Digital Commons Network^™

Developing A Digital Phenotype To Subdivide Adult Immunosuppressed Covid-19 Outcomes Within The English Primary Care Sentinel Network, Debasish Kar

Peninsula Medical School

Background: Adults classified as immunosuppressed have beendisproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to theimmunocompetent, certain patients are at increased risk of suboptimal vaccineresponse and adverse health outcomes if infected. However, there has beeninsufficient work to pinpoint where these risks concentrate within theimmunosuppressed spectrum; surveillance efforts typically treat theimmunosuppressed as a single entity, leading to wide confidence intervals. Aclinically meaningful and computerised medical record (CMR) compatiblemethod to subdivide immunosuppressed COVID-19 data is urgently needed.Methods: We conducted a rapid scoping review into COVID-19 mortality acrossUK immunosuppressed categories to assess if differential mortality risk was aviable means of subdivision. We converted the …

Contribution Of Fish To Food And Nutrition Security In Southern Africa: Challenges And Opportunities In Fish Production, Sahya Maulu, Confred Godfrey Musuka, Montshwari Molefe, Tlou Kevin Ngoepe, Ndakalimwe Naftal Gabriel, Joseph Mphande, Msumenji Phiri, Valdemiro Muhala, Messias Alfredo Macuiane, Mzime Regina Ndebele-Murisa, Oliver Jolezya Hasimuna, Thethela Bokhutlo, Mexford Mulumpwa, Victoria Ndinelago Erasmus, Wilson Jere, Chipo Hazel Dekesa, Chipo Plaxedes Mubaya, Manecas Francisco Baloi, Johannes Angala Iitembu, Enock Siankwilimba, Lin Zhang

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

This study investigated the role of fish in addressing food and nutrition security challenges in Southern Africa, focusing on 10 countries including Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and South Africa. It examined the current state of food and nutrition security, fish production, and fish consumption patterns. Additionally, the study investigated the challenges and opportunities to enhance fish production in these countries thereby enhancing food and nutrition security. The findings revealed persistent challenges such as a high prevalence of food insecurity and malnutrition throughout the region. Fish production is hindered by overexploitation of fishery resources, inadequate fisheries …

Long-Term Segregation And Seclusion For People With An Intellectual Disability And/Or Autism In Hospitals: Critique Of The Current State Of Affairs, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

In November 2023, the Department of Health and Social Care published guidance, entitled 'Baroness Hollins' Final Report: My Heart Breaks-Solitary Confinement in Hospital Has no Therapeutic Benefit for People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People'. The report's commendable analysis of the problems and identification of the areas where practice should be improved is unfortunately not matched by many of its recommendations, which appear to be contrary to evidence-based approaches. The concerns are wide-ranging, from the use of the term 'solitary confinement' for current long-Term segregation (LTS) and seclusion, to presumption that all LTS and seclusion is bad, to holding …

Explaining The Inexplicable: A Study Of People's Reactions To Futuristic Ai, Peta Masters, Wally Smith, Gustav Kuhn, Jingyi Jannie Lui, Ryan M. Kelly

School of Psychology

To better understand people's reactions to futuristic and seemingly impossible technologies of Artificial Intelligence (AI), we studied the responses of 21 students to a phone app that performs two highly surprising conjuring tricks simulated through a Wizard of Oz method: uncannily accurate lie detection, and control over a user's apparently free choices. We observed how, in the absence of readily available interpretations, our participants generated a range of pseudo explanations for how the AI performed its feats, which we classified as non-explanation, unresolved, concordant, and revelatory. We interpret these findings in terms of Daniel Dennett's notion of explanatory stances, and …

Mental Health, Well-Being And Resilience In Agricultural Areas: Gaps And Priorities. A Research Agenda For The Global North, Caroline Nye, Rebecca Wheeler, David Rose, Florence Becot, Mark Holton, Duska Knezevic Hocevar, Jorie Knook, Sarah Kyle, Maria Partalidou, Mark Riley, Artur Steiner, Hannah Whitley

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper offers an overview of research perspectives, gaps, and priorities within the field of mental health and well-being among farming communities in the Global North. Developed by an international working group of scholars with expertise in the mental health and well-being of agricultural and rural communities, it outlines the importance of developing an international research agenda in this subject area by presenting five propositions. Each of the propositions addresses current research gaps and/or highlights potential advancements in investigations into one of the following areas of study: i) who is being researched, ii) what is being researched, iii) geographical gaps …

Occupational Therapy In Pain Management: An Exploration And Description Of Current Uk Practice, Rebecca Slee, Alison Warren, Miriam Noonan, Tristan Henderson

School of Health Professions

Introduction: There is a growing body of evidence regarding the contribution to the management of chronic pain by occupational therapists. However, there is limited research available regarding contemporary practice in the United Kingdom (UK). Method: An on-line questionnaire was circulated via social media, profession specific publications and specialist interest groups. Responses were requested from UK-based Health and Care Professions Council registered occupational therapists who identified working with those living with chronic pain and their friends, family and supporters. Findings: A total of 26 occupational therapists responded. Occupational therapists are working in diverse service settings, offering a range of interventions and …

Using The Lehmer Mean To Assess Business Data Protection: Statistical Disclosure Control And The Truncated Moment Problem, Mark Stander, Julian Stander

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Confidential business data needs protection against disclosure. Often this data is protected by releasing sample means, variances and higher power moments. Motivated by statistical disclosure control obligations and the need to publish business data safely, we explain how calculating the Lehmer mean from released power moments can lead to the unwanted disclosure of the largest data value. We explain how similar disclosure can apply to smaller data values and provide an approximate solution to the Truncated Moment Problem. We briefly discuss the Gini mean and the relationship between sample central and raw moments.

Particle Size And Settling Velocity Of Bed And Suspended Sediments For Mud-Sand Beds, Leo Van Rijn, Luitze Perk, Bas Van Maren, Andy Manning

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The particle size and the settling velocity of sediments are key parameters in sediment transport studies. However, it remains surprisingly difficult to determine particle size and settling velocity distribution of fine-grained sediments (mud-sand). A large range of methodologies exist to measure either the particle size distribution or to measure the settling velocity. An important influential parameter is the shape of fine-grained sediments, with clay minerals being shaped as plates rather than as spheres. Furthermore, the settling velocity of fine particles is influenced by turbulent shear and flocculation processes. Sometimes, the sediment samples are pre-treated (destroying inter-particle bonds) to measure the …

Loss Of Trace Elements From Agricultural Soil, S. D.W. Comber, R. J. Schindler, M. S.A. Blackwell, T. Darch

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Soil erosion is a world-wide issue driven by land management and climate change. Research has focussed on soil loss rates from agricultural land. However, the loss of trace elements essential for soil and plant health, or potentially toxic elements that occur as impurities in fertilisers and manures, is poorly understood. This study reports on the loads and forms of copper, cadmium, manganese, nickel, selenium and zinc lost from three types of agricultural systems at Rothamsted Research’s North Wyke Farm Platform over five individual storm events. Loads reflected a combination of concentrations in the soil, annual additions from fertilisers, the ability …

What Are The Views Of Those Participating In A Trial Investigating Acute Post-Traumatic Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo? A Qualitative Study, Rebecca M. Smith, Bithi Sahu, Caroline Burgess, Jenna Beattie, Abby Newdick, Vassilios Tahtis, Jonathan Marsden, Barry M. Seemungal

School of Health Professions

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of patients and healthcare professionals participating in a randomized feasibility trial exploring the management of acute post-traumatic benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), and to establish the acceptability and tolerability of BPPV assessment and treatment procedures. Methods: This was a multi-center qualitative study nested within a wider randomized feasibility trial. Purposive sampling was used to gather a cohort of healthcare professionals and patients from three major trauma centres in London, UK. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using Framework analysis. Results: Fifteen healthcare professionals and 26 patients …

Cardiac Output-Guided Haemodynamic Therapy For Patients Undergoing Major Gastrointestinal Surgery: Optimise Ii Randomised Clinical Trial, Optimise Ii Trial Group, Mark R. Edwards, Mark R. Edwards, Rupert M. Pearse, Brennan C. Kahan, Thomas Hamborg, Garima Priyadarshini, Neil Macdonald, Borislava Mihaylova, Vladimir Gordeev, Esubalew Assefa, Priyanthi Dias, Ann Thomson, Michael P.W. Grocott, Monty G. Mythen, Michael A. Gillies, Michael Sander, Tuong Phan, Lisbeth Evered, Duminda N. Wijeysundera, Stuart A. Mccluskey, Andrew D. Shaw, Mitchell Weinstein, Cesar Aldecoa, Javier Ripollés-Melchor, Christoph K. Hofer, Hussein Abu Khudair, Wojciech Szczeklik, Ioana Grigoras

Peninsula Medical School

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of a perioperative algorithm for cardiac output-guided haemodynamic therapy in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. DESIGN Multicentre randomised controlled trial. SETTING Surgical services of 55 hospitals worldwide. PARTICIPANTS 2498 adults aged ≥65 years with an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification of II or greater and undergoing major elective gastrointestinal surgery, recruited between January 2017 and September 2022. INTERVENTIONS Participants were assigned to minimally invasive cardiac output-guided intravenous fluid therapy with low dose inotrope infusion during and four hours after surgery, or to usual care without cardiac output monitoring. MAIN OUTCOME …

Space Of Resilience: Architecture, Communication, And Immersive Experience In “St Sebastian: Plague Memory”, Mathew Emmett

School of Art, Design and Architecture

This paper examines St Sebastian: Plague Memory, a multi-channel audiovisual installation that redefines architecture through sensory and immersive media. Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project unfolds in two phases: first, transforming the interior of the Museo dell’Arte Classica in Rome into an experiential environment that fosters resilience and communal healing, and later evolving into a façade projection for La Notte dei Musei. ¹ Drawing on Mallgrave’s (2013) concept of the body as a neurological experience, the installation transcends traditional physical boundaries, establishing a dynamic spatial framework shaped by embodied interactions. By positioning installations as a form of architecture, this …

Chagos Archipelago, Claire Collins, David J. Curnick, Tom Letessier, Joanna Harris

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Remimazolam And Ciprofol: More Research Is Needed But Ask The Right Questions And Perhaps Aim Higher, J Robert Sneyd, Brian Anderson

More Faculty of Health Research

No abstract provided.

Drivers Of Variability In Surf Zone Habitat Use By Sandy Beach Fish: Unwitting Citizen Scientists Reveal Detailed Spatiotemporal Patterns, Ryan Hepburn, Tim Scott, Sam Prodger, Benjamin J. Ciotti

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Surf zones of sandy beaches are among the most heavily impacted aquatic ecosystems, yet are of criticalecological importance for inshore fish and fisheries. Knowledge of the drivers of fish habitat use in surf zones isneeded across broad scales to advise conservation and fisheries management, but sampling capabilities can belimited in spatio-temporal extent and resolution. The lesser weever Echiichthys vipera is a small, benthic,venomous fish that dominates surf zone fish assemblages in Northwest Europe and inflicts painful stings onbeachgoers. This study capitalises on an extensive record of E. vipera sting incidents to characterise variations insurf zone habitat use in relation to …

Low Toxicity Of Dissolved Silver From Silver-Coated Titanium Dental Implants To Human Primary Osteoblast Cells, Ranj Nadhim Salaie, Alexandros Besinis, Christopher Tredwin, Richard D Handy

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The controlled release of silver as a biocide from Ag-coated medical implants is desirable. However, the biocompatibility of Ag leachates is poorly understood. This study investigated the toxicity of silver released from the silver plated titanium implants to human primary osteoblast cells; and the effect of cell culture medium on the silver speciation and bioavailability.

METHODS: Ti6Al4V discs were coated with Ag nanoparticles (NPs), silver plus hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles (Ag+nHA), or Ag NPs plus microparticles (Ag+mHA). Primary human osteoblast cells were exposed to the leachates from the various discs for up to 7 days.

RESULTS: the total Ag concentrations released …

Assessing Impact Risk To Tropical Marine Ecosystems From Human Activities With A Southeast Asian Example, Fiona Culhane, Melanie C. Austen, Matthew Ashley, Jonson Javier, Sui Hyang Kuit, Nguyen Phuc Hung, Hau Duc Tran, Radisti A. Praptiwi, Sainal Sainal, Eva Justine, Prawesti Wulandari, Stefanie Broszeit, Jean Beth Jontila, Sofia Johari, Lota Creencia, Amy Yee Hui Then, Lea Janine Gajardo, Carya Maharja, Hong Ching Goh, Wan Mohd Syazwan, Yang Amri Affendi, Lê Ngọc Thảo, Jito Sugardjito, Tom Mullier, Olivia Langmead

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Society relies on intact marine ecosystems for ecosystem services such as nutrition, livelihoods, health and well-being. Yet, to obtain these benefits, we carry out activities, introducing pressures to ecosystems, damaging and degrading habitats and reducing their capacity to optimally provide ecosystem services. Biodiversity and ecosystem services are consequently being lost globally but impact chains from these activities are poorly understood, especially in tropical marine ecosystems. We identified for the first time impact chains linking activities with pressures they introduce in five tropical coastal and marine habitats, specifically through application in four Southeast Asian case study sites. Using expert elicitation based …

Impact Of The 2020 Covid-19 Lockdown On The Concentration Of Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compounds In A Uk Urban Atmosphere, Emmanuel Bernard, Rebecca L. Cordell, Robert S. Blake, Michael J. Wilde, Paul S. Monks

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The changes in air quality brought about by the COVID-19 lockdowns can provide valuable insight into how longer-term reductions in emissions might affect atmospheric composition. In urban Leicester UK, the 2020 COVID “lockdown” brought about several notable changes in atmospheric composition, including a considerable decrease (20–60%) in concentrations of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs). Given their varied emission sources and lifetimes, NMVOC data can give valuable insights into how behavioural change impact atmospheric composition. The total concentration of 48 NMVOCs at roadside (RS) sites decreased from a pre-lockdown (sampled 16th-24th March 2020) concentration of 181.3 ± 41.4 μg/m³ to …

What Makes Depression Babies Different: Expectations Or Preferences?, Tomás Lejarraga, Jan K. Woike, Ralph Hertwig

School of Psychology

People who have experienced a financial crisis have been found to take less financial risk in their future lives. What causes this behavior? Have “depression babies” become more risk averse or are they more pessimistic about future market returns, that is, a preference or a belief change? To find out, we manipulated how experimental investors learned about a crisis – by experiencing it first-hand or by learning about it from graphs – and examined their subsequent propensity to take financial risk. Investors additionally revealed their expectations about the market by making incentivized predictions about its future value. Our findings replicated …

Higher Abundance Of Disturbance-Favoured Trees And Shrubs In European Temperate Woodlands Prior To The Late-Quaternary Extinction Of Megafauna, Elena A. Pearce, Florence Mazier, Ralph Fyfe, Charles W. Davison, Signe Normand, Maria Antonia Serge, Paolo Scussolini, Jens Christian Svenning

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Large herbivorous mammals strongly influence vegetation structure by creating and maintaining open areas and causing disturbance within closed woody habitats. The herbivores alive today in Europe are only a small remnant of the large species that existed in high diversity and abundance before modern humans. The extinction of so many large herbivores during the last 50,000 years, and the loss of megaherbivores (body weight ≥1000 kg) from most of the continent before the Pleistocene–Holocene transition, is likely to have had cascading effects on vegetation structure and composition. To evaluate these effects within the European temperate forest biome, we examine the …

Global Survey Of Paleo-Bedforms On Mars, Matthew Chojnacki, Lori K. Fenton, Lauren A. Edgar, Mackenzie Day, Christopher S. Edwards, Aaron R. Weintraub, Amber L. Gullikson, Matt W. Telfer

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Sedimentary processes on Mars have contributed to a plethora of landforms, both ancient and modern. Many of these are aeolian- or fluvial-formed constructs that meet the morphologic criteria for dunes and ripples but are clearly lithified and part of the rock record. This study conducted a survey of Mars using data returned from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) to characterize the spatial distribution, origin, and geologic context of these preserved ancient bedforms, termed here as paleo-bedforms. The most compelling class include organized groups of 2–80-m-tall, crescentic to transverse features spaced at 100–1000 m wavelengths at Apollinaris Sulci, Valles …

Deconstructing Contemporary Disposable Vapes: A Material And Elemental Analysis, Andrew Turner, John W. Scott, Thomas Backshall-Kennedy, Maya C. Dabrowski

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Disposable e-cigarettes (vapes) are becoming increasingly popular but there are concerns about their impacts on human health, the environment and resource sustainability. A better understanding of these impacts and potential solutions requires characterisation and quantification of the materials and chemicals used in their construction. In the present study we dismantle nine types of popular, single-use vapes and analyse the components by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and pyrolysis-gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The median dry mass of vapes was about 50 g, and the main material contribution was either plastic (up to about 80 %) or metal (up to about 85 %, and …

Environmental Transport And Sorting Of Glass Retroreflective Microbeads And Their Potential As Proxies For Road Marking Paints, Andrew Turner, Adam Bridgwater, Emily Marshall

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Road marking paints are a potentially important contributor to the global microplastic pool but very little reliable information is available on their erosion or environmental distributions. As potential carriers of or proxies for road paints, we determine the concentrations and sorting of retroreflective glass microbeads in marking materials and in fractionated (< 5 mm) local dusts, soils and sediments. As an aid to our investigation, we also determine the concentrations of metals of geochemical significance or components of road paint pigments in markings and geosolids. Concentrations of beads up to 92,800 kg⁻¹ were observed in street dusts, with a median diameter (350 μm) greater than that in road marking samples (270 μm). Few beads were found in adjacent (< 5 m) or more remote soils (six beads in ten 50-g samples) and none were detected in replicates of a sample of roof dust, suggesting that aeolian transport is limited. Concentrations up to 3700 kg⁻¹ were found in estuarine sediments close to bridges or stormwater runoff effluents, and with increasing sediment depth concentrations and …

The Effects Of Casein Glycomacropeptide On General Health Status In Children With Pku: A Randomized Crossover Trial, Alex Pinto, Anne Daly, Camille Newby, Abigail Robotham, Simon Heales, Simon Eaton, Helen Aitkenhead, Kimberly Gilmour, Richard Jackson, Catherine Ashmore, Sharon Evans, Júlio Cesar Rocha, Fatma Ilgaz, Mary Hickson, Anita Macdonald

School of Health Professions

In PKU, it is suggested that casein glycomacropeptide based protein substitute (GMP) may have physiological advantage when satiety, oxidative stress, renal function and inflammation are considered. Its prebiotic properties may also help gastrointestinal (GI) tolerance. In children with PKU, a randomized/crossover trial comparing phenylalanine-free amino acids (AA) vs GMP as the single source of protein substitute for 12-weeks in each arm was conducted. There was a 4-week wash out period with AA in-between. At baseline and end of each intervention, blood and fecal samples were taken to monitor gut health, oxidative stress, renal function, inflammatory markers and plasma amino acids. …

“It’S Not Because They’Re Gypsy”: Practitioners Perspectives Of Gypsies, Travellers And Crime And Justice, Raegan Booth, Kirsty Koral, Kitty Lymperopoulou

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

In dominant public, political and media narratives of Gypsy and Traveller communities, they have often been associated with criminality, deviance, violence, idleness and reluctance to assimilate into settled society. A discourse of othering predicated on negative stereotypes further affect their marginalisation and social exclusion. This empirical article critically examines reflections on, and responses to, these dominant narratives among practitioners who have engaged with Gypsy and Travellers operationally and strategically, in relation to crime and criminal justice. We find evidence of compliance with dominant narratives which include perceptions that deny and minimise experiences of victimisation and racism, while also suggesting a …

Regeneration: A Collaborative Writing, Making, And Moving Inquiry, Melissa Dunlop, Alys Mendus, Mark Price, Karen Abadie, Laurinda Brown, Carol Laidler, Marian Liebmann, Marina Malthouse, Grace Mendus

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Nine members of the Collaborative Artful Narrative Inquiry network (CANI-net) gathered to explore a regenerative intention. This article tracks our interplay of writing, making, and moving together and questions that arose: How do we go about regenerating? Can we find openings to processes happening outside awareness? How does the refrain “now let’s write” act in relation to the un/intention of regeneration? Is our material, embodied co-presence regenerative? Answers were intimated through listening, touching hands, printmaking, and sculpting clay; in letting things be said and unsaid, writing as response, in making shapes and animal sounds, and dancing Zorba’s Dance.

An Evaluation Of A Multidisciplinary Care Planning Tool For People With Intellectual Disabilities And Behaviours Of Concern, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Bridging High-Performance Work System And Hotel’S Innovation Performance: A Serial Mediation Of Human Resource Flexibility And Knowledge Absorptive Capacity, Saad Hassan, Fatima Tahir, Zeeshan Ahmed, Saqlain Raza, Muhammad Kashif Nawaz

Plymouth Business School

Purpose: The study advances research on the high-performance work system (HPWS) and innovation performance (IP) linkage by empirically analyzing the serial mediation of human resource flexibility (HRF) and knowledge absorptive capacity (KAC). Previous research on the HPWS–IP linkage underscores the presence of a “black box.” Therefore, the present study aims to unravel the underexplored HPWS–IP relationship through HRF and KAC mediation in the context of the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach: Survey-based time-lagged data were collected from 303 mid-level managers in the hotel industry. Structural equation modeling (SEM) using Smart-PLS 4 was used to test hypothesized relationships. Findings: The results reveal that …

Digging For Literature On Tailoring Cultural Offers With And For Older People From Ethnic Minority Groups: A Scoping Review, Stephanie Tierney, Jordan Gorenberg, Marta Santillo, Debra Westlake, Geoffrey Wong, Kerryn Husk, Sofia Vougioukalou, Ruthanne Baxter, Shoba Dawson, Nia Roberts, Caroline Potter, Harriet Warburton, Beth Mcdougall, Johannah Latchem, Kamal R Mahtani

Peninsula Medical School

INTRODUCTION: Social prescribing addresses non-medical issues (e.g., loneliness, financial worries, housing problems) affecting physical and/or mental health. It involves connecting people to external support or services, including 'cultural offers'-events, groups and activities run within or by cultural organisations. Such offers need to be acceptable and accessible to diverse populations if forming part of a social prescription.

METHODS: A scoping review was conducted to identify what existing literature, conducted in the United Kingdom, tells us about tailoring cultural offers for older people (aged 60+ years) from ethnic minority groups. Relevant literature was searched for on electronic databases, through Google, via a …

Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy (Efp) And Well-Being: Exploring The Experiences Of Uk Military Veterans Using A Dialogical Narrative Approach, Imogen Campbell, David Murphy

School of Psychology

No abstract provided.