Digital Commons Network^™

Time For Change: A Study Of Enrolment Decision Dynamics For Admission Into English Secondary Education, David Andrew Carter

Plymouth Business School Theses

Cross-sectional studies suggest a prevalence of mental health problems from the age that children change to English secondary schools but there are few longitudinal appraisals of these issues and how enrolment policies influence psychological wellbeing. This research focuses on key factors linking competition for secondary schools and family responses to such challenges to determine enrolment policies that can sustain wellbeing longer-term. Integrated, model-based multimethodology was used in this urban, case-based study. Views were induced from multi-agency, expert practitioners to agree a system dynamics concept model. Parental decision-making behaviours were deduced by survey to understand key factors for model calibration. Dynamic …

Quantified Moorland Vegetation And Assessment Of The Role Of Burning Over The Past Five Millennia, Ralph M. Fyfe, Havananda Ombashi, Heather J. Davies, Katie Head

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

© 2017 International Association for Vegetation Science. Aims: To apply the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA) to pollen count data from multiple sites to estimate local vegetation abundance and compare with charcoal-derived records of burning. Location: Exmoor, southwest England, UK. Methods: Pollen count data from 16 sites were transformed to estimates of distance-weighted vegetation abundance using the LRA (REVEALS and LOVE models), correcting for bias in pollen production and dispersal. Charcoal concentration data from six sites were normalized using Box-Cox transformation to produce z-scores. Moving-window correlation was undertaken to compare pollen percentage values for key taxa (Calluna, Poaceae) and localized burning. …

Disadvantage In English Seaside Resorts: A Typology Of Deprived Neighbourhoods, Sheela Agarwal, Steven Jakes, Stephen Essex, Stephen J. Page, Martin Mowforth

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Socio-economic disadvantage experienced by residents of English seaside resorts has been growing over the last decade, and academic and practice-based research is providing better insights into the causes, internal dynamics and appropriate policy responses to these issues in coastal communities. This paper examines the nature and extent of disadvantage in English seaside resorts through analysis of a specially devised spatial and temporal database, which draws together various publicly available sources beyond the population census and Index of Multiple Deprivation. Using univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses of this database, a new typology of highly deprived resort neighbourhoods has been devised, with …

Experiences Of Undergraduate Nursing Students In Peer Assisted Learning In Clinical Practice: A Qualitative Systematic Review, Matthew C. Carey, Bridie Kent, Jos M. Latour

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Caradura: Migration, Informal Labor, And The Problem Of Enacting Trust In A Spanish Enclave In Morocco, Brian Campbell

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

AbstractSome social scientists have argued that state legal institutions are not effective at protecting immigrants. Proper evaluation of ethnographic data, they argue, shows that migrants integrate themselves by forming strong, personal relationships of trust and friendship minimally grounded in discourses of ethnicity or kinship. They also transcend legal and cultural categories and assign roles other than those of the state. This article tests this model against the experience of migrants, refugees, and transfronterizos/as (cross‐border laborers) engaged in informal ties of confianza (trust) in Ceuta, a small Spanish enclave in Morocco. Workers claim that while ties of confianza can transform into …

Organisational Interventions Designed To Reduce Caesarean Section Rates: A Systematic Review Protocol, Alison M. Hutchinson, Cate Nagle, Bridie Kent, Debra Bick, Rebecca Lindberg

School of Nursing and Midwifery

IntroductionThere is a growing body of evidence to indicate that both primary and subsequent caesarean sections are associated with increased maternal and perinatal morbidity. Efforts to reduce the number of clinically unnecessary caesarean sections are urgently required. Our objective is to systematically review published evidence on the effectiveness of maternity service organisational interventions, such as models of maternity care, that aim to reduce caesarean section rates.Methods and analysisDatabases will be searched, including the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, MEDLINE, Maternity and Infant Care, EMBASE and SCOPUS. Search terms related to caesarean …

A Very Different Experience: Merchant Seamen On British Coastal Convoys 1940-45', Gh Bennett, Gh Bennett

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Machine-Learning Based Identification Of Undiagnosed Dementia In Primary Care: A Feasibility Study, Emmanuel A. Jammeh, Camille B. Carroll, Sw Pearson, Javier Escudero, Athanasios Anastasiou, Peng Zhao, Todd Chenore, John Zajicek, Emmanuel Ifeachor

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of The Digital Single Market: Culture Vs. Competition Vs. Copyright, Simone Schroff, John Street

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper examines the implications for European music culture of the European Union’s (EU) Digital Single Market strategy. It focuses on the regulatory framework being created for the management of copyright policy, and in particular the role played by collective management organisations (CMOs or collecting societies). One of the many new opportunities created by digitalisation has been the music streaming services. These depend on consumers being able to access music wherever they are, but such a system runs counter to the management of rights on a national basis and through collecting organisations which act as monopolies within their own territories. …

Developing Digital Educational Materials For Nursing And Sustainability: The Results Of An Observational Study, Neito C Alvarez, Janet Richardson, Gema Parra-Anguita, Manuel Linares-Abad, Norma Huss, M. Luisa Grande-Gascón, Jane Grose, Maud Huynen, Isabel M. López-Medina

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Obesity And Dental Caries In Young Children In Plymouth, United Kingdom: A Spatial Analysis, Martha Paisi, Elizabeth Kay, Irene Kaimi, Robert Witton, Robert Nelder, Costas Christophi, Debra Lapthorne

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Obesity And Caries In Four-To-Six Year Old English Children: A Cross-Sectional Study, Martha Paisi, Elizabeth Kay, Irene Kaimi, Robert Witton, Robert Nelder, Ruth Potterton, Debra Lapthorne

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Mhealth Resources For Asthma And Pregnancy Care: Methodological Issues And Social Media Recruitment. A Discussion Paper, Graham R. Williamson, Anita O'Connor, Chervonne Chamberlain, David Halpin

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Preconception Care For Infertile Couples: Nurses' And Midwives' Roles In Promoting Better Maternal And Birth Outcomes., Helen T. Allan, Ginny Mounce, Esther Crespo, Jill Shawe

School of Nursing and Midwifery

INTRODUCTION: Preconception care promotes better maternal outcomes, may assist in preventing birth defects and improves fertility awareness among healthy childbearing couples. Yet, the significance of preconception care for infertile couples is undeveloped area of practice in Europe. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To discuss the importance of nurses and midwives in providing preconception care to infertile couples in the United Kingdom and Spain. DESIGN: Discursive paper. METHOD: A comparison of different midwifery and nursing approaches to preconception care for infertile couples in two European countries. FINDINGS: At present, infertile couples' needs for preconception care are not routinely identified or understood. There is …

The Evaluation Of Physicians’ Communication Skills From Multiple Perspectives, Jenni Burt, Gary Abel, Marc N. Elliott, Natasha Elmore, Jennifer Newbould, Antoinette Davey, Nadia Llanwarne, Inocencio Maramba, Charlotte Paddison, John Campbell, Martin Roland

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Spanish Translation And Validation Of The Empathic-30 Questionnaire To Measure Parental Satisfaction In Intensive Care Units, Orive Fj Pilar, Lozano J Basabe, Zuñiga A López, Fernández Ym López, Argaluza J Escudero, Jm Latour

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Introduction Few validated surveys measuring parental satisfaction in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) are available, and none of them in Spanish language. The aim of this study is to translate and validate the questionnaire EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care (EMPATHIC). This questionnaire measures parental perceptions of paediatric intensive care-related satisfaction items in the Spanish language. Material and methods A prospective cohort study was carried out using questionnaires completed by relatives of children (range 0–17 years old) admitted into a tertiary PICU. Inclusion criteria were a length of stay more than 24 h, and a suitable understanding of …

Mobile Wallet Inhibitors: Developing A Comprehensive Theory Using An Integrated Model, Sk Sharma, Sk Mangla, S Luthra, Z Al-Salti

Plymouth Business School

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd The concept of the mobile wallet is increasingly adopted in developed and developing countries for improving the scale, productivity, and excellence of banking services. Oman is one of the most growing countries of the Middle Eastern economies. Acceptance of mobile wallets in Oman is being hindered by various inhibitors. There is no study in the Middle Eastern countries that addressed the concerns of probable inhibitors influencing mobile wallet acceptance from expert's perspective. In this study, eleven key inhibitors to mobile wallet adoption are identified from the literature and expert's feedback. This study employed Interpretive Structural Modelling …

‘University Must Be Saved’ Genealogy As A Knowledge Approach., Patrizia Moschella

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

The research offers an elaboration of genealogy as an approach to knowledge from Friedrich Nietzsche's original work on method (1887) processed by Michel Foucault (1971). It provides an interdisciplinary version that integrates theoretical and analytical contributions from the philosophy of knowledge, from exact and social sciences to artistic research. This work also takes into account those who have most explicitly enhanced the potentialities of geneaalogy such as Gilles Deleuze (1962) and, more recently, Carlo Sini (2007) and Giorgio Agamben (2010), but also embraces the reflections of researchers, from the past or present, whom I dare associate with the genealogy approach …

Turbo Film As Artistic Apparatus And As Manifesto For The Uncertain Future Of Moving Images, Paololuca Barbieri Marchi

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

The following research is a practice-based Ph.D. in filmmaking that proposes to define an unclassified film genre and its specific artistic practice. This practice, at the intersection of experimental films, art-cinema and Youtube user- generated videos, I refer to as “Turbo Films.” Beginning with a critical perspective on video art and experimental film history, as it relates to today’s public approach towards the production of moving images, the concept of “Turbo Films” is proposed as an opportunity to understand new trajectories in the production of image-culture, and as holistic modus operandi for the current cross-media environment. Turbo Films have been …

The States And Status Of Clay: Material, Metamorphic And Metaphorical Values., Lu La Buzz

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

This doctoral project combines a performance-led practice with contextual research in order to demonstrate how arts practice can challenge historical perceptions of clay and enhance its material status. The core knowledge deduced from this research is that embodied performance transforms connectivity between artist and clay and produces a unified incarnation of both elements. Through the use of immersive research methods I gained insights which could not have been predicted - particularly that my experiential performances were a process of ‘clay becoming’ in which I ultimately became the clay. In terms of locality, the practice, comprising eight performance-led works and related …

The Heart Of Cities Seen Through The Making Of Objects, P Davis

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

The United States Container Security Initiative And European Union Container Seaport Competition, Xufan Zhang

Plymouth Business School Theses

The increasing volume of container trade poses formidable security challenges. As a result of terrorist attacks, a variety of compulsory and voluntary security measures have been introduced to enhance and secure maritime container trade. The United States (US) Container Security Initiative (CSI) was claimed to impose serious problems in European Union (EU) ports, and in particular it was claimed to affect EU container port competitiveness due to compliance cost and operational inefficiency. This research aimed to analyse the impact of the CSI on EU container seaport competition. Following an abductive approach, a conceptual model was developed based on the literature …

Protestantism In Macedonia Today, Ruzhica Cacanoska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Protestantism arrived in Macedonia in the second half of the nineteenth century. Since then, a number of Protestant communities were established and their current membership is relatively small. The United Methodist Church in the Republic of Macedonia is considered to be traditional and is listed as such in the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. The contemporary Protestant structure is composed of 12 Evangelical-Protestant churches. The subject matter of this paper is a sociological research on the Protestant communities in Macedonia and it will focus on key issues related to the structure and functioning of their communities, their mutual cooperation, …

The Theological And Geographical Origins Of Protestantism In Albania, David Hosaflook

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Albanian Protestant Movement has both a theological and a geographical origin. Theologically, the movement could only begin after parts of the Bible were translated into Albanian, because the Protestant doctrine of “Sola Scriptura” demands that believers understand the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, in Protestant missions to the Ottoman Empire, Bible translators usually preceded evangelists and the founding of churches. In 1827, the publication of the first Albanian New Testament was a significant achievement, but it was practically useless to most Albanians, who were illiterate (especially in their mother tongue). Hence, the Protestant missionary endeavor included linguistic and educational efforts to …

The Independent Churches And Proselytism In The Balkans, Kostake Milkov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The emergence of the new churches in the Balkans is a relatively recent phenomenon, and it is mainly connected with the Evangelical wing of Protestantism. Apart from the Congregationalist missions within the Ottoman Empire from the mid-nineteenth century including the Methodists and to a much smaller extent, the Baptists and the Pentecostals., and their spinoffs, mainly resulting from geopolitical shifts post-World War I, most of the Evangelical missionary endeavors on the territory of Former Yugoslavia began after the fall of Communism, These aspects are the focus of my essay, although some of the conclusions are also applicable to the Protestant …

School Disciplinary Responses To Unexcused Absences, Zachary Boswell

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative document analysis research study was to explore how public high schools in California create local unexcused absence and truancy policies in similar and different ways. The study used Lipsky’s “street-level bureaucracy” and the American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force’s definition of “zero tolerance policies” in the conceptual framework. Forty-two California public high school handbooks were qualitatively coded and analyzed for the extent to which their disciplinary responses to unexcused absences were aligned with the ideals of zero tolerance. Schools were purposefully selected to maximize contrasts between specific student demographic groups and school enrollment sizes. …

Performance Pedagogy: Utilizing Alternative Methods In The Classroom, Alexander Paez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Teaching methods and styles at the collegiate level have not changed all that much: Professors still generally give lectures from the lectern or stand in the front of the class, while writing on the board or pointing to a slide projected on a screen. Some questions and answers can occur with the occasional group activity; however, the focus seems always to come back to the text. Students read the required textbook, listen to a lecture and take tests. There are however alternative methods that engage the students as well as the professor in the learning process. Active learning is one …

Trini To De Bone: The Impact Of Migration On The Cultural Identities Of Trinidadian Immigrants In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Stephanie Zukerman

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of migration and the resulting intercultural interactions on the cultural identities of first-generation immigrant Trinidadians living in the Philadelphia area of the United States. It focused on four identities: race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and nationality. The goal of the study was to determine how Trinidadian immigrants define and reconceptualize these four dimensions of their identities as they make new lives in American society. Another goal was to determine whether identities shift and, if so, how, for Trinidadian immigrants when they move across cultures to a society where they are no longer in the racial, ethnic, …

Psychological, Academic And Demographic Variables Affecting Students’ Academic Achievement Among First Year College Students In Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Alonazi

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

There are many factors that affect academic achievement among first year college students in Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of academic achievement of first year college students in Saudi Arabia by investigating the relationship between a selection of demographic, academic, and psychological variables and their effects on first-year students’ GPA. All first-year students admitted to the King Saud University in fall 2016 or spring 2017 were invited to complete a self-report survey. 1457 students have completed and submitted the survey. Multiple regression analysis was performed with all independent variables in order to determine …

Formation Of Professional Identity: Elementary Teachers Who Transition To University-Based Teacher Education, Patricia L. Burgess

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study inquired into the ways university-based teacher educators who taught in elementary grades had come to understand and describe their professional identity within the context of higher education. Additionally, the study explored their personal motives in becoming a teacher educator and the challenges and received support as they transitioned into higher education. Further, it investigated how their previous teaching experiences and identity were relevant to their new roles and identity as university-based teacher educators, and how they have come to understand their beliefs about teaching and learning within the context of higher education.

This study followed a qualitative, …