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Creeds as Practice:A Practice-Engaged Theology
No full textDrawing from new empirical work on experiences of saying creeds among older Christians in South-West London, this article presents a practice-engaged theology of the creeds. While much has been said about what creeds say, less has been said about what it means to say creeds. Moving beyond the standard definition of creeds as statements of belief, this article considers what it might mean to think of creeds as practice. It argues that the performance of saying creeds, the practice of not saying creeds, the idea of praying creeds, and the difference all this makes to the nature of belief contribute to the overall meaning of creeds in theologically important ways
Economic Policy Uncertainty and Accounting Reporting Complexity
No full textWe posit that accounting reporting complexity includes two components-monetary reporting complexity (MRC) and textual reporting complexity (TRC). It is generally challenging to disentangle these components because they tend to increase with real business activities. Economic policy uncertainty (EPU) provides an ideal setting to overcome this challenge. Greater EPU reduces real business activities, suggesting a reduction in MRC. However, TRC can increase or decrease depending on disclosure incentives. Using monetary and textual eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) tags to measure MRC and TRC, respectively, we find that high EPU reduces MRC but increases TRC. These findings survive a series of robustness checks. Additional analyses show that [1] these relationships hold for all ten policy categories; [2] the reduction in five hard-to-reverse business activities drives the reduction in MRC; [3] the decrease in MRC drives the increase in TRC; [4] the simultaneous changes in MRC and TRC help reduce the increase in information asymmetry due to high EPU; and [5] these relationships are stronger for firms relying more on the government for their operations and weaker for firms with high political risk or proprietary risk. Collectively, these results suggest that, when facing greater uncertainty about future economic policies, firms tend to delay real economic activities and justify this reduction using textual disclosure. Our study makes several contributions to research on economic policy uncertainty and accounting reporting complexity
Safety leadership, participation, and knowledge sharing: catalysts for safety compliance Available to Purchase
No full textPets, Power, and Legitimacy
Get PDFThis article argues that the relations of social and political power that obtain between humans and pets are illegitimate. We begin by showing that pets, a largely neglected population in political philosophy, are subject to socially and politically organised power, which stands in need of justification. We then argue that pets have three moral complaints against the relations of power to which they are subject. First, our power over pets disrespects their moral independence: the fact that they are not simply available to be used to serve the interests or projects of others. Second, our power over pets systematically sets back their interests in exercising control over their own body, actions, and environment. Third, in subjecting pets to asymmetric relations of power in which they are heavily dependent on humans for the satisfaction of their interests, we subject them to objectionable risks of harm. Together, these complaints support our thesis that the power relations central to the institution of pet keeping are illegitimate. The practical upshot is that we have a strong moral reason to abolish this institution
A Model Driven Framework for Gamification of Learning Introductory Programming
No full textProgramming is widely recognized as a fundamental and practical skill applicable across diverse fields through various applications. However, novices often face challenges in learning programming, primarily due to the absence of a structured instructional framework and the complexity of underlying concepts. This obstacle can diminish learners' motivation to pursue further education. To address this, gamification is employed as a strategy to engage and inspire beginners in their educational journey. Consequently, the utilization of a gamified online programming education system is proposed to simplify the learning process. Nevertheless, designing and implementing educational courses that effectively integrate gaming elements requires expertise in the gaming field. In this study, a model-driven approach creates a gamification framework for teaching programming. The methodology develops a domain-specific modeling language for programming concepts and gamification, designs a graphical editor for course design, and implements a model-to-code transformation engine requiring minimal prior knowledge. Evaluation through usability testing, questionnaires, and the GQM approach shows enhanced usability, improved effectiveness, and high satisfaction compared to traditional methods. The framework offer a solution for simplifying gamified course development and supporting novice programmers<br/
The Unseen Challenges: A Qualitative and Multicentre Study Exploring the Experiences of Palliative Care Professionals During COVID-19 Crisis
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected countries at different times and to varying degrees, placing significant pressure on healthcare systems and challenging the delivery of end-of-life care. Palliative care professionals faced unprecedented circumstances, requiring rapid adaptation to maintain the quality of care for vulnerable populations. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore the experiences, challenges, and perspectives of healthcare professionals providing palliative care in Brazil and England during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative multicenter study was conducted with 36 healthcare professionals (18 occupational therapists and 18 nurses) from various palliative care services in Brazil and England. Data were collected remotely through semi-structured interviews and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings revealed that professionals experienced intense emotional distress and ethical challenges, particularly related to providing care in isolation and managing silent mourning processes. The study also highlighted the rapid adaptation of palliative care services in response to pandemic constraints, such as the implementation of telehealth and restructured workflows. Despite challenges, professionals demonstrated creativity and resilience, with innovations emerging from crisis situations to ensure continuity of care. The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted palliative care delivery, prompting teams to develop new strategies to support patients, families, and colleagues. The experience fostered reflection on care practices and emphasised the critical role of palliative care in public health emergencies. These findings provide valuable insights for future preparedness and underline the need for stronger integration of palliative care in healthcare systems during pandemics
The British Journal of Music Therapy : A 25-year retrospective
No full textTo mark 25 years of the British Journal of Music Therapy (BJMT) since the millennium in 2000, we have invited editors of the journal over the past quarter century to reflect on their time in this role and offer their thoughts about the music therapy profession. Their responses are presented here with minimal editing and without commentary as a contribution to the history of BJMT and its role in the music therapy profession. Exceptionally for BJMT, this article has not been peer- reviewed, but all authors have read each other’s contributions and offered corrections of fact where needed. We are grateful to them for the time and effort they have put into responding to this initiative. Each contributor was asked to reflect on the issues they faced during their time as editor, and to choose articles published under their editorship which they felt represented significant developments in practice or thinking in the profession. They were also invited to give their thoughts on the current and future role for BJMT. Articles are not referenced in the standard way but titles, authors, year of publication and BJMT issue numbers are given, with active links in the online edition of the journal
Beyond employability: Repositioning industry placements as strategic University–Industry relationships
No full textAlthough industry placements are widely used across UK higher education, their potential as strategic platforms for university-industry (UI) collaboration remains insufficiently explored. Conventionally conceptualised as mechanisms for enhancing student employability, placements are rarely framed as foundational vehicles for knowledge exchange and long-term relationship-building between universities and businesses. This paper reconceptualises industry placements as an organic model of UI engagement, situated within a triadic relationship between students, universities, and industry partners. Drawing on qualitative evidence from multiple placement programmes, we identify organisational, communicative, and structural dynamics that either constrain or enable the transformation of placements into broader strategic partnerships. Key barriers include misaligned institutional priorities and limited stakeholder involvement, whereas enablers include geographical proximity, mutual trust, and proactive academic engagement. We conclude by proposing a framework for embedding placements as integral components of the innovation-employability ecosystem, offering actionable recommendations for universities and industry stakeholders
The Old Guard's (2020) New Order: Gina Prince-Bythewood, Andy & Nile, and 'the opportunity to put a young Black female hero into the world'
Get PDFEdge-Enabled Hybrid Encryption Framework for Secure Health Information Exchange in IoT-Based Smart Healthcare Systems
No full textThe integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing is transforming healthcare by enabling real-time acquisition, processing, and exchange of sensitive patient data close to the data source. However, the distributed nature of IoT-enabled smart healthcare systems exposes them to severe security and privacy risks during health information exchange (HIE). This study proposes an edge-enabled hybrid encryption framework that combines elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), HMAC-SHA256, and the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to ensure data confidentiality, integrity, and efficient computation in healthcare communication networks. The proposed model minimizes latency and reduces cloud dependency by executing encryption and verification at the network edge. It provides the first systematic comparison of hybrid encryption configurations for edge-based HIE, evaluating CPU usage, memory consumption, and scalability across varying data volumes. Experimental results demonstrate that the ECC + HMAC-SHA256 + AES configuration achieves high encryption efficiency and strong resistance to attacks while maintaining lightweight processing suitable for edge devices. This approach provides a scalable and secure solution for protecting sensitive health data in next-generation IoT-enabled smart healthcare systems