26729 research outputs found
Sort by
NIHR: National Institute of Health and Care Research mentoring programme
No full textThe purpose of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to develop a highly skilled academic research workforce capable of advancing the best research, which improves health and benefits for society and the economy in England and beyond. We have a central role in England's health and care research landscape. We work alongside other organizations that have an overarching aim to strengthen health research in the United Kingdom (UK).
The NIHR Academy was established in October 2018 following a strategic review of training across the NIHR to review the past and look proactively at future training needs. It set out a vision underpinned by a series of recommendations which led to the reshaping of the training programmes offered.
The NIHR Academy comprises of ‘Members’ and ‘Associates’. Members include those on an NIHR academic path and those who play a recognized role supporting academic development.
In addition to the awards themselves, the NIHR also provides a range of leadership and mentoring programmes to complement its training programmes, regular networking opportunities, bespoke workshops and events, and personal advice and guidance on funding opportunities. Associate Members are those who are part of the NIHR research training ecosystem. They are either on a research trajectory or plan, or an NIHR role in supporting research training.
The NIHR provides postdoctoral Academy Members with career development support through its mentoring programme. The programme supports postdoctoral researchers from a broad range of professional and disciplinary contexts across our diverse health and social care communities to mentor others and to seek a mentor. This chapter outlines the mentoring programme framework, key design features, programme impact and participant experience, finally, lessons learned and future intentions
A logic of isolation
Get PDFIn the vein of recent work that provides non-normal modal interpretations of various topological operators, this paper proposes a modal logic for a spatial isolation operator. Focussing initially on neighborhood systems, we prove several characterization results, demonstrating the adequacy of the interpretation and highlighting certain semantic insensitivities that result from the relative expressive weakness of the isolation operator. We then transition to the topological setting, proving a result for discrete spaces
Accuracy and reproducibility of a novel device for monitoring resistance training performed at self-selected movement velocity
Get PDFResistance training does not necessarily require repetition failure, whereas Velocity-Based training and “training not to failure” are available alternatives to know the optimal point to interrupt the sets. Nevertheless, Velocity-Based training require exclusively maximal intended velocities and training not to failure currently relies on subjectivity to estimate repetitions in reserve. This study evaluated the accuracy and precision of a linear encoder in estimating the maximum number of repetitions during sets performed until failure at self-selected movement velocity. Fifty-seven males were evaluated in three resistance exercises: close-grip lat pulldown, knee extension, and bench press. Accuracy was evaluated by comparing the mean and median of actual and estimated repetitions using t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, respectively. Additionally, the fatigue effect in consecutive sets was analyzed using two-way ANOVA for repeated measures. Levels of agreement were assessed through Bland-Altman analysis, and reproducibility was determined by calculating the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). The results showed no significant difference between actual and estimated repetitions (t178 = 0.307; p > 0.05; ES = 0.02; Z = -0.45; p > 0.05; ES = -0.02), even in the presence of fatigue between consecutive sets. The reproducibility for estimating maximal repetitions was good (ICC3,2 = 0.88 [95% CI = 0.83-0.91], F177,177 = 8.07, p < 0.001), with an acceptable degree of agreement. Errors of less than or equal to two repetitions occurred in over 90% of the series for the close-grip lat pulldown and bench press, with knee extension exhibiting a slightly lower frequency. Hence, practitioners and trainers should consider using this linear encoder for the evaluated exercises, especially when failure is not desired under self-selected velocity conditions
A Canterbury Tale as folk horror
No full textPicking up on a term first used by John Fowles in 1966, ‘folk horror’ has become a popular area of study in British culture, epitomised in its cinematic form by three films –Witchfinder General (1968), The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) and The Wicker Man, (1973). The subgenre focuses on beautiful rural locations, often in contrast to the perverse or violent actions that are taking place within them, and ideas of continuity and tradition within the rural landscape.
A Canterbury Tale deals with all these themes, as well as prefiguring the subgenre’s fixation with male authority – although his motives are different, and his methods more extreme, Christopher Lee’s Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man is a clear descendant of Eric Portman’s Thomas Colpeper.
In a 1960 Times interview (quoted in Lazar, p. 23), Michael Powell described A Canterbury Tale as a European script idea that had been uncomfortably slotted into an English setting. My contention in this paper is that he was mistaken, and that it’s the tension between Pressburger’s script and Powell’s romantic treatment of it that creates the vision of England that the film represents, and that makes it an important precursor to the folk horror subgenre
Home musical activities boost premature infants' language development
Get PDFInfants born prematurely are considered at risk for language development delay and impairments. Using online parental reports, the present study investigated the influence of early musical experience in the home environment (Music@Home Infant Questionnaire) on language development (MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory) while controlling for general enrichment at home (Stim-Q Cognitive Home Environment Questionnaire) and perinatal post-traumatic stress disorder (Perinatal PTSD Questionnaire). Caregivers of 117 infants between 8 and 18 months of age (corrected age) without reported developmental difficulties completed an online survey. Results revealed that the musical home environment significantly predicted outcomes in reported infants' receptive vocabulary and gestural communication, independently from infants' corrected age and general enrichment of home activities. These findings constitute the first evidence that an enriched musical experience can enhance the development of early communication skills in a population at risk for language delays, namely infants born prematurely, opening the path for future intervention research in home and/or early childcare settings. Given that the majority of participants in this study were highly educated and from socioeconomically stable backgrounds, considerations regarding the generalizability of these results are discussed
The consequentiality of absences in social settings: a sensemaking perspective
Get PDFEmpirical sociology’s focus on “things” follows an Aristotelian legacy that prioritises discreteness and concrete singularities—that which are perceived to exist. In turn, such convention is predicated on an ontology of being and a natural focus on presence—the ubiquitous assumption that reality is ultimately atomistic and substantial. This metaphysical outlook has produced outstanding scholarly results. However, it also overlooks the significance of an alternative absence, a persistent but undetected “otherness” that can affect social outcomes. The study shows how absences shape actionable imperatives in social settings and identifies requisite mechanisms through which social arrangements are enacted. Thus, it joins the burgeoning sociology of nothing, absence and loss and stresses the enactive consequentiality of what is missing through a sensemaking lens
Leading engagement and learning in, out and between digital and non-digital interactions
No full textA rich tradition of pedagogical and psychological research has explored the impact of technology on the cognitive and social development of the child. However, little research has focused on the implications of the use of digital technologies in educational settings for children’s agency. How do pedagogical practices in two Primary Schools support young children’s engagement and management of Artificial Intelligence? This chapter presents hybrid-transitions as a theoretical tool to conceptualise transitions between digital and non-digital engagement as spaces at the intersection between young children’s agency and the network of relationships and expectations constituting the context of children’s action. Hybrid-transitions refer to a child’s movement from immersion in digitally enhanced experiences generated by educational technologies to non-digitally mediated interactions with peers or adults. This chapter argues, with the support of examples, that during hybrid-transitions digital experiences are shared via personal narratives linking ideas, experiences and emotions. Framed within dialogic pedagogy, individual narratives are “interlaced” in co-constructed group narratives authored by the children through face-to-face interaction
Navigating social work practice research challenges: collaboration, participant rights and ethics
Get PDFIn this article, we discuss the challenges in engaging with research participants from marginalised communities, including from some minority communities where there are interconnecting issues of poverty, racism, school exclusion, family breakdown and sometimes youth crime. This is aligned with experiences of developing research partnerships with local services in evaluation work. Two research case studies, from evaluation research with child and family social work and the youth justice system, discuss experiences of researching within inner-city areas, navigating researcher–practitioner relationships and maintaining ethical research standards. In both cases, entering the research field presented challenges related to sensitivities and distress experienced by participants. Our case-study discussions demonstrate how the researchers responded to risk and unwitting involvement with young people in conflict, in prison and experiencing family bereavement. Highlighted is the vital importance of local agencies providing accurate information about the families and young people that the researchers are asked to contact in order to ensure that respect and research ethics are upheld and no trauma is caused. Planning and building trust are key to ensuring that time is given for respectful engagement and that agencies are ready for ongoing support and follow-up as needed. The article will explore how these methodological considerations can be taken forward
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in cultural context II: a comparison of the links between ADHD symptoms and waiting-related responses in Hong Kong and UK
Get PDFThe concept of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is considered to have cross-cultural validity, but direct comparisons of its psychological characteristics across cultures are limited. This study investigates whether preschool children’s ADHD symptoms expressed in two cultures with different views about child behaviour and parenting, Hong Kong and the UK, show the same pattern of associations with their waiting-related abilities and reactions, an important marker of early self-regulation. A community sample of 112 preschoolers (mean age = 46.22 months; 55 from UK, 57 from HK) completed three tasks measuring different waiting elements – waiting for rewards, choosing the amount of time to wait, and having to wait unexpectedly when a task is interrupted. Participants’ waiting-related behavioural and emotional reactions were coded. Parents rated their children’s ADHD symptoms and delay aversion. Our findings revealed that the associations between ADHD symptoms and waiting-related responses were comparable in both UK and HK samples. This suggests that the core psychological characteristics of ADHD, particularly in relation to waiting behaviours, may exhibit similarity across cultural contexts. Future research can extend this cross-cultural analysis to other ADHD-related psychological domains and explore additional cultural settings
Charting achievements: a two-year retrospective of the society for environmental geochemistry and health (SEGH) and the evolving strategies
Get PDFEmerging from the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is time to ground ourselves and retrospectively assess the recent achievements of SEGH over the past years. This editorial serves as a comprehensive report on the progress made in comparison to the aspirations and goals set by the society's board in 2019 (Watts et al., Environ Geochem Health 42:343–347, 2019) (Fig. 1) and reflects on the state of the SEGH community as it reached its 50th anniversary at the close of 2021 (Watts et al. Environ Geochem Health 45:1165–1171, 2023). The focus lies on how the SEGH community navigated through the extraordinary challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic since early 2020, and to what extent the 2023 targets have been met