Digital Commons Network^™

Benthic Megafauna Of The Western Clarion-Clipperton Zone, Pacific Ocean, G Bribiesca-Contreras, Tg Dahlgren, Dj Amon, S Cairns, Et Al

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

There is a growing interest in the exploitation of deep-sea mineral deposits, particularly on the abyssal seafloor of the central Pacific Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), which is rich in polymetallic nodules. In order to effectively manage potential exploitation activities, a thorough understanding of the biodiversity, community structure, species ranges, connectivity, and ecosystem functions across a range of scales is needed. The benthic megafauna plays an important role in the functioning of deep-sea ecosystems and represents an important component of the biodiversity. While megafaunal surveys using video and still images have provided insight into CCZ biodiversity, the collection of faunal samples is …

A Systems Approach To Mapping Uk Regional Innovation Ecosystems For Policy Insight, Dan Arthur, Jonathan Moizer, Jonathan Lean

Plymouth Business School

The literature on innovation and regional economic development shows widespread references to ‘systems’ but relatively little application of systems thinking and problem structuring methods. Innovation models are thus under-theorised with operationally-based maps that link the structure of innovation systems to behaviour and possible policy levers. This conceptual paper addresses this shortfall by applying a systems mapping approach to regional innovation ecosystems which sets out the structural drivers and actor inter-relationships in regional economies with universities acting as focal points for knowledge application. A causal feedback map is hypothesised from participative research and the innovation literature, providing an integrative framework and …

Constrained Cmip6 Projections Indicate Less Warming And A Slower Increase In Water Availability Across Asia, Yuanfang Chai, Yao Yue, Louise J. Slater, Jiabo Yin, Alistair G.L. Borthwick, Tiexi Chen, Guojie Wang

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

AbstractClimate projections are essential for decision-making but contain non-negligible uncertainty. To reduce projection uncertainty over Asia, where half the world’s population resides, we develop emergent constraint relationships between simulated temperature (1970–2014) and precipitation (2015–2100) growth rates using 27 CMIP6 models under four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. Here we show that, with uncertainty successfully narrowed by 12.1–31.0%, constrained future precipitation growth rates are 0.39 ± 0.18 mm year−1 (29.36 mm °C−1, SSP126), 0.70 ± 0.22 mm year−1 (20.03 mm °C−1, SSP245), 1.10 ± 0.33 mm year−1 (17.96 mm °C−1, SSP370) and 1.42 ± 0.35 mm year−1 (17.28 mm °C−1, SSP585), indicating overestimates …

Lessons From Bright-Spots For Advancing Knowledge Exchange At The Interface Of Marine Science And Policy, Denis B. Karcher, Christopher Cvitanovic, Putten Ie Van, Rebecca M. Colvin, Derek Armitage, Shankar Aswani, Marta Ballesteros, Natalie C. Ban, María José Barragán-Paladines, Angela Bednarek, Johann D. Bell, Cassandra M. Brooks, Tim M. Daw, La Cruz-Modino R De, Tessa B. Francis, Elizabeth A. Fulton, Alistair J. Hobday, Draško Holcer, Charlotte Hudson, Tim C. Jennerjahn, Aimee Kinney, Maaike Knol-Kauffman, Marie F. Löf, Priscila F.M. Lopes, Peter C. Mackelworth, Abigail Mcquatters-Gollop, Ella Kari Muhl, Pita Neihapi, José J. Pascual-Fernández, Stephen M. Posner, Hens Runhaar, Keith Sainsbury, Gunnar Sander, Dirk J. Steenbergen, Paul M. Tuda, Elizabeth Whiteman, Jialin Zhang

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Evidence-informed decision-making is in increasing demand given growing pressures on marine environments. A way to facilitate this is by knowledge exchange among marine scientists and decision-makers. While many barriers are reported in the literature, there are also examples whereby research has successfully informed marine decision-making (i.e., ‘bright-spots’). Here, we identify and analyze 25 bright-spots from a wide range of marine fields, contexts, and locations to provide insights into how to improve knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy. Through qualitative surveys we investigate what initiated the bright-spots, their goals, and approaches to knowledge exchange. We also seek …

Duration Of External Neck Stabilisation (Dens) Following Odontoid Fracture In Older Or Frail Adults: Protocol For A Randomised Controlled Trial Of Collar Versus No Collar, Julie Woodfield, Ellie Edlmann, Polly L. Black, Julia Boyd, Phillip Correia Copley, Gina Cranswick, Helen Eborall, Catriona Keerie, Sadaquate Khan, Julia Lawton, David J. Lowe, John Norrie, Angela Niven, Matthew J. Reed, Susan Deborah Shenkin, Patrick Statham, Andrew Stoddart, James Tomlinson, Paul M. Brennan

Peninsula Medical School

Introduction Fractures of the odontoid process frequently result from low impact falls in frail or older adults. These are increasing in incidence and importance as the population ages. In the UK, odontoid fractures in older adults are usually managed in hard collars to immobilise the fracture and promote bony healing. However, bony healing does not always occur in older adults, and bony healing is not associated with quality of life, functional, or pain outcomes. Further, hard collars can cause complications such as skin pressure ulcers, swallowing difficulties and difficulties with personal care. We hypothesise that management with no immobilisation may …

Interrogating Intervention Delivery And Participants’ Emotional States To Improve Engagement And Implementation: A Realist Informed Multiple Case Study Evaluation Of Engager, Lauren Weston, Sarah Rybczynska-Bunt, Cath Quinn, Charlotte Lennox, Mike Maguire, Mark Pearson, Alex Stirzaker, Graham Durcan, Caroline Stevenson, Jonathan Graham, Lauren Carroll, Rebecca Greer, Mark Haddad, Rachael Hunter, Rob Anderson, Roxanne Todd, Sara Goodier, Sarah Brand, Susan Michie, Tim Kirkpatrick, Sarah Leonard, Tirril Harris, William Henley, Jenny Shaw, Christabel Owens, Richard Byng

Peninsula Medical School

Background

‘Engager’ is an innovative ‘through-the-gate’ complex care intervention for male prison-leavers with common mental health problems. In parallel to the randomised-controlled trial of Engager (Trial registration number: ISRCTN11707331), a set of process evaluation analyses were undertaken. This paper reports on the depth multiple case study analysis part of the process evaluation, exploring how a sub-sample of prison-leavers engaged and responded to the intervention offer of one-to-one support during their re-integration into the community. Methods

To understand intervention delivery and what response it elicited in individuals, we used a realist-informed qualitative multiple ‘case’ studies approach. We scrutinised how intervention component …

Pediatric Critical Care Nursing Research Priorities In Asia: An Edelphi Study, Pei Fen Poh, Qian Wen Sng, Jos M. Latour, Linxi He, Mei Fung Fong, M Jayashree, Qalab Abbas, Yujiro Matsuishi, Jan Hau Lee

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

How Can We Optimise Learning From Trials In Child And Adolescent Mental Health?, Nick Axford, Vashti Berry, Jenny Lloyd, Katrina Wyatt

Peninsula Medical School

Improving child and adolescent mental health requires the careful development and rigorous testing of interventions and delivery methods. This includes universal school-based mindfulness training, evaluated in the My Resilience in Adolescence (MYRIAD) trial reported in this special edition. While discovering effective interventions through randomised controlled trials is our ultimate aim, null or negative results can and should play an important role in progressing our understanding of what works. Unfortunately, alongside publication bias there can be a tendency to ignore, spin or unfairly undermine disappointing findings. This creates research waste that can increase risk and reduce benefits for future service users. …

The Intersection Of Evolutionary Computation And Explainable Ai, J Bacardit, Aei Brownlee, S Cagnoni, Et Al

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

In the past decade, Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) has attracted a great interest in the research community, motivated by the need for explanations in critical AI applications. Some recent advances in XAI are based on Evolutionary Computation (EC) techniques, such as Genetic Programming. We call this trend EC for XAI. We argue that the full potential of EC methods has not been fully exploited yet in XAI, and call the community for future efforts in this field. Likewise, we find that there is a growing concern in EC regarding the explanation of population-based methods, i.e., their search process and outcomes. …

Visual Communication In A Time Of Crisis: Insights Into The Relationship Between Visual Communication And Health, V Squire

School of Art, Design and Architecture

The impact of Covid-19 has taken numerous forms. It will continue to affect individuals and groups in a multitude of ways, due to the ever adapting, ever changing uncertain world. A shift has taken place in our perspectives, knowledge and understanding of health crises, with visual communication being integral to this process; through the visualization of health data, communication of scientific knowledge, and as a crucial force for knowledge mobilization. This paper will outline a research study of visual communicators’ experiences and visual manifestations of the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing greater insight into the relationship between visual communication and the Covid-19 …

Comprehensive Short And Long Read Sequencing Analysis For The Gaucher And Parkinson's Disease-Associated Gba Gene., Marco Toffoli, Xiao Chen, Fritz J. Sedlazeck, Chiao Yin Lee, Stephen Mullin, Abigail Higgins, Sofia Koletsi, Monica Emili Garcia-Segura, Esther Sammler, Sonja W. Scholz, Anthony H.V. Schapira, Michael A. Eberle, Christos Proukakis

Peninsula Medical School

GBA variants carriers are at increased risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD). The presence of pseudogene GBAP1 predisposes to structural variants, complicating genetic analysis. We present two methods to resolve recombinant alleles and other variants in GBA: Gauchian, a tool for short-read, whole-genome sequencing data analysis, and Oxford Nanopore sequencing after PCR enrichment. Both methods were concordant for 42 samples carrying a range of recombinants and GBAP1-related mutations, and Gauchian outperformed the GATK Best Practices pipeline. Applying Gauchian to sequencing of over 10,000 individuals shows that copy number variants (CNVs) spanning GBAP1 are relatively common in …

An Autonomous Sailboat For Environment Monitoring, Y-T Ang, W-K Ng, Y-W Chong, Et Al

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The marine environment is constantly at risk from coastal urbanization. The deterioration of coastal and marine environments is evidenced by the decline of mangroves and the biodiversity of such environments and increasing recurrences of algal and jellyfish blooms. There is a lack of environmental data especially in developing countries such as Malaysia to determine the sustainability and impact of the current development on coastal resources. We developed an autonomous sailboat that utilizes the Internet of things technology to collect and analyze ocean water quality data for local authorities to obtain insights into the sustainable development of coastal resources. The USV …

Bi-Allelic Variants In Wnt7b Disrupt The Development Of Multiple Organs In Humans, Jdc Pereira Baptista

Peninsula Medical School

BackgroundPulmonary hypoplasia, Diaphragmatic anomalies, Anophthalmia/microphthalmia and Cardiac defects delineate the PDAC syndrome. We aim to identify the cause of PDAC syndrome in patients who do not carry pathogenic variants in RARB and STRA6, which have been previously associated with this disorder.MethodsWe sequenced the exome of patients with unexplained PDAC syndrome and performed functional validation of candidate variants.ResultsWe identified bi-allelic variants in WNT7B in fetuses with PDAC syndrome from two unrelated families. In one family, the fetus was homozygous for the c.292C>T (p.(Arg98*)) variant whereas the fetuses from the other family were compound heterozygous for the variants c.225C>G (p.(Tyr75*)) …

Building Bridges Between Natural And Social Science Disciplines: A Standardized Methodology To Combine Data On Ecosystem Quality Trends, I. Richter, B. R. Roberts, S. F. Sailley, E. Sullivan, V. V. Cheung, J. Eales, M. Fortnam, J. B. Jontila, C. Maharja, T. Ha Nguyen, S. Pahl, R. A. Praptiwi, J. Sugardjito, J. D.C. Sumeldan, W. M. Syazwan, A. Y. Then, M. C. Austen

School of Psychology

Despite a growing interest in interdisciplinary research, systematic ways of how to integrate data from different disciplines are still scarce. We argue that successful resource management relies on two key data sources: natural science data, which represents ecosystem structure and processes, and social science data, which describes people's perceptions and understanding. Both are vital, mutually complementing information sources that can underpin the development of feasible and effective policies and management interventions. To harvest the added value of combined knowledge, a uniform scaling system is needed. In this paper, we propose a standardized methodology to connect and explore different types of …

Towards A Digital Twin Of A Complex Maritime Site For Multi-Objective Optimization, Joseph A.J. Ross, Kimberly Tam, David J. Walker, Kevin D. Jones

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Devonport is a complex maritime site in Plymouth, United Kingdom (UK). Using digital twin technology, the authors will model and simulate the physical entity of the dockyard to optimize for a set of critical priorities. Digital twins are virtual representations of a physical entity, such as a vehicle. They can fully model a complex environment, accurately modelling individual layers within the entity, with each layer accessing data required from other layers. This results in an accurate simulation so that when changes are made in one layer of the model, the impact across the other layers …

A Content Analysis Of School Leaders’ Conversations About ‘Off Rolling’ On Twitter And Its Relevance To Teacher Education, Alice E. Potter, Helen Knowler, Elizabeth J. Done

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This article seeks to illustrate the usefulness to teacher educators of small-scale qualitative social media content analysis by reporting a study of online microblogs (tweets) posted by senior school leaders’ relating to ‘off rolling’ (practices that bypass legal permanent exclusion procedures in English mainstream schools). The outlined method enables analysis of social media content in the absence of costly opinion mining software and its associated affordances and limitations are discussed. The article also outlines the implications of the study’s findings for teacher education. In this instance, it served to illustrate a disparity between different types of professional discourse which future …

Editorial, Elizabeth J. Done, Helen Knowler

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

Behaviour features in official guidance as the uncontested ground for exclusion and ‘persistent disruptive behaviour’ is the most common stated reason for exclusion (formal or otherwise), suggesting that the concept of inclusive education is mobilised in varied ways and circumvented through a similarly diverse range of exclusionary strategies at school level. The UK Government response to the Timpson Review of school exclusion (Department for Education 2019a, 2019b) proposed training school staffs in the links between SEN/D and behaviour in order to reduce formal exclusion rates through schools developing suitable strategies to address behavioural issues. This special issue seeks to highlight …

Tiny Voices, Giant Ideas, K Wickett

Plymouth Institute of Education

This is the final of three articles, which have explored and discussed artist involvement in early years settings. This final article gives voices to the parents/carers, practitioners and students who share their experiences of working together and their reflections on children's learning.

Perceptions And Experiences Of Mental Health Support For Ambulance Trust Employees, S Johnston, J Wild, K Sanderson, B Kent

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Background: Mental ill health among ambulance staff is widespread. Evidence suggests that, with the right support, employees experiencing mental ill health can continue to work, symptom severity can be reduced and suicide prevented. Aims: To investigate ambulance staff perceptions and experiences of organisational mental health support. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey investigated work-related stressful life events and their potential psychological impact. The survey also examined staff perceptions and experiences of organisational support and acceptability of a proposed wellbeing intervention offering mandatory time to talk at work. Findings: A total of 540 ambulance staff responded. The majority reported having experienced work-related …

A Return Of Mental Imagery: The Pictorial Theory Of Visual Perspective-Taking., Gg Cole, S Samuel, Mj Eacott

School of Psychology

The pictorial theory of mental imagery was a central concern of cognitive science during the latter years of the last century. Proponents of the theory argued that images are reinterpreted by the same processes that act upon perceptual inputs. This idea has recently re-emerged within the context of visual perspective-taking. The perceptual simulation theory argues that an observer not only generates an image of what another individual sees but the image is used by the perceptual system in a bottom-up manner. Based on the assumption of Kosslyn and colleagues, we argue that a minimum requirement of a pictorial theory of …

A Systematic Literature Review On Risk Disclosure Research: State-Of-The-Art And Future Research Agenda, Aea Ibrahim, K Hussainey, T Nawaz, C Ntim, A Elamer

Plymouth Business School

This study presents a systematic review of the existing literature on corporate risk disclosure (RD). The study reviews 104 studies published in 51 high-ranked journals over the period 1999–2019 following the systematic literature review methodology developed and employed by past works. The results highlight the substantial knowledge gaps and inconclusive findings of extant literature in several aspects, including identifying avenues for further research in terms of research designs, settings, scope and theories. The findings also indicate that limited studies focus on developing countries, private institutions, and non-profit organizations. Similarly, our findings show that existing research that examines other firm and …

Reduced Range Size And Important Bird And Biodiversity Area Coverage For The Harpy Eagle ( Harpia Harpyja ) Predicted From Multiple Climate Change Scenarios, Luke J. Sutton, David L. Anderson, Miguel Franco, Christopher J.W. Mcclure, Everton B.P. Miranda, F. Hernán Vargas, F. Hernán Vargas, Robert Puschendorf

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Dysmorphism And Immunodeficiency - One Of The Differential Diagnoses Is Pax1 Related Otofaciocervical Syndrome Type 2, Jdc Pereira Baptista

Peninsula Medical School

Otofaciocervical syndrome (OTFCS) is a rare condition associated with short stature, abnormal facial features and conductive hearing loss. OTFCS type 2 (OTFCS) is an autosomal recessive form of this condition with associated T cell deficiency due to biallelic variants in PAX1. We report a female child born to a consanguineous couple with homozygous PAX1 variant. She was diagnosed with T cell immunodeficiency as a neonate and underwent haematopoietic stem cell transplant with cord blood at the age of 5 months. She had facial dysmorphism including ear abnormalities and spinal deformity. We present longitudinal follow-up of the proband who has responded …

Sustainability In Clinical Practice: A Cross-National Comparative Study Of Nursing Students, Jennie Aronsson, Anna Anåker, Marie Elf, Janet Richardson

School of Nursing and Midwifery

BACKGROUND: Delivering health care negatively influences the environment and contributes to climate change. This study examined how nursing students in England and Sweden can make changes in clinical practice to enhance environmental sustainability. METHOD: Third-year undergraduate nursing students at English and Swedish universities responded to open-ended questions on the Sustainability Attitudes in Nursing Survey. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. RESULTS: Students in both countries identified lack of confidence as the main barrier to challenging unsustainable practice, followed by a resistance to change in practice. English students predominantly changed their own behavior or influenced the practice of others. Swedish …

Performance Indicators For Humanitarian Relief Logistics In Taiwan, Saeyeon Roh, Hsuan Hung Lin, Hyunmi Jang

Plymouth Business School

No abstract provided.

Biomarkers Of Nanomaterials Hazard From Multi-Layer Data, V Fortino, Pas Kinaret, M Fratello, A Serra, La Saarimäki, A Gallud, G Gupta, G Vales, M Correia, O Rasool, J Ytterberg, M Monopoli, T Skoog, P Ritchie, S Moya, S Vázquez-Campos, R Handy, R Grafström, L Tran, R Zubarev, R Lahesmaa, K Dawson, K Loeschner, Eh Larsen, F Krombach, H Norppa, J Kere, K Savolainen, H Alenius, B Fadeel, D Greco

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

AbstractThere is an urgent need to apply effective, data-driven approaches to reliably predict engineered nanomaterial (ENM) toxicity. Here we introduce a predictive computational framework based on the molecular and phenotypic effects of a large panel of ENMs across multiple in vitro and in vivo models. Our methodology allows for the grouping of ENMs based on multi-omics approaches combined with robust toxicity tests. Importantly, we identify mRNA-based toxicity markers and extensively replicate them in multiple independent datasets. We find that models based on combinations of omics-derived features and material intrinsic properties display significantly improved predictive accuracy as compared to physicochemical properties …

Firewalls: A Necessary Tool To Enable Social Rights For Undocumented Migrants In Social Work, L Hermansson, A Lundberg, S Gruber, A Jolly, Et Al

School of Health Professions

Firewalls are clear divisions between border policing and the provision of basic social rights. They have a dual character: to ensure that no information collected with the purpose of safeguarding basic social rights should be shared for immigration control purposes; and that migrants should not be subject to immigration control when being present at, or in the vicinity, of religious, private and public institutions upholding and providing social rights. This article suggests a normative argument for ‘firewalls’ in the context of social work and develops the concept theoretically as a principle practised and negotiated at different scales.

When Should We Ascribe Sentience To Animals? A Commentary On “Hermit Crabs, Shells And Sentience” (Elwood 2022), Mark Briffa

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

A Roadmap To Advance Marine And Coastal Monitoring, Biodiversity Assessment, And International Reporting: A Developing Nation Perspective, Kaylee P. Smit, Niekerk L Van, Linda R. Harris, Abigail Mcquatters-Gollop, Lynne J. Shannon, Kerry J. Sink

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Despite the increasing number of tools and indicators to measure biodiversity status and trends, many developing countries struggle to initiate and advance coastal and marine assessments needed to monitor and track national and international progress in biodiversity targets. We identified five key challenges that hinder progress in this context, based on a national marine assessment workshop held in South Africa, and developed recommendations and tangible actions to address these challenges drawing from multiple national assessments, regional initiatives, and global collaborations over the last 15 years. Challenges include a poor understanding of methods, limited capacity and funding for assessments, a lack …

Constipation In Autistic People And People With Learning Disabilities, Christina Maslen, Rebecca Hodge, Kim Tie, Richard Laugharne, Kirsten Lamb, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

INTRODUCTIONThis article gives an overview of constipationand related concerns in people withlearning disabilities (LDs) and/or autisticpeople. It provides recommendations toprimary care to help address this issue. Itfurthers the evidence and importance ofrecognising and managing constipation asoutlined in national guidance.1Public Health England and the Officefor National Statistics estimate thatapproximately 2.16% of adults and 2.50%of children in the UK have an LD. Autisticspectrum condition (ASC) is reported inapproximately 2% of adults and children. Itis considered that 30%–70% of people whohave an ASC will also have an LD.2