAPs in early detection, proactive support, and mental well-being are widely recognized in the selected Indian corporate environments, the implementation of EAPs is restricted by the cultural-specific barriers, as well as quantitative measure of ROI, among other factors. Our findings will inform practitioners and policymakers in designing tailored strategies to encourage successful EAP implementation in the Indian corporate sector
The impact of generative AI on academic integrity of authentic assessments within a higher education context
Get PDFGenerative AI (hereinafter GenAI) technology, such as ChatGPT, is already influencing the higher education sector. In this work, we focused on the impact of GenAI on the academic integrity of assessments within higher education institutions, as GenAI can be used to circumvent assessment approaches within the sector, compromising their quality. The purpose of our research was threefold: first, to determine the extent to which the use of GenAI can be detected via the marking and moderation process; second, to understand whether the presence of GenAI affects the marking process; and finally, to establish whether authentic assessments can safeguard academic integrity. We used a series of experiments in the context of two UK-based universities to examine these issues. Our findings indicate that markers, in general, are not able to distinguish assessments that have had GenAI input from assessments that did not, even though the presence of GenAI affects the way markers approach the marking process. Our findings also suggest that the level of authenticity in an assessment has no impact on the ability to safeguard against or detect GenAI usage in assessment creation. In conclusion, we suggest that current approaches to assessments in higher education are susceptible to GenAI manipulation and that the higher education sector cannot rely on authentic assessments alone to control the impact of GenAI on academic integrity. Thus, we recommend giving more critical attention to assessment design and placing more emphasis on assessments that rely on social experiential learning and are performative rather than output-based and asynchronously written. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic GenAI has enabled students to complete higher education assessments quickly and with good quality, leading to challenges in academic integrity. GenAI has transformed the requirements and considerations in assessment design in higher education. Authentic assessments are seen as a prominent way to tackle the GenAI challenge. What this paper adds We provide quantitative and qualitative experimental evidence suggesting that GenAI can generate authentic assessments that pass the scrutiny of experienced academics. We demonstrate how the use of authentic assessments alone does not protect the academic integrity of students in higher education. Our qualitative analysis indicates that markers may generate false positive and false negative results if they suspect GenAI tampering in an assessment. Thus, students' learning is not assessed correctly. Implications for practice and/or policy When universities and national organisations design policies regarding GenAI, authentic assessments are not the panacea; the focus must remain on assessment design. Assessments of learning need to shift from assessing output to focusing on process and relevance to the workplace. That would mean a paradigmatic shift from written assessments to synchronous interpersonal assessments. The move away from written assessments has implications that are far reaching for the academy if written assessments cannot be trusted as a reliable indicator for and of learning
Generative adversarial networks-enabled anomaly detection systems: a survey
Get PDFAnomaly Detection (AD) is an important area of research because it helps identify outliers in data, enabling early detection of errors, fraud, and potential security breaches. Machine Learning (ML) can be utilized for distinct AD systems, and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have emerged as a promising technique due to their ability to generate new data that closely resembles a given dataset, allowing for the creation of realistic images, videos, audio, text, and other types of synthetic data. This paper explores state-of-the-art approaches in AD using GANs. The paper starts by providing a comprehensive overview of ML techniques for AD, including supervised, unsupervised, and semi-supervised approaches. This survey also explores various AD approaches based on GANs and provides an application-based classification of GANs-based AD approaches in the Internet-of-Things (IoT), Industrial IoT, Digital Healthcare, Energy Management Systems, and Cellular Network domains. Moreover, the paper discusses several datasets used in evaluating the performance of GANs-based AD techniques such as BOT-IoT, TON-IoT, CIC-IoT, CIC-IDS, and NSL-KDD. These datasets serve as valuable resources for researchers and practitioners to develop and test AD systems, particularly in the context of IoT and network security. Furthermore, the paper discusses the challenges and limitations of GANs-based AD techniques and proposes future research directions to address these challenges
Numerical analysis of the thermal performance of packed bed thermal energy storage in adiabatic compressed air energy storage systems
Get PDFThermal Energy Storage plays a significant role in Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage. There is a limited understanding of how the operational conditions of Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage affect the performance of packed-bed Thermal Energy Storage and vice versa. In this study, packed-bed rock Thermal Energy Storage units operating at different air pressures integrated into a large-scale, four-stage Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage system were examined over a single charging and discharging cycle and over five consecutive cycles. A transient, two-dimensional axisymmetric numerical model of packed-bed rock Thermal Energy Storage was developed, and the charging, standby, and discharging phases were simulated. The results show that all packed-bed Thermal Energy Storage systems of the same size can effectively store and release thermal energy at various pressures. The thermal energy from the compressed air is absorbed and stored with no significant change in the outlet air temperature at around 298 K during the first two hours of charging. A slight rise in the outlet air temperature was observed at the end of the three-hour charging stage. Results also indicate that during five consecutive cycles in the Thermal Energy Storage unit at the lowest pressure, the amount of energy stored at the end of the three-hour charging stage increases slightly from 118.7 kJ/kg in the first cycle to 127.5 kJ/kg in the second cycle, 129.7 kJ/kg in the third cycle, 130.3 kJ/kg in the fourth cycle, and 130.5 kJ/kg in the fifth cycle
Decoding hepatobiliary-specific immune gene patterns in gastrointestinal cancers via gene ontology fingerprints, multi-omics and experimental integration
Get PDFBackground Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are characterized by high malignancy and poor prognosis. Tumors in different locations exhibit both commonalities and differences. Although immunotherapy has made progress in some GI cancers, the specific immune-related patterns in hepatobiliary tumors have not yet been fully elucidated. Methods Using our developed explainable gene ontology fingerprint (XGOF) method, GI cancer GOF was established. By integrating omics data from 20 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 15 cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) tissues in our clinic with public databases, immune-related patterns specifically expressed in hepatobiliary tumors were identified via RNA, protein, methylation, tumor microenvironment (TME) analysis and experimental verification. Results XGOF showed that GI cancers are related to diverse immune functions, especially macrophage migration. Compared to others, hepatobiliary tumors exhibit distinct patterns of gene expression, mutation, and methylation. Seven genes (APOA1, LBP, FGA, C9, APCS, ARG1 and MBL2) were identified as immune-related genes specifically decreased in hepatobiliary cancer. The impact of APOA1 on TME, prognosis, and genomic landscape in HCC was explored in prior research. In this work, the experiment confirmed the down-regulation of six genes in cancerous tissues. Moreover, LBP promoter methylation was elevated in cholangiocarcinoma. Single-cell analysis revealed downregulated immune genes in hepatocytes of HCC and cholangiocytes of ICC, enriched in humoral immunity and complement pathways. Additionally, the MIF pathway was identified as a key signal in interactions between ICC tumor cells and microenvironmental cells. Conclusion This study identified immune-related gene patterns in hepatobiliary cancer, contributing to the discovery of novel immunotherapy targets and tumor biomarkers for future research
Teaching teachers: reflections from English teacher educators
No full textThis article considers English teaching practice from the perspective of two teacher educators. It starts at the point of recruitment and gender, discusses how English teachers are trained, moves onto what the teacher educators have seen on their numerous annual visits to English departments within many schools, it reflects on the examination system before concluding with some important reflections. English Association Newslette
Quantum technologies for beyond 5G and 6G networks: applications, opportunities, and challenges
Get PDFAs the world prepares for the advent of 6G networks, quantum technologies are becoming critical enablers of the next generation of communication systems. This survey paper investigates the convergence of quantum technologies and 6G networks, focusing on their applications, opportunities and challenges. We begin with an examination of the motivations for integrating quantum technologies into 6G, investigating the potential to overcome the limits of classical computing and cryptography. We then highlight key research gaps, particularly in quantum communication, quantum computing integration and security enhancement. A comprehensive overview of quantum technologies relevant to 6G, including quantum communication devices, quantum computing paradigms, and hybrid quantum-classical approaches is provided. A particular focus is on the role of quantum technologies in enhancing 6G Radio Access Networks (RAN), 6G core and edge network optimization, and 6G security. The survey paper also explores the application of quantum cryptography with a focus on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Quantum Secure Direct Communication (QSDC) and quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms and assesses their implementation challenges and potential impact on 6G networks. We also discuss the significant challenges associated with integrating quantum technologies into existing communications infrastructures, including issues of technological maturity, standardization, and economic considerations. Finally, we summarize the lessons learned from current research and outline future research directions to guide the ongoing development of quantum-enabled 6G networks
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