123 research outputs found
Continuous ambulatory blood pressure monitoring using optical fibre sensors
No full textAbnormal blood pressure (BP) is a key indicator of cardiovascular dysfunction and a leading risk factor for stroke, heart failure, and mortality. Hypertension affects more than a quarter of adults in England, costing the NHS approximately £2.1 billion annually. Despite effective therapies, rates of uncontrolled BP remain high, underscoring the need for earlier detection and continuous monitoring. Beat-to-beat BP measurement offers distinct advantages by capturing rapid cardiovascular dynamics, yet current methods face limitations: invasive catheters are unsuitable for long-term use, oscillometric cuffs lack temporal resolution, and photoplethysmography (PPG) is prone to artefacts, latency, and skin-tone variability.
This thesis presents a novel, non-invasive cuffless blood pressure (BP) monitoring system that employs fibre Bragg grating (FBG) cantilever sensors to estimate pulse transit time (PTT) and integrates electrocardiography (ECG) to derive pulse arrival time (PAT). The proposed system offers a light-insensitive and motion-resilient solution capable of high-fidelity pulse detection, making it suitable for real-time monitoring across clinical, home, and telemedicine settings.
A validated pipeline -- spanning mechanics, temperature-strain decoupling, phantom haemodynamics, and in-human exercise trials -- demonstrates technical feasibility, with a biocompatible FBG cantilever and compact interrogator achieving tens-of-milliseconds timing resolution. In human trials, PAT showed strong inverse correlations with systolic BP and heart rate, supporting its use in cuffless monitoring. Algorithmically, a GAN-based reconstruction stage restored morphology under artefacts, while Bayesian Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) produced calibrated mmHg estimates (systolic ≤10 mmHg, diastolic ≤4 mmHg) and modelled inter- and intra-subject variability.
By combining high-sensitivity optical sensing, probabilistic modelling, and AI-based signal reconstruction, this work establishes a new pathway toward continuous, personalised BP monitoring. The findings have direct implications for next-generation medical devices that support early diagnosis, community screening, and digital health strategies aimed at reducing the global burden of hypertension
Continuous ambulatory blood pressure monitoring using optical fibre sensors
No full textAbnormal blood pressure (BP) is a key indicator of cardiovascular dysfunction and a leading risk factor for stroke, heart failure, and mortality. Hypertension affects more than a quarter of adults in England, costing the NHS approximately £2.1 billion annually. Despite effective therapies, rates of uncontrolled BP remain high, underscoring the need for earlier detection and continuous monitoring. Beat-to-beat BP measurement offers distinct advantages by capturing rapid cardiovascular dynamics, yet current methods face limitations: invasive catheters are unsuitable for long-term use, oscillometric cuffs lack temporal resolution, and photoplethysmography (PPG) is prone to artefacts, latency, and skin-tone variability.
This thesis presents a novel, non-invasive cuffless blood pressure (BP) monitoring system that employs fibre Bragg grating (FBG) cantilever sensors to estimate pulse transit time (PTT) and integrates electrocardiography (ECG) to derive pulse arrival time (PAT). The proposed system offers a light-insensitive and motion-resilient solution capable of high-fidelity pulse detection, making it suitable for real-time monitoring across clinical, home, and telemedicine settings.
A validated pipeline -- spanning mechanics, temperature-strain decoupling, phantom haemodynamics, and in-human exercise trials -- demonstrates technical feasibility, with a biocompatible FBG cantilever and compact interrogator achieving tens-of-milliseconds timing resolution. In human trials, PAT showed strong inverse correlations with systolic BP and heart rate, supporting its use in cuffless monitoring. Algorithmically, a GAN-based reconstruction stage restored morphology under artefacts, while Bayesian Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) produced calibrated mmHg estimates (systolic ≤10 mmHg, diastolic ≤4 mmHg) and modelled inter- and intra-subject variability.
By combining high-sensitivity optical sensing, probabilistic modelling, and AI-based signal reconstruction, this work establishes a new pathway toward continuous, personalised BP monitoring. The findings have direct implications for next-generation medical devices that support early diagnosis, community screening, and digital health strategies aimed at reducing the global burden of hypertension
Detective fiction in Cuban society and culture.
No full textPhDThe object of this thesis is to reach towards an understanding of Cuban society through a
study of its detective fiction and more particularly contemporary Cuban society through
the novels of the author and critic, Leonardo Padura Fuentes.
The method has been to trace the development of Cuban detective writing and to
read Padura Fuentes in the light of the work of twentieth century Western European
literary critics and philosophers including Raymond Williams, Antonio Gramsci, Terry
Eagleton, Roland Barthes, Jean Paul Sartre, Michel Foucault, Jean François Lyotard and
Jean Baudrillard in order to gain a better understanding of the social and historical
context from which this genre emerged.
By concentrating on the literary texts, I have explored readings which lead out into
an analysis of the broader philosophical, political and historical issues raised by the
Cuban revolution. Since it deals primarily with modes of deviance and notions of legality
and justice within the context of the modern state, detective fiction is particularly well
suited to this type of investigation. The intention is to show how this is as valid in the
Cuban context as it is in advanced capitalist societies where such research has already
been carried out with some success.
The thesis comprises an introduction, ten chapters and a conclusion. The chapters
are divided into three sections. Chapters 1 to 3 attempt a broad theoretical, historical and
socio-political analysis of the cultural reality within which the Cuban revolutionary
detective genre emerged. Chapters 4 to 6 analyse the Cuban detective narrative from its
inception in the early part of the twentieth century until the emergence of Leonardo
Padura Fuentes as the foremost exponent of the genre in Cuba after 1991. Chapters 7-
10 concentrate upon the work of Leonardo Padura Fuentes, offering a reading of his
detective tetralogy informed by the preceding discussion.
The contribution made by the thesis to knowledge of the subject is to build upon the
work of Seymour Menton and Amelia S. Simpson on the development of the Cuban
detective novel and to provide analyses of the pre-Revolutionary Cuban detective
narrative and the work of Leonardo Padura Fuentes for the first time in the English
language. The thesis concludes that the study of this popular genre in Cuba is of crucial
importance to the scholar who wishes to reach as full an understanding of the social
dynamics within that society as possible. In particular, it proves that Cuban detective
fiction provides a useful barometer of social change which records the shifts in the Cuban
Zeitgeist that have taken place over the past century
Property rights, strategy, and institutional environment
No full textA presente tese investiga como o Ambiente Institucional influencia o modo de governança de direitos de propriedade e a estratégia das firmas. O estudo divide-se em duas partes. A primeira parte empreende uma investigação teórica que se constitui em três etapas. Primeiro, examina-se o modelo de direitos de propriedade de Barzel (1994, 1997, 2003). Segundo, analisa-se uma abordagem de estratégia competitiva baseada em direitos de propriedade (Property Rights Perspective; Foss e Foss, 2001). Especificamente, argumenta-se que tal abordagem representa uma extensão do modelo de Barzel e demonstra-se que os conceitos introduzidos na etapa anterior possibilitam uma formulação mais geral da Property Rights Perspective, conduzindo a uma definição de estratégia competitiva que concilia as noções de strategizing e economizing (Williamson, 1991). A terceira etapa, por fim, examina particularmente o estabelecimento de estratégias de proteção de direitos de propriedade. Um modelo heurístico baseado em Williamson (1996) é proposto e com base nele três formas básicas de proteção são definidas em função da qualidade do Ambiente Institucional: estratégia centrada no sistema legal, no estabelecimento de mecanismos privados e no abandono de atributos valiosos. A segunda parte da pesquisa busca evidências empíricas que suportem o modelo teórico. O estudo examina três casos de proteção de direitos de propriedade sobre a tecnologia transgênica em sementes de soja: EUA, Brasil e Argentina. Cada um dos casos representa, respectivamente, uma forma de proteção de direitos como definido pelo modelo heurístico. A pesquisa examina também evidências econométricas que consolidam a análise empírica. De forma geral, o presente estudo desenvolve uma abordagem para o exame da apropriação de valor, colocando-se na interface entre a Economia de Direitos de Propriedade, o estudo da Estratégia e a análise do Ambiente Institucional.The current thesis investigates how the Institutional Environment influences the mode of governance of property rights and the strategy of firms. The study is divided into two parts. The first part undertakes a theoretical investigation consisting of three steps. In the first step, the author examines the model of property rights developed by Barzel (1994, 1997, 2003). In the second step, an approach to competitive strategy based on property rights (Property Rights Perspective, Foss and Foss, 2001) is analyzed. Specifically, the author states that this approach represents an extension of Barzels model and demonstrates that the concepts introduced in the previous step allow a more general formulation of the Property Rights Perspective, leading to a definition of competitive strategy that reconciles the notions of strategizing and economizing (Williamson, 1991). The last step examines particularly the establishment of strategies for protection of property rights. A heuristic model based on Williamson (1996) is proposed and three strategies for protection of property rights are defined in terms of the quality of the Institutional Environment: strategy based on the legal system, on the establishment of private mechanisms, and on the abandon of valuable attributes. The second part of the research seeks empirical evidence to support the theoretical model. The study examines three cases of protection of property rights on genetically modified (GM) technology in soybean seeds: the US, Brazil, and Argentina. Each case represents, respectively, a strategy as defined by the heuristic model. The research also examines econometric evidence that consolidate the empirical analysis. Overall, the current study develops an approach for examining the appropriation of value, placing itself in the interface between the Property Rights Economics, the study of Strategy, and the assessment of the Institutional Environment
Respiratory Rate Monitoring via a Fibre Bragg Grating-Embedded Respirator Mask with a Wearable Miniature Interrogator
No full textA respiration rate (RR) monitoring system was created by integrating a Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) optical fibre sensor into a respirator mask. The system exploits the sensitivity of an FBG to temperature to identify an individual’s RR by measuring airflow temperature variation near the nostrils and mouth. To monitor the FBG response, a portable, battery-powered, wireless miniature interrogator system was developed to replace a relatively bulky benchtop interrogator used in previous studies. A healthy volunteer study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the developed system (10 healthy volunteers). Volunteers were asked to perform normal breathing whilst simultaneously wearing the system and a reference spirometer for 120 s. Individual breaths are then identified using a peak detection algorithm. The result showed that the number of breaths detected by both devices matched exactly (100%) across all volunteer trials
The virtual image : Brazilian literature in English translation
No full textThe
aim of this thesis is to
examine
how the virtual
image
of Brazil
and
its literature is
constructed
in the Anglo-American world. To this
end, a survey of
Brazilian literary
works
in English translation was
carried out.
Having
gathered this data, it became
possible to establish
correlations
between the historical
moments when such translations
were made, when their number
increased,
and the events occurring at
those times in the international
panorama, as well as to look into the
role of sponsors, publishers and translators in the
selection and
production of such translations.
The data
also allowed a profile of
Brazilian literary
works
in
English translation to be drawn. It became
possible to suggest that
such works
fall into four
main categories:
`authorial
works',
'topical
works',
`ambassadorial
works'
and `consumer-oriented
works'.
In
order
to look
more closely
into how the translation process
has helped to
shape
the
virtual
image
of Brazilian literary
works
in
the Anglo-American world, an analysis of a sample of
translations
of
such works was made. Included in this
sample were
the translations
of works
by Machado de Asis, by Indianist
and
Regionalist
wirters,
culminating
in
an examination of translations of
GuimarAes Rosa's
works.
Having looked
at these aspects of
the translation
process, what
remained
to be done
was to investigate
to what extent
Brazilian
literary
works
in English translation
are read
by the English-
speaking public.
To this
end, a survey of availability and
library
readership was undertaken. Finally,
a reading experiment was carried
out
in
which native speakers of
English
were asked to read the short
story
'A terceira
margem
do
rio',
by GuimarAes Rosa.
The
conclusion attempts to pull all these threads together and
to indicate directions for further
research
Relaciones públicas estratégicas de una empresa de comunicación directa
No full textSeminario: Relaciones públicas estratégica
Análisis de los microempresarios urbanos de las cercanías del complejo judicial norte – Guayaquil
No full textEl presente trabajo de investigación se basa en el análisis de los microempresarios urbanos de las cercanías del Complejo Judicial del Norte ubicado en la ciudad de Guayaquil. El objetivo general de éste trabajo es analizar el crecimiento de los negocios alrededor del Complejo, para determinar el perfil emprendedor de los propietarios de los locales más cercanos.
La necesidad de investigar este tema de estudio se debe a la falta de un perfil emprendedor que predomine y logre destacar en los alrededores del Complejo Judicial del Norte, ya que la competencia es fuerte pero un buen perfil puede marcar la diferencia, por ende se determinó éste trabajo de investigación; para que sea clave y sirva para analizar las características y competencia que poseen los microempresarios.
La investigación fue de tipo descriptiva y exploratoria; pues consiste en la caracterización de un hecho o problemática poco estudiada. La muestra tomada fue de un total de 163 microempresarios urbanos de la ciudad de Guayaquil.
En la propuesta se describió un perfil idóneo denominado: Emprendedor Visionario-Especialista, que detalla las características y competencias de éste perfil de acuerdo al resultado obtenido por las encuestas planteadas en el capítulo anterior.
Para finalizar el trabajo de investigación se elaboró conclusiones por cada objetivo específico haciendo acepción acerca del desarrollo del estudio y la problemática, Así como también, las respectivas recomendaciones por parte del autor para mejorar el perfil de dichos microempresarios.This research is based on the analysis of the urban micro entrepreneurs in the vicinity of the Northern Judicial Complex located in the city of Guayaquil. The general objective of this work is to analyze the growth of the businesses around the Complex, to determine the entrepreneurial profile of the owners of the closest premises.
The need to investigate this topic of study is due to the lack of an entrepreneurial profile that prevails and manages to stand out in the surroundings of the Northern Judicial Complex, since the competition is strong but a good profile can make the difference, therefore it was determined this research work; to be key and serve to analyze the characteristics and competence that micro entrepreneurs have.
The research was descriptive and exploratory; since it consists in the characterization of a fact or problematic little studied. The sample taken was of a total of 136 urban micro entrepreneurs of the city of Guayaquil.
The proposal described an ideal profile called: Entrepreneur Visionary-Specialist, which details the characteristics and competences of this profile according to the result obtained by the surveys presented in the previous chapter.
In order to finalize the research work, conclusions were drawn for each specific objective with respect to the development of the study and the problem, as well as the respective recommendations by the author to improve the profile of these micro entrepreneurs
Are local public expenditure reductions associated with increases in inequality in emergency hospitalisation? Time-series analysis of English local authorities from 2010 to 2017
No full text\ua9 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. Background: Reductions in local government funding implemented in 2010 due to austerity policies have been associated with worsening socioeconomic inequalities in mortality. Less is known about the relationship of these reductions with healthcare inequalities; therefore, we investigated whether areas with greater reductions in local government funding had greater increases in socioeconomic inequalities in emergency admissions. Methods: We examined inequalities between English local authority districts (LADs) using a fixed-effects linear regression to estimate the association between LAD expenditure reductions, their level of deprivation using the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and average rates of (all and avoidable) emergency admissions for the years 2010-2017. We also examined changes in inequalities in emergency admissions using the Absolute Gradient Index (AGI), which is the modelled gap between the most and least deprived neighbourhoods in an area. Results: LADs within the most deprived IMD quintile had larger pounds per capita expenditure reductions, higher rates of all and avoidable emergency admissions, and greater between-neighbourhood inequalities in admissions. However, expenditure reductions were only associated with increasing average rates of all and avoidable emergency admissions and inequalities between neighbourhoods in local authorities in England\u27s three least deprived IMD quintiles. For a LAD in the least deprived IMD quintile, a yearly reduction of \ua3100 per capita in total expenditure was associated with a yearly increase of 47 (95% CI 22 to 73) avoidable admissions, 142 (95% CI 70 to 213) all-cause emergency admissions and a yearly increase in inequalities between neighbourhoods of 48 (95% CI 14 to 81) avoidable and 140 (95% CI 60 to 220) all-cause emergency admissions. In 2017, a LAD average population was ∼170 000. Conclusion: Austerity policies implemented in 2010 impacted less deprived local authorities, where emergency admissions and inequalities between neighbourhoods increased, while in the most deprived areas, emergency admissions were unchanged, remaining high and persistent
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