12244 research outputs found
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Borders: investigating liminality, outsiderness and solitude through an exploration of the sound environments of Andover
Get PDFThis practice-based research project examines the relationships between sound, place, and identity through an investigation of liminality, solitude, and outsiderness in the context of Andover, a market town in southern England. The study is centred around a portfolio of soundwalk-based compositions that explore transitional and peripheral environments where urban and rural soundscapes meet.
Using methods grounded in soundwalking, art-walking, and some psychogeographic approaches, the research explores how compositional practices can frame everyday sound environments and how these practices explore the themes of liminality, solitude and outsiderness. The work focuses on liminal geographic and acoustic spaces, where differing environmental conditions meet, and examines how these areas can be represented and interpreted through artistic practice.
The compositions are realised through solitary walks and are documented using a range of media, including field recordings, photography, film and text. These documentations are intended to represent the acoustic features and personal experiences of specific locations and link them with the broader themes being investigated. The compositions engage with the sonic characteristics of Andover's environments and outskirts, and investigate how these contribute to influences on memory and a sense of place.
The thesis presents the outcomes of these explorations as contributions to the understanding of liminal environments and compositional responses to everyday soundscapes. It proposes that soundwalking and related practices provide useful tools for investigating liminality, solitude and outsiderness, and for articulating nuanced relationships between individual perception and the acoustic environment
To understand the experiences of autistic counsellors: a United Kingdom phenomenological study
Get PDFAim:-
The study was designed to explore the experiences of autistic counsellors living and working in the United Kingdom (UK). The research question was split into four aims: exploring presenting differences, strategies and modalities preferences, challenges and barriers, and training and support needs.
Method:-
Seven autistic counsellors, either self-identified or diagnosed, completed semi-structured questionnaires. Patterns and themes were then extracted from the data using a thematic analysis procedure.
Findings:-
The data analysis identified four themes: the practical differences of working as an autistic counsellor, working with a similar neurotype, understanding and accommodation within the counselling profession, and representation.
Conclusion:-
Participants felt that being autistic brings unique strengths to the counselling process, and it was identified that while they have been trained to work with allistic (non-autistic) clients, they found strength in supporting and being supported by those of a similar neurotype. Participants challenged the deficit depiction of autism and, subsequently, the lack of recognition, understanding, accommodation and representation of autistic counsellors within the profession. The participants called for a change in training, within professional bodies, counselling organisations, workplaces and colleagues.
Recommendations:-
Counselling training needs to include autistic trainers, represent and accommodate autistic trainees, as well as support the needs of autistic clients.
Counselling bodies need to create safe spaces for autistic counsellors, including the ability to advertise within directories and support the endorsement of neurological differences as strengths. These spaces need to challenge the archaic beliefs around autism through lived experience and the hiring of autistic professionals. Inclusivity should be encouraged within organisations and workplaces, consequently filtering to allistic colleagues
Influence of growth, capital structure, profitability, and size on FTSE 100 enterprise value
Get PDFThis study aims to examine the influence of growth, capital structure, and profitability on enterprise value (EV) using data from the FTSE 100 companies. It seeks to identify the pivotal elements related to the EV and understand how they interact with each other. The study collects data from the annual reports of FTSE 100 companies for the period of 2019–2023. Regression analyses are conducted to examine the relationships between the variables after robust checks. The analysis reveals that capital structure and business size have a major impact on EV, with larger firms and higher levels of debt financing associated with higher EVs. However, there is no significant relationship between growth rate and EV. The impact of profitability on EV is mixed, with return on assets (ROA) showing a weak negative correlation and return on equity (ROE) showing a weak positive correlation. By offering particular insights into the factors that determine EV within the FTSE 100, this study fills in the gaps in the body of previous research. It offers valuable contributions to both academic research and practical applications by exploring the nuanced dynamics of the connections between EV and growth, capital structure, and profitability
Consumer alternative dispute resolution in emerging economies
No full textThis book provides a comprehensive guide to consumer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADRs) and the unconventional challenges they pose for emerging economies, aiming to advance their growth within developing nations.
Written in response to the increasing number of transactions between consumers and traders in the digital age, and the accompanying rise in consumer disputes, the book details ADR systems which have come to the fore to settle complaints. Covering ADR techniques including arbitration, mediation, and ombudsman services, it provides a guide to efficient dispute resolution and its application to emerging economies worldwide. The book also examines the role of technology in shaping ADR processes, given the prevalence of digital transactions in consumer markets.
Thoughtfully explaining the challenges faced in implementing these systems, it suggests how governments and businesses can encourage the use of ADR, alongside providing practical case studies detailing past integrations into emerging economies.
Practical, thorough and internationally focused, this book will be of interest to researchers in the field of dispute resolution, consumer law and technology
Cotard’s: a controlled single case study of putative perceptual, cognitive and psychological risk factors
No full textIn this controlled case study, we report the psychological and neuropsychological features in a 55-year-old female (D.R.) with a history of Cotard’s. Her nihilistic delusion was marked by the belief that her torso had dissolved, and food passed directly from her mouth into her legs which were hollow. Her delusion developed in the context of major depressive disorder (with psychotic features), which was diagnosed by a certified psychiatrist (F.O.).
During the prodromal phase, D.R. experienced distortion of body parts and abnormal somatosensory sensations which exhibited a spatial correlation with the somatosensory homunculus and areas of heightened sensory innervation. During remission, low-level visual perceptual impairments in identifying degraded letters, object silhouettes and matching unfamiliar faces viewed under different lighting conditions and or different angles, that strikingly dissociated from an otherwise intact neuropsychological profile. Additionally, subtle manifestations of internally generated bodily signals, such as distortion, peculiar tastes, and feelings of uncleanness, were noted, along with an external attribution style. Collectively, these features are posited to represent stable or mediating vulnerability factors rather than transient indicators of dysfunction. This observation aligns with the notion that organic or functional involvement in Cotard’s manifests when information processing systems are subjected to high-stress levels during the prodromal and active phases of functional disorders. Inherent weaknesses within information processing systems and high-level attribution biases may be artificially exposed under direct measurement by challenging the processing systems with specific stimuli and tasks that are particularly challenging.
The findings are discussed in reference to models of delusion formation
e-Health strategy for surgical prioritization: a methodology based on Digital Twins and reinforcement learning
Get PDFThis article presents a methodological framework for elective surgery scheduling based on the integration of patient-specific Digital Twins (DTs) and reinforcement learning (RL). The proposed approach aims to support the future development of an intelligent e-health platform for dynamic, data-driven prioritization of surgical patients. We generate prioritization scores by modeling clinical, economic, behavioral, and social variables in real time and optimize access through a reinforcement learning engine designed to maximize long-term system performance. The methodology is designed as a modular, transparent, and interoperable digital decision-support architecture aligned with the goals of organizational transformation and equitable healthcare delivery. To validate its potential, we simulate realistic surgical scheduling scenarios using synthetic patient data. Results demonstrate substantial improvements compared withto traditional strategies, including a 55.1% reduction in average wait time, a 41.9% decrease in clinical risk at surgery, a 16.1% increase in OR utilization, and a significant increase in the prioritization of socially vulnerable patients. These findings highlight the value of the proposed framework as a foundation for future smart healthcare platforms that support transparent, adaptive, and ethically aligned decision-making in surgical scheduling
Not that kind of hero
No full textOrla has always been the sidekick, never the hero . . .
Until, that is, she secures a funded place at an elite drama course and puts her own dreams first for once in her life. Suddenly, Orla is centre-stage and loving it! But the drama crowd are experienced performers and their parents have shelled out a fortune for them to be on the course. Orla can’t help but feel left out – she has to earn her pocket money and her responsibilities at home can’t just be ignored.
Then again, doesn’t she deserve to want things for herself? Especially when beautiful and funny drama boy, Cass, starts flirting with her . . .
With life-changing auditions around the corner Orla finds herself torn in two by an impossible choice. Should she protect her chosen family, or herself
Can disabled people’s experiences of exclusion in pandemic higher education encourage the promotion of inclusive research practices?
No full textThe Coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly caused significant disruption in how higher education operates, both in terms of the processes of teaching and learning, and research cultures. In light of these challenges and necessary changes, there is a clear opportunity for rethinking cultures, specifically those where qualitative person-focussed research is carried out and, by so doing, promote inclusive research practices. In this chapter, written by three disabled academics, we contend that, for such inclusive research practices to emerge, disabled people’s experiences of conducting and participating in research, as well as being in academia in general, need to be considered. We demonstrate that disabled people’s experiences of disadvantage and how they respond to exclusionary barriers faced within academia offer important insights and facilitate innovation for building inclusive research cultures post-pandemic. Empirical data supporting our argument comes from two focus groups conducted during the pandemic with seven disabled people, including the authors of this chapter. These focus groups explored the barriers that disabled people encounter when conducting and participating in academic research. Our suggestions for how to implement inclusive research practices going forward are grounded in these narratives