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Compelling storytelling to close the image-identity gap
No full textA keynote address to the National Image Forum of Tsinghua University, Beijing, China on the need for China to address reputation misperceptions through compelling storytelling techniques
Scream and Scream Again
No full textA piece on the Amicus film 'Scream and Scream Again' (Gordon Hessler, UK, 1970) part of Horrified's retrospective of the output of the studi
Explainer: The Illegal Migration Act 2023
No full textJoelle Grogan and Alice Donald explain what the Illegal Migration Act sets out to do, which parts have been brought into force, the practical challenges in implementing it, and whether it is likely to impact on the UK-EU relationship and comply with the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and international law
Monitoring lower limb biomechanical asymmetry and psychological measures in athletic populations - A scoping review
Get PDFBackground: Lower limb biomechanics, including asymmetry, are frequently monitored to determine sport performance level and injury risk. However, contributing factors extend beyond biomechanical and asymmetry measures to include psychological, sociological, and environmental factors. Unfortunately, inadequate research has been conducted using holistic bio-psycho-social models to characterize sport performance and injury risk. Therefore, this scoping review summarized the research landscape of studies concurrently assessing measures of lower limb biomechanics, asymmetry, and introspective psychological state (e.g., pain, fatigue, perceived exertion, stress, etc.) in healthy, competitive athletes. Methods: A systematic search of Medline, Embase, CINAHL, SPORT Discus, and Web of Science Core Collections was designed and conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. 51 articles were included in this review. Results: Significant relationships between biomechanics (k = 22 studies) or asymmetry (k = 20 studies) and introspective state were found. Increased self-reported pain was associated with decreased range of motion, strength, and increased lower limb asymmetry. Higher ratings of perceived exertion were related to increased lower limb asymmetry, self-reported muscle soreness, and worse jump performance. Few studies (k = 4) monitored athletes longitudinally throughout one or more competitive season(s). Conclusion: This review highlights the need for concurrent analysis of introspective, psychological state, and biomechanical asymmetry measures along with longitudinal research to understand the contributing factors to sport performance and injury risk from bio-psycho-social modeling. In doing so, this framework of bio-psycho-social preventive and prognostic patient-centered practices may provide an actionable means of optimizing health, well-being, and sport performance in competitive athletes
Adaptive reuse as social practice
No full textThe paper builds upon prior research by framing adaptive reuse as a social practice that fosters connections within urban communities. It proposes that adaptive reuse, as a process of transforming existing buildings for new purposes, can serve as a catalyst for community building.
The paper challenges the idea that architecture's impact is solely in its physical changes, emphasizing how sites themselves can influence perceptions of identity.
Expanding on this foundation, the paper delves into innovative concepts that amplify the potential of existing structures and sites to yield social impact in terms of spatial production and collective memory, offering the community a platform for engaging with memories, collective thought, and future ideas, even if not directly tied to physical application.
In this context, the paper explores the concept of "collective Interiors," where architectural choices reflect community decisions rather than individual preferences. KilburnLab, a practice-based research project developed by the Interiors Programmes at Middlesex University in London, through collaboration with local stakeholders, has engaged the community in envisioning the future and repurposing abandoned community spaces.
Balancing the positive aspects of urban renewal with safeguards against gentrification is complex. This involves weighing the benefits of revitalization against the risks of displacement and cultural homogenization
Digital exclusion and relative digital deprivation: exploring factors and moderators of internet non-use in the UK
Get PDFThis paper investigates internet non-use in the UK. We apply Resource and Appropriation Theory (RAT), identifying main factors associated with internet non-use in the UK: (1) older age, (2) lower socio-economic classification, (3) disability, (4) less education/qualifications, and (5) lower housing tenure. We extend RAT by exploring magnifying effects of disadvantages, particularly, moderating effects of gender, housing tenure, urban/rural, North/South divide, and ethnicity. Internet non-users tend to be in lower-paid jobs, which impacts productivity even more during than before Covid, closing the loop of the RAT vicious circle. A thread runs through the results on the importance of attitudes and motivation. Accordingly, we recommend interventions based on Relative Digital Deprivation Theory. Once an individual understands that they suffer digital inequality, they are more likely to change attitudes and behavior to reduce inequality. If encouraged by family and friends, they may then view internet non-use as fixable and worth fixing, potentially becoming internet users
Countermovement rebound jump: a comparison of joint work and joint contribution to the countermovement and drop jump tests
Get PDFThe kinetic analysis of joint work and joint contribution provides practitioners with information regarding movement characteristics and strategies of any jump test that is undertaken. This study aimed to compare joint works and contributions, and performance metrics in the countermovement jump (CMJ), drop jump (DJ), and countermovement rebound jump CMRJ. Thirty-three participants completed 18 jumps across two testing sessions. Jump height and strategy-based metrics (time to take-off [TTTO], countermovement depth [CM depth], and ground contact time [GCT]) were measured. Two-way analysis of variance assessed systematic bias between jump types and test sessions (α = 0.05). Reliability was evaluated via intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] and coefficient of variation [CV]. Jump height and strategy-based metrics demonstrated good to excellent reliability (ICC = 0.82–0.98) with moderate CV (≤8.64%). Kinetic variables exhibited moderate to excellent reliability (ICC = 0.64–0.93) with poor to moderate CV (≤25.04%). Moreover, apart from TTTO (p ≤ 0.027, effect size [ES] = 0.49–0.62) that revealed significant differences between jump types, CM depth (p ≤ 0.304, ES = 0.27–0.32) and GCT (p ≤ 0.324, ES = 0.24) revealed nonsignificant trivial to small differences between three jumps in both sessions. Finally, the negative and positive hip and knee works, and positive ankle contribution measured in the CMRJ showed significant differences from the CMJ and DJ (p ≤ 0.048, g ≤ 0.71), with no significant difference observed in other kinetic variables between the three jump actions (p ≥ 0.086). Given the consistent joint works and joint contributions between jump types, the findings suggest that practitioners can utilize the CMRJ as a viable alternative to CMJ and DJ tests, and the CMRJ test offers valuable insights into movement characteristics and training suggestions
Shifting futures perspectives: experiencing diverse futures approaches in practice
No full textPresentation/workshop given at UNESCO World Futures Day 2023, involving elements of storytelling and Performance for Futures
The role of parents and community in the education of their children in Episcopal Church schools in Yei County in the context of a ‘post-independent conflict’ South Sudan (2011-2022) with an emphasis on the issues of role, context, and policy
No full textEducation in South Sudan operates in a context where the government is unable to sustain schools. This research explores the role of parents and community in the education of their children in Episcopal church schools in Yei County in the context of a ‘post-independent conflict’ South Sudan (2011-2022). South Sudanese communities including the churches operate schools in an environment that has faced over twenty years of conflict and continued unrest. Government educational procedures support and structures are largely dysfunctional. Qualitative findings through observations, interviews, thick description and use of documents as a source of data show that the role of parents has emerged as critical, but it is a role not given formal recognition. The use of role and modernization theories and a bottom-up approach in this research reveals that the support of parents, from 1980s to date, are the key to the strong resilience that holds the parents and communities together and enables the education system to function under significantly reduced government spending. Community and church initiatives have led to the emergence and strengthening of grass-roots educational ‘communities of practice’. The research shows that church initiatives in promoting peace for the twenty-one years of conflict forged a learning space for the emergence of these communities in the Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs) that have proved vital in sustaining education. The thesis further argues that the Episcopal Church should be recognised for its efforts in building local democracy and decentralisation. It shows that local communities are negotiating the changes between the strong communalism of traditional societies and the individualism characteristic of modern societies. This shift is visible in the discussions with the parents in PTAs concerning whether they can sustain the roles expected of them, given their lack of professional skills in governance, financial accountability, and bureaucratic procedures. The thesis argues that building an education system in a ‘post-independent conflict’ context requires both ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ approaches because local and national or international expertise and experiences are relevant but require a clearer recognition of the respective roles of parents, community and the government. The thesis proposes a redefinition of the government role in education at national, state and county levels, along with the crucial roles of the churches, Parent Teacher Associations, headteachers, and other community members for more effective learning in the current situation
Privacy-preserving and fine-grained data sharing for resource-constrained healthcare CPS devices
No full textMedical cyber-physical systems (CPS) provide the possibility for real-time health monitoring of patients and flexible diagnostic services based on expert systems by collaboratively integrating and connecting various physical devices including sensors, terminals, and cloud infrastructure. However, the ubiquitous security threats in cyberspace have raised concerns about data security and user privacy. Although related works propose to protect data security and user privacy with cryptographic protocols, their heavy computational and storage overheads incur performance and battery life challenges for resource-constrained devices in the healthcare CPS. This article proposes an energy-saving and privacy-preserving data sharing (ESPPDS) scheme to address the challenge. ESPPDS inherits the anonymous fine-grained access control from attribute-based encryption (ABE) while protecting data integrity and supporting efficient user revocation. We also eliminate the repetitive computations of ciphertext components by utilizing the online/ offline encryption technology, and design a subtle and secure trick to delegate the decryption operations to the edge device, thereby reducing the computational overheads of the resource-constrained devices. We then show the security proof, and discuss the construction in the untrusted/ compromised server setting. The comparison and experiment indicate that ESPPDS is practical and more efficient than related schemes