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Deep learning analysis of plasma emissions: A potential system for monitoring methane and hydrogen in the pyrolysis processes
Get PDFThe estimation of methane and hydrogen production as output from a pyrolysis reaction is paramount to monitor the process and optimize its parameters. In this study, we propose a novel experimental approach for monitoring methane pyrolysis reactions aimed at hydrogen production by quantifying methane and hydrogen output from the system. While we appreciate the complexity of molecular outputs from methane hydrolysis process, our primary approach is a simplified model considering detection of hydrogen and methane only which involves three steps: continuous gas sampling, feeding of the sample into an argon plasma, and employing deep learning model to estimate of the methane and hydrogen concentration from the plasma spectral emission. While our model exhibits promising performance, there is still significant room for improvement in accuracy, especially regarding hydrogen quantification in the presence of methane and other hydrogen bearing molecules. These findings present exciting prospects, and we will discuss future steps necessary to advance this concept, which is currently in its early stages of development
Time-varying Parameters in Monetary Policy Rules: A GMM Approach
Get PDFThis paper assesses time variation in monetary policy rules by applying a Time-Varying Parameter Generalised Methods of Moments (TVP-GMM) framework. Using monthly data until December 2022 for five inflation targeting countries (the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden) and five countries with alternative monetary regimes (the US, Japan, Denmark, the Euro Area, Switzerland), we find that monetary policy has become more averse to inflation and more responsive to the output gap in both sets of countries over time. In particular, there has been a clear shift in inflation targeting countries towards a more hawkish stance on inflation since the adoption of this regime and a greater response to both inflation and the output gap in most countries after the global financial crisis, which indicates a stronger reliance on monetary rules to stabilise the economy in recent years. It also appears that inflation targeting countries pay greater attention to the exchange rate pass-through channel when setting interest rates. Finally, monetary surprises do not seem to be an important determinant of the evolution over time of the Taylor rule parameters, which suggests a high degree of monetary policy transparency in the countries under examination
Return to Practice for Allied Health Professionals with protected characteristics: a mixed method study.
Get PDFIntroduction:
Return to Practice is one mechanism for recruiting and retaining Allied Health Professionals within the health and care workforce in England. Bringing back trained professionals, who may have left the workforce due to different circumstances with a programme of support to register with the professional regulator is in place, but it is not known how this affects persons with protected characteristics.
Aim:
To understand experiences of Allied Health Professionals with protected characteristics of returning to the workforce through a Return to Practice Programme.
Method:
A QUAL (semi structured interviews) + qual (focus-group interviews) mixed methods study. 12 online semi structured interviews with Return to Practice AHPs who had a protected characteristic, followed by 2 online focus groups with Return to Practice AHPs and workforce leads to further explore themes from interviews.
Results:
Our research identifies a new type of returner who are having to use Return to Practice programme as a vehicle to step into health and social care as they have not been able to find employment. A main driver to return to practice was financial reasons and not a sense of moral obligation to contribute to the health and care workforce needs.
Conclusion:
There is a need for organisational cultural changes to support return to practice for AHPs with protected characteristics. There needs to be a greater focus by AHP
leaders on flexible working to retain workers. To date there is little evidence of leaders understanding the complexities of AHPs in a return to practice programme, the considerable contribution they can make to the workplace and the current inequities that exist
Does Identity as a Drinker Predict Problem Recognition Motivation in Harmful Drinkers?
Get PDFHarmful drinking is associated with significant negative health and social outcomes, but drinkers are reticent to recognise personal drinking problems, hindering natural recovery or help-seeking. Recent evidence suggests that social identity as a drinker is associated with various drinking-related factors but has not been examined in relation to likelihood of problem recognition. In a group of ninety-six harmful drinkers (61 females, M age = 34 years) we explored how identity components associated with ingroup self-investment and ingroup self-definition in combination with implicit identity as a drinker accounted for degrees of problem recognition. In addition to demographic information, addiction experience and drinking behaviour (AUDIT), respondents completed measures of ingroup self-investment (identity centrality, solidarity, and satisfaction), ingroup self-definition (ingroup homogeneity and self-stereotyping), a “self as drinker” identity implicit association test and problem recognition (four items from the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale). After controlling for possible covariates (age, gender and alcohol addiction experience) increased problem recognition was accounted for by explicit and not implicit identity components. More specifically, increasing perceived chronic saliency of one’s drinker identity (self-investment in the drinker ingroup) and not an implicit association between the self and being a drinker was related to increased likelihood of problem recognition. This suggests that how chronically and explicitly accessible the identity of the drinker is for individuals might operate to stimulate the willingness or motivation to recognise potential drinking related harm
Young People’s use of Disposable Vapes: A Qualitative Study
Get PDFBackground and Aims: Youth use of disposable vapes has increased markedly in the UK in recent years, yet little is known about the motivations, experiences and perceptions of young people themselves. This study aimed to explore young people’s experiences and use of disposable vapes.
Methods: Qualitative study recruiting young people reporting regularly vaping disposables, collecting data via dyad guided, individual and group interviews. Data analysis was theoretically informed by the Social Ecological Model. Inductive and deductive coding approaches were used, with resolution of coded interpretations by consensus.
Results: Twenty-nine young people aged 16-20 participated in qualitative interviews. At the individual level, participants discussed how characteristics of disposable vapes were important to them – particularly price, accessibility, and the attractive designs, colours, names and flavours. Young people frequently engaged in both vaping and tobacco smoking, seeing the behaviours as interchangeable dependent on context, and having inaccurate relative harm perceptions of vaping compared with smoking. Experimentation was widespread and many used vapes as a way of managing stress and anxiety. Vaping was positioned as a social behaviour, common amongst peers. Parental influence on vaping behaviour was minimal, although vaping initiation could be influenced by family vaping norms. Culturally, vaping was a widespread normalised behaviour. Young people were aware of media reports and potential harms, but were less aware of smoking related harms as a consequence.
Conclusions: Disposable vapes appear to be attractive and accessible to young people in the UK. Vaping is normalised in this population, despite being seen as potentially damaging to health, and vaping and smoking are engaged in interchangeably. Underage sales of vapes are reportedly widespread. Strict regulation, such as banning products or increasing prices, may prompt UK youth to switch from vaping to smoking
Development and validation of a scale to measure social isolation in adolescents
Get PDFBackground: There is a lack of questionnaires specifically designed to assess social isolation in adolescents. We developed and validated a self-report measure of social isolation in adolescents, the Social Isolation Questionnaire (QIS).
Methods: A literature review on social isolation and mental health in adolescents indicated 20 questions to form QIS. Two cross-sectional surveys with 48 and 1,135 adolescents, respectively, evaluated the reproducibility and validity of QIS.
Results: The Bland-Altman plot did not indicate a systematic difference between measurements 15 days apart. Bartlett’s sphericity test verified a correlation between the questions and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test showed good adequacy (0.896) to the factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis suggested the exclusion of three questions (loading factors <0.3), and eigenvalues (4.9 to 0.8) indicated that the questionnaire should be composed of three factors (dimensions). The Cronbach’s alpha indicated high internal consistency of the 17 questions (0.850 overall; Dimensions: 0.815 ‘feeling of loneliness’; 0.760 ‘friendship’; and, 0.680 ‘Family support’). The QIS score ranged from 0 to 131 (maximum social isolation score). Correlation between QIS and depressive symptoms (r=0.543) indicated the construct validity of QIS.
Limitations: We evaluated QIS in the Portuguese version, thus translation and cultural adaptation are necessary to evaluate the questionnaire in other settings.
Conclusions: We constructed and validated the QIS questionnaire, a self-administered questionnaire to assess social isolation in adolescents, composed of three dimensions; feeling of loneliness, friendship and family support. The QIS questionnaire seems a very promising tool to support practitioners and researchers in assessing social isolation among adolescents
Complexity biomechanics: a case study of dragonfly wing design from constituting composite material to higher structural levels.
Get PDFPresenting a novel framework for sustainable and regenerative design and development is a fundamental future need. Here we argue that a new framework, referred to as complexity biomechanics, which can be used for holistic analysis and understanding of natural mechanical systems, is key to fulfilling this need. We also present a roadmap for the design and development of intelligent and complex engineering materials, mechanisms, structures, systems, and processes capable of automatic adaptation and self-organization in response to ever-changing environments. We apply complexity biomechanics to elucidate how the different structural components of a complex biological system as dragonfly wings, from ultrastructure of the cuticle, the constituting bio-composite material of the wing, to higher structural levels, collaboratively contribute to the functionality of the entire wing system. This framework not only proposes a paradigm shift in understanding and drawing inspiration from natural systems but also holds potential applications in various domains, including materials science and engineering, biomechanics, biomimetics, bionics, and engineering biology. [Abstract copyright: © 2024 The Author(s).
Prioritization of noise abatement methods for controlling hospital noise pollution
Get PDFNoise pollution in hospitals has increased over the last few years to a level that can threaten the health and productivity of staff and patient safety. There are many control measures to reduce hospital noise. However, there is still no consensus on the best measures. This study aims to prioritize the control measures for reducing hospital noise. The work is divided into three phases. The first phase identifies and categorizes noise sources in hospitals through a review of the state-of-the art literature using Scopus®, ProQuest, PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase,™ and Web of Science™. The second phase identifies possible strategies for reduction of hospital noise and the best criteria for their adoption using findings from the literature review and interviews with corresponding experts. The third phase uses Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (fuzzy TOPSIS) method to weigh the criteria and to prioritize the control measures. Based on the results, hospital noise sources were classified into four groups: outdoor noise sources (29.7%), noise produced by domestic facilities (20.8%), indoor noise from human activities (27.5%), and noise produced by diagnostic and treatment equipment (22%). The study further arrives at a set of 9 criteria and 22 alternatives ranked using FAHP and fuzzy TOPSIS. The criteria’s weights were determined using the FAHP method, with feasibility (0.175), effectiveness (0.143), and interference with staff activities (0.140) being the most important criteria. It was found that engineering controls such as substitution of noisy equipment (rank = 1), using acoustic enclosures (rank = 2), using double-glazed windows (rank = 2), and soundproofing walls, doors, and windows (rank = 3) have priority for reducing hospital noise
NURSING AND MIDWIFERY STUDENTS’ LENS: CONNECTING THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE WITH CLINICAL PRACTICE: AN INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY
Get PDFAim: To explore and critically analyse the strategies employed by final-year BSc pre-registration nursing and midwifery students at an inner London university to connect theoretical knowledge with clinical practice, to promote their learning and professional development. Background: Navigating the theory-practice gap has been a significant challenge for nursing and midwifery students. While there are many perspectives from academics and clinicians, how theoretical knowledge is connected with clinical practice is rarely discussed and studied from the students’ perspectives. Design: Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to understand nursing and midwifery students' experiences in connecting theoretical knowledge with clinical practice. Rather than attempting to establish objective truth, this thesis focused on participants’ subjective experiences. Method: This study employed a qualitative research design. The data was obtained using semi-structured interviews and analysed using an inductive approach. The study population included (n=12) pre-registration nursing and midwifery students enrolled on a Bachelor of Science programs. Findings: Four themes emerged (1) Complexity of embodied knowledge; (2) Sensing the meaning of personal and professional learning; (3) Demographic attributes and self-understanding; (4) Sense-making of COVID-19. Conclusion: The process by which pre-registration nursing and midwifery students connect theoretical knowledge with clinical practice is complex and multifaceted. It intersects with other factors and cannot be understood in isolation. This interconnectedness necessitates a thorough examination of all the variables involved
Borophene: A 2D Wonder Shaping the Future of Nanotechnology and Materials Science
No full textThis comprehensive review explores the expanding potential of two-dimensional (2D) materials, with a specific emphasis on borophene, in the realm of energy harvesting and storage. The article initiates by elucidating the foundational aspects of 2D materials, encompassing diverse synthesis methods and intrinsic properties like high carrier mobility, tunable bandgap, and exceptional thermal conductivity. The focal point of the review revolves around the diverse applications of 2D materials, spanning photoelectric energy harvesting, thermoelectric energy conversion, and vibrational energy capture. Furthermore, the article delves into the pivotal roles played by 2D materials in advancing energy storage technologies, including batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells. To anticipate future advancements, the review identifies crucial research trajectories, including the development of novel 2D materials with enhanced properties, the innovation of cutting-edge device architectures, and the strategic integration of 2D materials with existing energy technologies. In conclusion, this review provides a comprehensive perspective on how 2D materials, particularly led by borophene, are poised to reshape the energy landscape. It caters to the interests of researchers, engineers, policymakers, and investors eager to contribute to and navigate the evolving course of energy innovation