Digital Commons Network^™

Library Support For Massive Open Online Courses (Moocs) In The Philippines: The Case Of American Corners, Princess Grace Wooden, Darin Jan Tindowen

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study examined the role of libraries in supporting Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the Philippines, with particular focus on American Corners as library-based learning spaces. Grounded in the increasing demand for flexible and accessible education, the study aimed to assess the readiness of American Corner libraries and determine the extent of MOOC implementation, as well as examine the relationship between these variables. A quantitative descriptive-correlational research design was employed, involving 28 American Corner staff composed of directors and librarians from 14 participating institutions. Data were collected using a validated survey questionnaire and analyzed through frequency, percentage, weighted mean, …

From Digital Skills To Digital Ventures: Exploring The Influence Of Digital Competence On Infopreneurship Intentions Of Library And Information Science Students In Nigerian Polytechnics, Uwaebuka Wisdom Madu Dr., Stephen Adekunle Ajayi Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The focus of this study was to investigate the influence of digital competence on infopreneurship intention among Library and Information Science (LIS) students in federal polytechnics in South-West Nigeria, a context characterized by high graduate unemployment and rapid digital transformation. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Eshet-Alkalai's Digital Literacy Model, a descriptive survey design was employed. The population comprised 638 final-year LIS students across four federal polytechnics, with a sample of 468 selected through multi-stage sampling. A validated questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.828 was used for data collection. 388 responses amounting to 82.9% response rate was …

Making The Implicit Explicit: Leadership In Primary Care Dental Practice, Sally Hanks, Debby R.E. Cotton

Peninsula Dental School

Objectives: This paper reports on research aimed at understanding leadership activities in primary care dental practice, an under-explored area within the extant literature. Methods: The research employed a qualitative, exploratory paradigm, using Video Reflexive Ethnography (VRE) and Activity Theory (AT) to capture the lived experiences of seven participating dentists. Results: The research outlines the ways in which dentists demonstrate leadership skills in their daily work, identifying three interacting activity systems that define leadership in this setting: Patient Care (PC), Running the Surgery (RS), and Running the Practice (RP). Findings emphasise that leadership is directly related to patient care and is …

Educational Interventions To Prepare Undergraduate Students For Out-Of-Hours Practice As A Newly Qualified Doctor In The United Kingdom: A Scoping Review, Alex Gordon, Molly Parkinson, Rosanna Watts, Kamal El-Badawi, Erin Dawson, Rohan Chiktara, Lorna Burns, Nicola Brennan

Peninsula Dental School

Background: In the United Kingdom (UK), newly qualified doctors are routinely responsible for out-of-hours (OOH) care, often managing acutely unwell patients with limited supervision. Despite national recommendations encouraging OOH experience during medical school training, there is no formal curriculum for OOH practice. Objectives: This scoping review aimed to identify the range of educational interventions designed to prepare UK medical students for OOH clinical responsibilities and assess their reported effects on perceived and actual preparedness. Methods: Following Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, a systematic search of seven databases and grey literature sources was conducted. Eligible studies involved UK-based medical students and reported …

Prevalence And Determinants Of Diabetes-Related Psychological Distress In A Tertiary Care Setting In Tamil Nadu: India: Cross-Sectional Study, Rohit Shankar, Samuel Tromans

Peninsula Medical School

BackgroundDiabetes distress, whereby people with diabetes experience distressing psychological symptoms associated with living with their condition, is an emerging problem in India. Diabetes distress leads to self-care deficits, suboptimal glycaemic control (which can lead to increasing risks of complications) and impaired quality of life.AimsTo determine the burden of diabetes distress and its associated factors in an Indian tertiary care centre in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India, covering a population of 1.25 million.MethodThis prospective observational study involved a structured questionnaire covering demographic and clinical details, which was given to patients. The Diabetes Distress Scale 17 (DDS-17) was used to assess diabetes distress …

Involving Parents In Prevention: A Case Example Of Research And Intervention Development To Improve Financial Well-Being Support, Nick Axford, Gisella Hanley, Rebecca Summers, Kristin Liabo, Amy Bond, Eleanor Bryant, Georgia Smith, Rachel Silcock, Vashti Berry

Peninsula Medical School

The adverse effects on parent and child outcomes of poverty and stressors associated with low income are well established. With notable exceptions, however, the potential role of frontline services in improving family financial well-being is underexplored. This article outlines how patient and public involvement (PPI) was initiated early on in research on financial well-being support (FWbS). It illustrates how research can build on and integrate what parents say about services and how to research them. The involvement work was undertaken in one city in part to inform the adaptation of an income maximisation service to be delivered in local children’s …

Royal College Of Psychiatrists College Report 244: Optimising Psychotropic Medication Prescribing For People With Intellectual Disability, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Antigypsyism: Foundations Of An Ideology Of Hatred Towards Roma, Fernando Ruiz Molina, Zoë James

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

Roma communities represent the largest ethnic minority in Europe (European Parliamentary Research Service, 2021), dating their presence from the fourteenth century onwards (Council of Europe [CoE], 2012a; CoE n.d.-a; End, 2012).¹Accord-ing to the Council of Europe, it is estimated that the population of Roma citizens living currently in Europe is around 10 to 12 million (CoE, 2012a). Despite their long-standing presence in European countries, Roma are hated within their own countries. From Eastern to Western Europe, animosity towards Roma centres on public acceptance of stereotypes of their criminality and lifestyles, leading to this minority group experiencing the most bias-motivated crime …

Cobalt's Climate Paradox: Global Ambitions For A Greener Future Rely On Blood-Stained Hands, Ashleigh Wootton

Natural Resources Journal

The global effort to mitigate climate change increasingly relies on widespread electrification, with lithium-ion batteries at its core and the key minerals required for their production concentrated in countries uniquely vulnerable to exploitation. Lithium-ion battery production relies heavily on cobalt, a critical mineral primarily sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which supplies approximately 70 percent of the world’s cobalt. As demand for cobalt is projected to rise sharply, the DRC has become indispensable to the global clean energy transition. Cobalt extraction in the DRC is closely linked to severe human rights abuses, including forced labor, child labor, …

Lower Suicidal Ideation Linked To Easier Access To Urban Green Spaces During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Nationwide Study In Japan, Zheng Xian, Tomoki Nakaya, Clive E. Sabel, Ryo Okubo, Kun Liu, Jinguang Zhang, Takahiro Tabuchi

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Urban green spaces (UGSs) have been linked to improved mental health and lower suicide rates, yet their protective role during large-scale crises remains underexplored. We examined associations of UGS accessibility with long-term and pandemic induced new-onset suicidal ideation during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in urban Japan, using data from a nationwide health survey of 17,376 participants (August 2020). Modified Poisson regression models estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) for suicidal ideation by UGS accessibility (area, number, and type) within 5, 10, and 15-minute walking thresholds from home, controlling for individual and area-level confounders. UGS accessibility exhibited dose-response relationships with …

Who Seeks Help? Characteristics Of Doctors Accessing Mental Health Support In England: 4-Year National Review, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

BackgroundMental health difficulties affect the well-being of doctors and compromise the delivery of healthcare. However, large-scale data on doctors’ mental health needs are limited.AimsDescribe patterns of self-referrals for mental health support among doctors in England and explore associations with demographic factors, speciality, neurodevelopmental and mental health indicators.MethodObservational study using data from doctors who self-referred for mental health difficulties to a national service in England over a 4-year period. Logistic regression was used to explore associations between speciality and mental health indicators.ResultsOf the 16 815 doctors who self-referred during the study period, 80% were under the age of 49 and 70.6% …

Global Perspectives On Esg And Sdgs In Aviation, Leila Halawi

Publications

ESG implementation in aviation and airline operations has progressed significantly in the past few years. ESG is thought of as a source of competitive advantage. This research investigates the complex connection between ESG practices, SDG alignment, and trust-building in airline operations. We examine how airlines navigate these complex dynamics by drawing on literature and case studies from three distinct regions: the United States, Europe, and South America. We synthesize existing knowledge to illuminate pathways toward a more sustainable and trusted aviation industry and offer insights into successful approaches, persistent challenges, and emerging trends. © 2026 selection and editorial matter, Joanna …

Play-Based Learning In Private International Preschools In Cairo: Teachers' Perspectives, Kesha L. Stovall

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how play-based learning is practiced and contextualized in private, international preschools in Cairo, Egypt through the perspective of teachers. It calls upon both historical and contemporary theories of play and play pedagogies ranging from the times of Plato and Al-Farabi to the 21st century with Montessori and Dewey. Using a contemporary theory of play presented by Stuart Lester and Wendy Russell as a guiding framework, it examines how play and play-based learning are implemented, shaped and even challenged in a Cairene context. These contexts include sociocultural factors such as parents’ expectations and aspirations, institutional barriers, teacher development …

On The Reasonableness Of Religious Belief According To W. James' "The Will To Believe" With Reference To Alvin Plantinga's “The Nature Of Necessity”, Maria Gadelrad Shenouda Nakhla

Theses and Dissertations

Analytically, I follow William James's approach in his paper "The Will to Believe" to demonstrate that holding a religious belief is reasonable and it is not incompatible with being a philosophy scholar. I do this through explaining the way James addressed the main obstacle that Clifford puts against belief (in general) which is ‘the lack of sufficient evidence’. Clifford claims that belief cannot be accepted without evidence on it.

James breaks apart this obstacle through many steps. First, analyzing the nature of belief itself, showing that belief cannot be attained based on intellectual grounds alone (which needs sufficient evidence), but …

Metabolic Syndrome Beyond Diagnostic Criteria: Population-Scale Integrative Metabolomics Characterization, Marwa Talal

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a complex cluster of interrelated metabolic abnormalities associated with elevated cardiometabolic risk. While diagnosis is based on well-established five clinical criteria, these may overlook early or atypical metabolic alterations. Large-scale metabolomic profiling offers an opportunity to identify biochemical signatures of MetS beyond diagnostic bias and to evaluate their relative importance across different presentations of the syndrome.

Methods: Data from 117,147 UK Biobank participants were analyzed in a cross-sectional design. High-throughput NMR quantified 75 circulating metabolites, for. Univariate analyses, MetS subtype stratification, and elastic net models with SHAP interpretation were applied to assess feature …

Fragmented Minds And Fractured Selves: A Cognitive Stylistic Analysis Of Mental Disturbance In Leaves Of Narcissus, Sarah M. Fayed, Amany M. El-Shazly, Fatma Ismail Dr.

Computer Science

What readers encounter in literature directly affects their views and impressions of the world. Hence, it is essential to acknowledge this effect and analyze it to understand how readers identify and pass judgment about significant issues. One important issue to investigate is the depiction of mental disturbance in modern fiction. The present work reconceptualizes the depiction of mental disturbance in Arabic fiction through an analysis of Somaya Ramadan’s Leaves of Narcissus. To this effect, Leaves of Narcissus (Awraq al-narjis) the depiction of mental disturbance is examined. The stylistic devices Ramadan uses, such as schema alterations to convey the content are …