Digital Commons Network^™

"Mattering" Is The Foundation Of Identifying 'What Matters' In Patient Care, Kieran Green, John Downey, Sheena Asthana, Joanne Watson

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Autistic Traits In Fibromyalgia Are Associated With Hypersensitivity And Central Sensitisation, Helen Johnston, Alison Bacon

School of Psychology

Fibromyalgia presents with symptoms of central sensitisation (CS). Allodynia is the defining symptom, with evidence for general hypersensitisation extending beyond the pain symptoms that characterise fibromyalgia, to sensory and psychological domains. Generalised sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) may increase vulnerability to hypersensitisation; while a direct association exists between sensory sensitivity and autistic traits in autistic people, CS symptoms are also associated with autistic traits in a broader participant sample. This study complements previous lines of enquiry by examining the relationship between SPS, CS symptoms and autistic traits in samples with and without fibromyalgia. It proposes that SPS is indirectly associated with …

Iterative Design For Enhancing Synchrony In Full-Body Interactive Experiences For Children On The Autism Spectrum, Sena Beste Ercan, Olga Galí Pérez, Belén González Mateo, Óscar Delgado Rueda, Andreu Castaño, Gray Atherton, Liam Cross, Narcís Parés

School of Psychology

Interpersonal Synchrony (IPS), the temporal coordination of actions between individuals, plays a crucial role in fostering social interactions, emotion regulation, and communication. While previous research has explored IPS in dyadic settings, little is known about how it can be supported in multi-user full-body interactive environments, especially for neurodivergent populations. This study presents an iterative design investigation of DragonIce, a full-body interactive experience aimed at promoting IPS among children on the Autism Spectrum (AS). Building on findings from a prior study involving 12 male students with autism, we implemented and tested two targeted interaction design modifications: (1) enhanced visual feedback and …

A Core Curriculum For Sociology In Undergraduate Medical Education (2nd Edition), Tracey Collett, Kathleen Kendall, Jeni Harden

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Negotiating Musical Practices In Chilean Prisons During Pinochet’S Dictatorship (1973-1990), Nuria Bonet

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Music played many roles in detention centres during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile (1973-1990), as political prisoners played, listened to, wrote, and taught music. Testimonies of survivors describe a variety of musical practices which reflect the political and social realities of their incarceration. While authorities used music to torture and degrade political prisoners, music was also a tool for communication, community-building, catharsis, and entertainment. Who was allowed to play, hear, and choose music in these spaces – and why - is a complex question which reveals narratives of resistance and oppression, while questioning ideas of musical taste in relation to …

Patient Experiences After Open Heart Surgery: A Qualitative Systematic Review, Halil Kaya, Orachorn Lumprom, Patricia Schofield, Matt Carey, Jos Latour

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Aim: The aim of this systematic review was to synthesise findings from qualitative studies exploring patients' experiences in hospital or at home following open-heart surgery.Methods: Systematic searches were conducted in CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, ProQuest Dissertation and Theses, and Web of Science, covering the period from 2006 to 2023. Studies were selected if they reported a qualitative inquiry into patients’ experiences after open-heart surgery. The quality of eligible studies was assessed using the JBI Critical Appraisal tool. A metaaggregation approach was used to synthesise the findings.Results: Twenty-one studies were included, representing 266 patients across 10 countries. Findings were aggregated into five …

An Investigation Of Violence Sustained By Nursing And Midwifery Students, Kevin Hambridge, Matt Carey, Francis Thompson

School of Nursing and Midwifery

AbstractBackgroundMany laws exist which protect healthcare personnel from violence within the workplace. Evidence suggests that violence towards nursing students continues and remains unreported. These violent incidents have been proven to have psychological effects.AimsThe aim of the study was to identify the extent, type and impact of violence and aggression sustained by nursing and midwifery students.MethodsA cross-sectional questionnaire survey was employed in a UK University to investigate the violence and aggression sustained by 369 pre-registration nursing and midwifery students.FindingsIn total, 54.7% (n=202) of students reported sustaining violence or aggression in their current academic year. This included verbal violence and aggression (92.7% …

Ngo Decision-Making During Typhoon Disaster Response: Towards A Relational Approach, Pamela Gloria Cajilig, Mona Nasser

Peninsula Dental School

This paper examines the decision-making processes of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) during Typhoon Odette (Rai) in Palawan, Philippines. The typhoon, which struck during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated vulnerabilities in the province, leading to the destruction of homes and livelihoods, disruptions in education, fatalities and damage to critical infrastructure. Focusing on a health- and development-centred NGO, the qualitative case study draws from phenomenological approaches to decision-making and studies that emphasise relational ontologies. The discussion employs a framework that categorises decision-making into three types of processes that underscore the latter's entangled nature: ‘knot’ represents situations of confusion and desperation and where …

Rl-Scap Sigfox: A Reinforcement Learning Based Scalable Communication Protocol For Low-Power Wide-Area Iot Networks, Raghad Albalawi, Fatma Bouabdallah, Linda Mohaisen, Shireen Saifuddin

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The Internet of Things (IoT) aims to wirelessly connect billions of physical things to the IT infrastructure. Although there are several radio access technologies available, few of them meet the needs of Internet of Things applications, such as long range, low cost, and low energy consumption. The low data rate of low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies, particularly SigFox, makes them appropriate for Internet of Things applications since the longer the radio link’s useable distance, the lower the data rate. Network reliability is the primary goal of SigFox technology, which aims to deliver data messages successfully through redundancy. This raises concerns …

Reconnecting To The Person Before Acquired Brain Injury: A Continuing Bonds Grief Intervention, Elizabeth Gilmour, Alyson Norman

School of Psychology

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) affects millions yearly potentially altering the emotional, behavioural and physical characteristics of the person. Consequently, it can result in the person before the ABI being markedly different from the person after. Family members of individuals with ABI often report feeling grief but there is limited support to help them. This study aimed to pilot a four-week grief writing intervention based on the continuing bonds intervention ‘Hello Again’, for family members after ABI. The purpose was to determine the experience of writing the letters and the perceived benefit. Recruitment was through volunteer sampling, and three participants took …

Characteristics, Behaviour And Fluxes Of Microplastics In The Coastal Boundary Zones Of The Persian Gulf And Oman Sea, Sajjad Abbasi, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Relatively little is known about microplastics (MPs) in the atmosphere of the coastal zone, including their interaction with the sea surface. In this study, MPs have been determined and characterised in the lower atmosphere, advecting air, depositing dusts, coastal sediments and seawater of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea using a variety of sampling techniques (including filtration of water and pumped air and deployment of a vertical array of sediment traps). MPs were detected in all samples and were dominated by fibres that were, in most cases, small (<100 μm) and black. MP numbers captured in advecting air showed no trends with height or differences between locations or deployments over land and sea, but a clear increase was observed during strong winds. MPs in atmospheric suspension and in deposited dusts, sediments and seawater were also heterogeneously distributed. Environmental or transport pathway fractionation was evident according to morphology and particle size (% fibres and % small fibres) and to polymer density. Regarding the latter, relatively low-density polymers (e.g., polyethylene, polypropylene) were more abundant in the atmosphere, advecting air and seawater, whereas higher density polymers (e.g., regenerated cellulosics, polyethylene terephthalate) were more abundant in settling dusts and sediments. Fluxes, based on particle counts and converted MP m⁻² h⁻¹, revealed advection (up to ∼ 1.2 × …

Older Adults' Experiences Of Telephone-Delivered Behavioral Activation With Mental Imagery As A Treatment For Depression During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study, Johnny Pellas, Mattias Damberg, Fritz Renner, Julie L Ji, Marie Kivi

School of Psychology

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the use of telehealth interventions for treating depression in older adults. We conducted a pilot study of a telephone-based brief psychological intervention, Behavioral Activation with Mental Imagery (BA-MI), for the treatment of depression in isolated older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. We achieved promising results regarding a reduction in depressive symptoms. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the participants' experiences of the intervention and provide insight into how the intervention could be improved. Fourteen participants aged 67-85 years that completed the BA-MI intervention were purposively selected and interviewed. The interviews were analyzed using …

A Provably Secure Coercion-Resistant E-Voting Scheme With Confidentiality, Anonymity, Unforgeability, And Cai Verifiability, Yun Xing Kho, Swee Huay Heng, Syh Yuan Tan, Ji Jian Chin

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Ensuring both cast-as-intended (CAI) verifiability and coercion-resistance in e-voting remains a critical challenge. The e-voting scheme proposed by Finogina and Herranz in 2023 represents the first notable advancement in reconciling these conflicting requirements. CAI verifiability allows voters to confirm that their intended vote has been correctly recorded, even without a secure channel to the election committee, while coercion-resistance prevents external influence and vote-selling. However, essential security properties such as confidentiality, anonymity, unforgeability, and double-voting prevention fall outside the scope of Finogina and Herranz’s e-voting scheme, leaving significant gaps in its security guarantees. To address this limitation, we propose a novel …

Deprivation And Family-Level Determinants For Paediatric Dental Extractions Under General Anaesthetic: An Ecological Study, Joelle Booth, Martha Paisi, Robert Witton, Robert Nelder, G J Melendez-Torres

Peninsula Dental School

Introduction Extraction of carious teeth is one of the most common reasons children in England are admitted to hospital.Aims To identify whether the Index Of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and family-level determinants are associated with the number of children requiring dental extractions under general anaesthetic (DGA) and the number of teeth extracted. A secondary aim was to determine whether family-level associations provide additional insight into DGA beyond the IMD alone.Methods An ecological analysis was conducted using service provider data (made available by Plymouth City Council) on the number of children (aged 0-16 years) who had a DGA and the number of …

The ‘Un-Doing’ And ‘Re-Doing’ Of Nurses’ Derealisation: Exploring The Effects Of The Heroic Keyworker Discourses During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Anna Conolly, Emma Rowland, Ruth Abrams, Ruth Harris, Daniel Kelly, Bridie Kent, Keith Couper, Jill Maben

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Using, and extending, Butler’s theory of recognition and censorship, this article examines the way in which nurses’ subject positions were regulated in the transformative liminality of the COVID-19 pandemic, where normal matrices of power were ‘undone’ and new ones formed. During the pandemic, societal discourses regarding nurses shifted from treating them as less-than-human and their care-work invisible and unrecognised (derealised), to an elevated position where they became appreciated and treated as heroes, then reverting to a derealised state. As part of the building of subjectivities in this liminal period, nurses constructed boundaries against ‘unmoral’ others, either members of the public, …

Thin And Ephemeral Snow Shapes Melt And Runoff Dynamics In The Peruvian Andes, Catriona L. Fyffe, Emily Potter, Evan Miles, Thomas E. Shaw, Michael Mccarthy, Andrew Orr, Edwin Loarte, Katy Medina, Simone Fatichi, Rob Hellström, Michel Baraer, Emilio Mateo, Alejo Cochachin, Matthew Westoby, Francesca Pellicciotti

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The snow and glaciers of the Peruvian Andes provide vital water supplies in a region facing water scarcity and substantial glacier change. However, there remains a lack of understanding of snow processes and quantification of the contribution of melt to runoff. Here we apply a distributed glacio-hydrological model over the Rio Santa basin to disentangle the role of the cryosphere in the Andean water cycle. Only at the highest elevations (>5000 m a.s.l.) is the snow cover continuous; at lower elevations, the snowpack is thin and ephemeral, with rapid cycles of snowfall and melt. Due to the large catchment …

Combining Remote And Collaborative Research: A Critical Reflection On Large-Scale, Comparative, And Interdisciplinary Research In Times Of A Global Crisis, Ferdiansyah Thajib, Thomas Stodulka, Patricia Kanngiesser, Daniel Haun, Jahnavi Sunderarajan, Magie Junker, Tongtong Meng, Wanting Sun, Zhen Zhang, Sandra Masaquiza, Monika Swastyastu, Desri Julita Taek, Arianna Abis, Disney Tjizao, Denis Chishala, Ljubica Petrović, Blanca Striegler, Janina Weyrowitz, Bernardo Arroyo-Garcia, Katja Liebal

School of Psychology

This paper examines the methodological and ethical challenges of conducting remoteresearch on child-animal relationships across thirty communities in seventeen countriesduring the COVID-19 pandemic. It critically assesses remote research as a mode ofcollaboration informed by decolonial aspirations, highlighting the complexities of navigatingtemporal and geographical distances, mitigating global inequalities, and addressing politicaland methodological tensions at the intersection of psychological anthropology and crosscultural developmental psychology. By engaging with these challenges, the paper fosterscritical dialogue on research ethics and methodologies between anthropology andpsychology, advancing a broader intellectual engagement toward translocal equity

Seasonal Vertical Migration Of Large Polar Copepods Reinterpreted As A Dispersal Mechanism Throughout The Water Column, Katie Jones, Giuliano Laudone, Katrin Schmidt, Barbara Niehoff, Astrid Cornils, Wilhelm Hagen, Hauke Flores, Céline Heuzé, Nahid Welteke, Sabrina Dorschner, Matthias Woll, Robert G. Campbell, Carin J. Ashjian, Cecilia E. Gelfman, Katyanne M. Shoemaker, Rebecca Jenkins, Benoit Lebreton, Gael Guillou, Clara J.M. Hoppe, Serdar Sakinan, Fokje L. Schaafsma, Nicole Hildebrandt, Giulia Castellani, Simon Belt, Allison A. Fong, Angus Atkinson, Martin Graeve

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Seasonal vertical migration of large lipid-rich copepods is often described as a mass descent of animals when primary production ceases, with important implications for mesopelagic food webs and global carbon sequestration. This view ignores the existence of surface-resident individuals, but here we show that non-migrants can form a substantial part of the populations of polar migrant species. In the Central Arctic Ocean, the biomass-dominant Calanus hyperboreus was evenly distributed throughout the water column from November 2019 to March 2020, with ~20% of subadults and adult females remaining in the upper 200 m and ~41% migrating to 1000–2000 m. These vertical …

Core Grade 7: Principles For Moving From Evidence To Recommendations And Decisions, Gordon Guyatt, Per Olav Vandvik, Alfonso Iorio, Arnav Agarwal, Liang Yao, Prashanti Eachempati, Linan Zeng, Derek K. Chu, Rohan D'Souza, Thomas Agoritsas, M. Hassan Murad, Stefan Schandelmaier, Jamie Rylance, Benjamin Djulbegovic, Victor M. Montori, Monica Hultcrantz, Romina Brignardello-Petersen

Peninsula Dental School

This seventh article in a seven part series presents the Core GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach for moving from evidence to recommendations or policy decisions. Core GRADE users make strong recommendations for an intervention versus a comparator when the desirable consequences clearly outweigh the undesirable consequences, and a conditional (weak) recommendation when the balance is less clear. Primary considerations in deciding on recommendations considering an individual patient perspective include balance of benefits, harms, and burdens; the certainty of evidence; and values and preferences. Secondary considerations, most important from a population perspective, include costs, feasibility, acceptability, and …

Using “Ways Of Thinking And Practising” To Analyse Final Year Medical Student Reflections And Underlying Concepts In Preparedness For Practice, Rachel Leyland, Hilary Neve, Elizabeth Drake, Tracey Collett

Peninsula Medical School

Introduction: Ensuring that medical students are prepared for future practice is challenging for all medical schools. Most studies of preparedness involve newly qualified doctors and use quantitative methods such as self-report surveys focused on defined competencies, and often find graduates are unprepared for the complex and challenging areas of real-world practice. Qualitative methods, using conceptual ideas linked to learning such as ‘Ways of Thinking and Practising’ (WTP) are little explored in this area but could offer rich and useful insights about graduates’ preparedness. WTP recognises that, in addition to specific knowledge and skills, students need to understand the complex links …

The Silicon Shrink: How Artificial Intelligence Made The World An Asylum By Daniel Oberhaus: Reviewed By Hannah Drayson, Hannah Drayson

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Ccp-Wsi Blind Test Series 5: Numerical Investigation Of Isothermal Sloshing In A Circular Tank Using Openfoam, Scott Brown, Vivek Francis, Stuart Colville, Deborah Greaves, Ignacio Pregnan Johanessen

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Sloshing dynamics in partially filled tanks is a critical concern across various engineering disciplines, including maritime, aerospace, automotive, and industrial applications. This work concerns a series of sloshing test cases using computational fluid dynamics and represents an individual contribution to the CCP-WSI Blind Test Series 5, in which the submitted results are compared against both physical and alternative numerical solutions. Free surface and centre of gravity measurements are presented and the sensitivity to crucial numerical techniques such as turbulence modelling are assessed. Results suggest that capturing the onset of excitation is particularly sensitive to the choice of turbulence model and …

Developing Human-Autonomy Teaming Strategies For Maritime Cyber Security Resilience In Uncrewed Autonomous And Remote Surface Vessel Operations, Juan Palbar Misas, Kimberly Tam, Kevin Jones

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The development of new technologies and digital capabilities for Uncrewed Autonomous and Remote Surface Vessel Operations (UARSVO) is driven by various industry stakeholders. This evolution impacts the maritime industry's human role, transforming from Human-Autonomy Hybrid (HAH) to Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT). Human-Autonomy Collaboration (HAC) is vital for maritime safety, security, and sustainability, particularly in light of increasing cyber incidents in remote operations, which necessitates greater cyber resilience due to technology at sea and ashore. This paper aims to provide a holistic socio-technical approach to investigate and present an overview of the current state-of-the-art research, focusing on the human perspective in maritime …

Provision Of Secondary Prevention Medication Information To Stroke Patients With Aphasia: An Audit Proposal, Janine Andrews

South West Clinical School Journal

#400WORDS: CHIEF NURSING OFFICER’S RESEARCH FELLOWS EVIDENCE IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS

Assessing Consumer Perceptions And Attitudes Towards Cultured Meat Using X (Twitter) Data: Implications For Decision Support, Guoste Pivoraite, Shaofeng Liu, Saeyeon Roh, Guoqing Zhao

Plymouth Business School

Cultured meat (CM) is considered to have a potential to address environmental, sustainability, ethical concerns, and food security, however, consumer acceptance remains a challenge. This study empirically validatesand extends the Cultured Meat Attitude and Perception Assessment (CAPA) model by analysing public discussions on X (Twitter) to understand consumer perceptions of CM. Using BERTopic for topic modelling and qualitative analysis, the study explored unprompted public narratives, mapping them to CAPA constructs to examine how public opinions align with or challenge existing theoretical concepts. The findings revealed a combination of cultural, political, ethical, and economic narratives shaping consumer behaviour and theirdecision-making processes …

Avoiding The Thin Veneer Of Legality; Structural And Institutional Factors Impacting Judicial Scrutiny In A National Security Context, Seán Looney

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

Discussions surrounding the role of judicial oversight in the national security context often revolve around discussions of appropriate standards of review and levels of deference for judges to take. While answering these doctrinal questions remains essential, the question of whether there are non-doctrinal factors which may influence how judges review executive action is relatively understudied. This article uses the so-called double-lock authorisation mechanism under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 to show how structural and institutional factors may influence judicial decision-making in a national security context. These factors are not universal rather they are specific to the oversight mechanism in question. …

Understanding The Impact Of Employee Investigations On Those Who Lead Them: A Case Study From Nhs Wales, Andrew Jonathan Cooper, Doris Anita Behrens, Sophie Elizabeth Jones, Adrian Neal, Aled Jones, Walter Hyll

School of Nursing and Midwifery

In healthcare, there is growing awareness of the potential harm that disciplinary processes can have on employees, service delivery, and organizational culture. However, little attention has been given to the impact on those responsible for conducting these investigations. This study examines investigator harm through a cross-sectional survey, simultaneously collecting qualitative and quantitative data from 71 participants across 10 NHS Wales organizations. The findings indicate that investigators experience harm when conducting employee investigations. While those with more experience perceive themselves as better prepared to follow the formal steps of the disciplinary policy and process, their ability to prevent harm to themselves …

The Uncertainties And Questions Of Care Home Residents, Relatives And Staff As A Basis For Evidence-Based Improvement And Research, Reena Devi, Kirsty Jayne Haunch, Elizabeth Helen Graham, Alys Wyn Griffiths, Gary Hodge, Andrew Clegg, Maria Drummond, Anne Forster, Susie Pearce, Karen Spilsbury, Carl Thompson

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Background: Research in long-term residential care settings (or care homes) for older people should address questions and uncertainties that matter most for those receiving and delivering care. Whether research does this effectively is unclear. In part, because the uncertainties and questions of key stakeholders are unmapped. Objective: To capture and prioritise the uncertainties of older people living in care homes, their relatives and staff. Methods: A three-phase mixed-methods study: (i) gathering uncertainties, (ii) data analysis and (iii) prioritisation. Phase 1 used interviews to gather uncertainties from residents (n = 14), relatives (n = 10) and staff (n = 44). In …

Redefining The Photic Zone: Beyond The Autotroph-Centric View Of Light In The Ocean, Thomas Davies, Tim Smyth

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Traditional measures of the photic zone have remained focused on autotrophs, limiting understanding of how changing marine lightscapes impact heterotrophs that use light as a resource or an environmental cue. We propose a new photic zone definition that encompasses all biological processes influenced by celestial light, and a new measure of photic zone depth, the minimum light intensity that elicits biological responses. This approach allows photic zone measures to be inclusive of all marine photobiology driven by sunlight, moonlight, or starlight, and enables urgently needed exploration of the nature, extent and ecological implications of changing marine lightscapes.

Prevalence, Experience, And Awareness Of Substandard And Falsified Medicines Among The Public And Healthcare Professionals In Jordan., Maysa Falah, Eman Daar, Daniel Zahra, Michael Dillon

Peninsula Medical School

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to assess the awareness, experiences and perspectives on substandard and falsified (SF) medicines among the general public and healthcare professionals in Jordan. SF medicines pose a global public health concern, yet data on their prevalence and associated risks in Jordan remain limited.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and June 2023 using a convergent mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected through structured surveys administered to 209 members of the public and 136 healthcare professionals (pharmacists and clinicians) recruited via convenience sampling across Jordan's 12 governorates. Surveys were conducted in English and Arabic. Qualitative data …