Digital Commons Network^™

Relationship Between Anti-Seizure Medication And Behaviors That Challenge In Older Persons With Intellectual Disability And Epilepsy: A Review, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

Introduction: There is increased focus on the negative impact of the overprescribing of medication, specifically psychotropic medication, including anti-seizure medications (ASM), in people with Intellectual Disability (ID). This is particularly important for the older adult population, where multi-morbidity and polypharmacy are more common. ASMs are associated with psychiatric and behavioral adverse effects. Furthermore, there is growing awareness of the anticholinergic burden for older adults with epilepsy and ID and the relationship with behaviors that challenge (BtC). Areas covered: This review defines the older adult population and outlines the relationship between epilepsy and ID. BtC is outlined in the context of …

Barriers And Facilitators When Implementing Midwifery Continuity Of Carer: A Narrative Analysis Of The International Literature, Aimee Louise Middlemiss, Susan Channon, Julia Sanders, Sara Kenyon, Rebecca Milton, Tina Prendeville, Susan Barry, Heather Strange, Aled Jones

School of Nursing and Midwifery

BackgroundMidwifery continuity of carer (MCoC) is a model of care in which the same midwife or small team of midwives supports women throughout pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. The model has been prioritised by policy makers in a number of high-income countries, but widespread implementation and sustainability has proved challenging.MethodsIn this narrative review and synthesis of the global literature on the implementation and sustainability of midwifery continuity of carer, we identify barriers to, and facilitators of, this model of delivering maternity care. By mapping existing research evidence onto the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), we identify factors for …

Hybrid Researching Race-Related Issues During Covid-19: Methodological Conundrums, Suparna Bagchi

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

In the present article, I discuss important ethical considerations that I made as a doctoral researcher while conducting a partially virtual research study on a sensitive topic during COVID-19. I start by briefly discussing my research topic. Following this, drawing from unanticipated situations that I encountered, I critically analyze procedural ethical guidelines by asking ethical committees to consider flexibility to fulfill the desired research objectives. Furthermore, I take examples from my research to describe how I tried to establish rapport and trust with participants involving minors and key workers amidst the pandemic. I then discuss how I solved the ethical …

A New Record Of Coleoid Arm Hooks From The Lowermost Jurassic Of Lilstock, Somerset, Simon Penn, Malcolm B. Hart, Gregory D. Price

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

We report on a new assemblage of coleoid arm hooks found in the Blue Lias (Lower Jurassic) succession near Lilstock (Somerset, UK). As there are no soft tissues or other materials (ink sac, phragmocone, etc.) preserved in the vicinity of the hooks, the genus and species cannot be accurately identified. Unlike the hooks of Clarkeiteuthis, which have distinctive inflated, bilobate bases, the hooks discussed herein are delicate, with a gently curved apex, which makes them quite similar to the arm hooks of Belemnotheutis or Acanthoteuthis. The assemblage of hooks shows a distinct organisation and, in some places, the hooks are …

Indoor Environment Sensor Systems For Healthier Homes: A Feasibility Study In Social Housing, Tim Walker, Sarah Buckingham, Tamaryn Menneer, Gengyang Tu, Lewis R. Elliott, Markus Mueller, Catherine Leyshon, Michael Leyshon, Lucia Pratto, Emma Bland, Karyn Morrissey

School of Nursing and Midwifery

This study examines the feasibility of using an indoor environment sensor system to improve property management and health in social housing. Over a 6-year period, sensors were installed and maintained in 280 homes to monitor temperature, humidity, and air quality, with the sensor data provided to residents and the Housing Association (HA) through co-designed dashboards. Employing a mixed method sequential research design, feasibility was evaluated using the RE-AIM model. From the residents’ perspective, monitoring the indoor environment was acceptable, but adoption rates of the dashboard were low and there was minimal evidence of its effectiveness in prompting changes in behavior. …

The Importance Of Experience: Supporting Pupils’ Creative Writing About The Natural World, Christopher Hanley, David Cooper, Jennifer Rowntree

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The first part of this article considers the challenge of supporting pupils to write creatively about the natural world. It examines a text by a gifted young writer: Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty. It asks what the challenges might be for pupils who maybe motivated to model their writing on McAnulty’s, but have limited experience of the natural world. Drawing on the scholarly work of John Dixon, Robert Eaglestone and others, the article highlights the importance of pupil experience in the formation of their writerly voice, thereby emphasising the need for writing pedagogies that deepen and enrich …

Large Language Models Have Divergent Effects On Self-Perceptions Of Mind And The Attributes Considered Uniquely Human, Oliver L. Jacobs, Farid Pazhoohi, Alan Kingstone

School of Psychology

The rise of powerful Large Language Models (LLMs) provides a compelling opportunity to investigate the consequences of anthropomorphism, particularly regarding how their exposure may influence the way individuals view themselves (self-perception) and other people (other-perception). Using a mind perception framework, we examined attributions of agency (the ability to do) and experience (the ability to feel). Participants evaluated their agentic and experiential capabilities and the extent to which these features are uniquely human before and after exposure to LLM responses. Post-exposure, participants increased evaluations of their agentic and experiential qualities while decreasing their perception that agency and experience are considered to …

Grounded In Liquidity: Writing And Identity In Third Space, Alicja Syska, Carina Buckley, L Heggie

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper argues that writing for publication has the potential to support the creation, negotiation, and stabilising of the professional identities of third space (Whitchurch, 2013) practitioners in higher education. Caught in the impermanence and unpredictability of ‘liquid life’ (Bauman, 2005), third space opens up unique opportunities in writing that afford its practitioners a means of building and sustaining identity. Third space expands academic writing beyond its normative constraints, creating a tension between the apparent permanence and solidity of writing and the liquidity that allows for the negotiation of meaning andidentity. As such, writing, particularly for dissemination, provides third space …

Exploring The Feasibility Of Bidirectional Control Of Beta Oscillatory Power In Healthy Controls As A Potential Intervention For Parkinson’S Disease Movement Impairment, Krithika Anil, Giorgio Ganis, Jennifer Freeman, Jonathan Marsden, Stephen Hall

School of Health Professions

Neurofeedback (NF) is a promising intervention for improvements in motor performance in Parkinson’s disease. This NF pilot study in healthy participants aimed to achieve the following: (1) determine participants’ ability to bi-directionally modulate sensorimotor beta power and (2) determine the effect of NF on movement performance. A real-time EEG-NF protocol was used to train participants to increase and decrease their individual motor cortex beta power amplitude, using a within-subject double-blind sham-controlled approach. Movement was assessed using a Go/No-go task. Participants completed the NASA Task Load Index and provided verbal feedback of the NF task difficulty. All 17 participants (median age …

Advances In Representation: Interactive Heritage Site Mobile Application On Artworks, Marius Varga, Dena Bazazian

School of Nursing and Midwifery

In this work, we are introducing early technological prototypes of an interactive mobile application aimed at heritage sites and museums. This mobile application will comprise three main components as follows: (1) Image Captioning, (2) Indoor Navigation, and (3) Augmented Reality. To address the Image Captioning component, we aim to build a mobile application for the guidance of heritage site visitors with a caption with relevant information about each artwork. This application can be helpful for visually impaired visitors, and it can provide some extra information about the museum’s objects. We will build this project based on computer vision and AI …

Sensorial Investigations: A History Of The Senses, In Anthropology, Psychology, And Law: By David Howes, Hannah Drayson

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Why There Is No Evidence That Pyridine Killed The English Crabs, Alex T. Ford, Mark F. Fitzsimons, Crispin Halsall

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The North East coast of England experienced a mass mortality event in late 2021 affecting millions of crabs and lobsters. The die-off coincided with the redevelopment of one of the UK's flagship ports, prompting local scientists to suggest the remobilization of dredged industrial contaminants as a cause. A multi-agency investigation found no definitive causal factor; however, re-evaluation of data by consultants drew a different conclusion, linking the industrial compound pyridine to the crustacean deaths. Authors of an unpublished study subsequently claimed that their data demonstrated pyridine to be exceptionally toxic and that their modeling explained the coastal distribution of washups. …

“It’S The Closest I Can Get To Meditation Sometimes”: Volunteering As A Surf Therapy Mentor., Karl Potts, Jon May

School of Psychology

Surf therapy is a novel form of small-group, nature-based mental health intervention that has proliferated globally in recent years. Self-reported outcomes indicate that surf therapy can be effective for enhancing mental health and wellbeing, but there is little theoretical understanding into the causal mechanisms of effect and limited strength behind the existing evidence base. This study employed a qualitative approach to explore the personal experiences and observations of volunteer surf mentors’ working with UK-based surf therapy charity the Wave Project. Five surf mentors (3 males and 2 females; mean age = 34.4 years, SD = 7.4, range = 19) were …

Pathways And Timescales Of Southern Ocean Hydrothermal Iron And Manganese Transport, Antony J. Birchill, Chelsea Baker, Neil Wyatt, Katsiaryna Pabortsava, Hugh Venables, Mark Moore, Isobel Turnbull, Angela Milne, Simon Ussher, Sophy Oliver, Adrian Martin

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Scarcity of iron and manganese limits the efficiency of the biological carbon pump over large areas of the Southern Ocean. The importance of hydrothermal vents as a source of these micronutrients to the euphotic zone of the Southern Ocean is debated. Here we present full depth profiles of dissolved and total dissolvable trace metals in the remote eastern Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean (55–60° S, 89.1° W), providing evidence of enrichment of iron and manganese at depths of 2000–4000 m. These enhanced micronutrient concentrations were co-located with ³He enrichment, an indicator of hydrothermal fluid originating from ocean ridges. …

Post-Neoliberalism? The Strange Case Of The New English Freeports, Patrick Holden, Nichola Harmer

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

Neoliberalism has lost its hegemonic status in the global system but neoliberal ideas and practices persist. Post-Brexit UK offers a useful case study of how these operate in a post-hegemonic context. The UK government's vision of free trading ‘Global Britain' crashed against the reality of an increasingly geoeconomic world. Freeports were an initiative designed to boost trade and to develop poorer regions. This paper adapts Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse how the different Freeport discourses interact with material power as the policy develops. It divides this into three levels: national political discourse, national policy discourse and local political and …

Transient Aseismic Vertical Deformation Across The Steeply-Dipping Pisia-Skinos Normal Fault (Gulf Of Corinth, Greece), Zoe Mildon, Manuel-Lukas Diercks, Gerald Roberts, Joanna Faure Walker, Athanassios Ganas, Ioannis Papanikolaou, Vassilis Sakas, Jenni Robertson, Claudia Sgambato, Sam Mitchell

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Geodetically-derived deformation rates are sometimes used to infer seismic hazard, implicitly assuming that short-term (annual-decadal) deformation is representative of longer-term deformation. This is despite geological observations indicating that deformation/slip rates are variable over a range of timescales. Using geodetic data from 2016-2021, we observe an up to 7-fold increase in vertical deformation rate in mid-2019 across the Pisia-Skinos normal fault in Greece. We hypothesise that this deformation is aseismic as there is no temporally correlated increase in the earthquake activity (M>1). We explore four possible physical mechanisms, and our preferred hypothesis is that the transient deformation is caused by …

Efficacy And Tolerability Of Levetiracetam In People With And Without Intellectual Disabilities: A Naturalistic Case Control Study, Jon Allard, Adrian Sellers, William Henley, Brendan Mclean, Mary Parrett, Sanjeev Rajakulendran, Lance Watkins, Melissa Maguire, Shan Ellawela, Phil Tittensor, Juliet Bransgrove, Arjune Sen, Rajiv Mohanraj, Many Bagary, Sunil Ram, Nathan Vernon, Sandy Baldwin, Jagdish Gill, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

IntroductionPeople with Intellectual Disabilities (PwID) are twenty times more likely than general population to have epilepsy. Guidance for prescribing antiseizure medication (ASM) to PwID is driven by trials excluding them. Levetiracetam (LEV) is a first-line ASM in the UK. Concerns exist regarding LEV's behavioural and psychological adverse effects, particularly in PwID. There is no high-quality evidence comparing effectiveness and adverse effects in PwID to those without, prescribed LEV.MethodsPooled casenote data for patients prescribed LEV (2000–2020) at 18 UK NHS Trusts were analysed. Demographics, starting and maximum dose, adverse effects, dropouts and seizure frequency between ID (mild vs. moderate-profound (M/P)) and …

The Harms Of Imprisonment And Envisioning A Desistance-Supporting ‘Good Society’, Patricia Gray, Julie Parsons

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

Research evidence in the 21st century strongly indicates that prisons are inherently harmful environments in which to try to support rehabilitation, because of their destructive impact on identity, self-actualisation, mental health and social relationships. Yet HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) continues to propose that prisons can be legitimate sites of rehabilitation as well as centres of punishment. This article begins by interrogating this proposition by looking at research conducted in an adult male prison. By specifically focusing on the interpersonal conflicts and tensions that the men experience in their daily lives, the research highlights the ‘relational’ and ‘self-actualising’ harms …

Spɛktə/ - On Digital Dust, Ectoplasm And The Infinite Architecture Of The Fulldome., Mike Phillips

School of Art, Design and Architecture

The history of the fulldome is intertwingled with architectural mechanisms for viewing and representing the heavens, weaving the mythological, the divine and theological, the astronomical and astrological into the fabric of dome or spherical shaped buildings that symbolise enlightenment and power. There is something strangely compelling about the acoustic and visual properties of a dome, from the whispering gallery effect to its ability to disappear completely when gazed into. When projected into, these qualities provide an enhanced sense of immersion, especially when the projection extends through the screen and into the void beyond. It is in this space that the …

New Geographies Of Crime? Cybercrime, Southern Criminology And Diversifying Research Agendas, Tim Hall, Richard Yarwood

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper argues that reconsidering the disciplinary significance of the geographies of crime is timely. It has three aims. First, it identifies recent developments in the geographical study of crime, arguing that they both challenge and extend its intellectual traditions. Second, using the example of cybercrime, it identifies new forms of crime that deserve scrutiny by geographers. Third, it draws on ideas of Southern criminology to identify how research agendas can be diversified to advance how geographers study crime. In doing so it proposes that geographers’ renewed interest in crime over recent decades is appropriately labelled ‘new geographies of crime’.

Scotland In The Forefront Of Property Law Reforms In The Uk: Potential Implications For The Scottish People, Goodtime Okara

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

The Scottish Government has taken steps to revolutionise its body of law on ‘trust and succession’ and housing. The recent Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 has severally impacted the issues of appointment and removal of trustees, fiduciary duties of trustees, rights of beneficiaries, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investments in Scotland; while the proposed new Housing (Scotland) Bill 2024 has the proclivity of influencing rent, rent control areas, eviction and homelessness in Scotland. Accordingly, this paper focuses on exploring the potential impacts of these legislative reforms on the lives of the Scottish people. Do they ‘make’ or ‘mar’ …

Six-Month Post-Stroke Review Provision Across Southwest England: A Service Evaluation, Jennifer Freeman, Sarah Chatfield, Janet Schmitt, Emma Cork, Rachel Dennett

School of Health Professions

Background/AimsSix-month post-stroke reviews are advocated for all stroke survivors. There is no recommended service model, with many variations in practice. The aim of this service evaluation was to describe and evaluate the 6-month post-stroke review service provision across the South West England Integrated Stroke Delivery Networks.MethodsA mixed-methods service evaluation for 10 services was undertaken, consisting of: a stakeholder meeting to define the scope and review criteria; a mapping exercise to define core service features and activity data; a 12-month retrospective Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme clinical data audit plus a 1-month prospective audit detailing identified unmet needs, actions to address …

Incomplete Faces Do But Masked Faces Do Not Affect Mind Perception, Farid Pazhoohi, Keina Aoki, Alan Kingstone

School of Psychology

The human face plays a critical role in how we perceive the minds of others. The current research across two studies explored whether face masks also impact mind perception, with the expectation that they lead to lower attributions of agency and experience to individuals, making them seem less mentally capable due to their association with reduced facial expression perception and impaired communication. In the first study, participants’ ratings of masked and unmasked faces for agency and experience did not yield significant differences, suggesting that wearing a face mask does not affect the perception of the mind. To explore whether these …

Signs And Symptoms Of Serious Illness In Infants Aged Up To 6 Months: Rapid Review Of Clinical Guidelines, Inocencio Daniel Cortes Maramba, Emma Lim, Julie Christine Menzies, Ruud Nijman, Shang-Ming Zhou, Jos M Latour

School of Nursing and Midwifery

BACKGROUND: There is a need to empower parents and carers of young infants to recognise signs of serious illness and to act on these appropriately. Compiling the signs and symptoms of serious illness in infants found in clinical guidelines will support the evidence-based update of the 30+-year-old content of the Baby Check App to empower parents and carers.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review clinical guidelines for signs and symptoms related to serious illness in infants aged 6 months and below.

METHODS: A rapid review was carried out by searching PubMed, CINAHL, NICE, Cochrane and Embase for clinical guidelines reporting signs and …

Gaze Preferences To Male Contrapposto And Non-Contrapposto Postures, Farid Pazhoohi, Oliver Lee Jacobs, Alan Kingstone

School of Psychology

Contrapposto, an asymmetrical twisting of the hips and shoulders, has historically been associated with beauty and aesthetics in art. While the impact of a female contrapposto posture on perception of attractiveness and visual attention has been studied, its effects on males remain understudied. The current research aims to explore whether contrapposto postures in men influence perceptions of attractiveness, dominance, masculinity, dynamism, and naturalness, as well as visual attention. Two eye-tracking studies were conducted, utilizing images of male models in contrapposto and upright poses. Despite differences in attributions, no significant differences were found in visual attention between the two poses in …

"I Am Here" - The Collective Experience, Impacts And Sense-Making From A Shared Summer School Experience, Joana Pereira De Magalhães Cruz, Shelbi A. Taylor, Julia Römer, Deepti R. Bhat, Álmos Szőcs, Kathrin Paal, Betina Lopes

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper aims to offer a practice-inspired contribution to reflect on the role of extracurricular activities in the journey of academics, in particular PhD students, by describing and analysing a particular lived experience at the European Educational Research Summer School. Held at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal, it focused on “Participatory Approaches in Educational Research”. Being a group of two tutors and six doctoral students, we depict some of the impacts the week had on all participants while sharing and reflecting on the potential of participatory research and processes in both individual …

Decoding Anotylus (Thomson 1859) Beetle Diversity: Dna And External Morphology Match In Área De Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica, K. Dante Underwood, Robert Puschendorf, David T. Bilton, Daniel H. Janzen, Winnie Hallwachs, M. Alex Smith

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Taxonomy underpins biological research because names are needed for comparative analysis, conservation status, and public communication. Despite this, many species remain undescribed and are therefore vulnerable and unprotected, particularly in the tropics. Neotropical Staphylinidae beetles (Coleoptera) are among the insect groups most likely to contain significant unknown and/or cryptic diversity. Here we used an integrative taxonomic framework to conduct a preliminary review of one particularly diverse genus of Staphylinidae (Anotylus) in Área de Conservaciόn Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica. We began by DNA barcoding novel collections and using Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) as an estimate of taxonomic diversity; we found 18 …

Sublime And Extended Reality Experiences To Enhance Emotional Wellbeing For Autistic People: A State Of The Art Review And Narrative Synthesis, Chris Bennewith, Johara Bellali, Lance Watkins, Samuel Tromans, Kamaldeep Bhui, Rohit Shankar

More Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Research

Background: Sublime is a centuries old concept of emergent experience arising from immense and threatening awareness provoked by overwhelming fear and dread when faced with an incomprehensible situation as is common to autistic people. Extended Reality (XR) technologies have been used since the mid-1990s, in regulating emotions, behaviour and supporting social skill development for autistic people. Aims: To understand utility of XR technologies in creating immersive experiences for autistic people to alleviate anxiety and the relationship to the sublime. Method: A State of the Art literature review and narrative synthesis was conducted. PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of …

Recruiting And Engaging Heterosexual-Identified Men Who Have Sex With Men: A Brief Report Of Considerations For Sex Researchers, Travis R. Scheadler, Salem Rao, Paul Shuper, Oliver Beer, Tyrone Curtis, Lauren B. Mcinroy, Andrew D. Eaton

School of Health Professions

Heterosexual-identified men who have sex with men (H-MSM) are a unique population difficult to identify and recruit for research and practice. Yet, engaging H-MSM remains a top research priority to learn more about this population’s health needs. A scoping review was conducted to develop a stronger understanding of recruitment patterns involving H-MSM in research. The search and screening procedures yielded 160 total articles included in the present study. Most studies relied on venue-based and internet-based recruitment strategies. Thematic analysis was then used to identify three themes. Locations of H-MSM’s sexual encounters related to where sex researchers may recruit participants; sociocultural …

Comparison Of The Symptom Networks Of Long-Covid And Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: From Modularity To Connectionism, Michael Hyland, Yuri Antonacci, Alison Bacon

School of Psychology

The objective was to compare the symptom networks of long-COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in conjunction with other theoretically relevant diagnoses in order to provide insight into the etiology of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). This was a cross-sectional comparison of questionnaire items between six groups identified by clinical diagnosis. All participants completed a 65-item psychological and somatic symptom questionnaire (GSQ065). Diagnostically labelled groups were long-COVID (N = 107), CFS (N = 254), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS, N = 369), fibromyalgia (N = 1,127), severe asthma (N = 100) and healthy group (N = 207). The 22 symptoms that best …