Digital Commons Network^™

Inelastic Behavior Of Steel And Composite Frame Structure Subjected To Earthquake Loading, P. D. Gajbhiye, Nuha S. Mashaan, V. Bhaiya, Rajan L. Wankhade, S. P. Vishnu

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Steel construction is used more often these days as an alternative to the R.C.C. when lightweight, high-strength, large-span structures with a faster erection are required. Extensive studies have been conducted by researchers to study the seismic performance of reinforced concrete and steel structures, both in terms of elastic and inelastic behavior. Composite construction is also a recent advancement in the building industry with similar advantages. However, no emphasis has been given to the comparison between the inelastic behavior of steel and composite structures when subjected to lateral loads. This study compares the inelastic behavior of steel and a composite frame …

Microscale Pollen Release And Dispersal Patterns In Flowering Grass Populations, Carl A. Frisk, Godfrey P. Apangu, Geoffrey M. Petch, Simon Creer, Mary Hanson, Beverley Adams-Groom, Carsten A. Skjøth

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Characterizing pollen release and dispersion processes is fundamental for knowledge advancement in ecological, agricultural and public health disciplines. Understanding pollen dispersion from grass communities is especially relevant due to their high species-specific allergenicity and heterogeneously distributed source areas. Here, we aimed to address questions concerning fine level heterogeneity in grass pollen release and dispersion processes, with a focus on characterizing the taxonomic composition of airborne grass pollen over the grass flowering season using eDNA and molecular ecology methods. High resolution grass pollen concentrations were compared between three microscale sites ( < 300 m apart) in a rural area in Worcestershire, UK. The grass pollen was modelled with local meteorology in a MANOVA (Multivariate ANOVA) approach to investigate factors relevant to pollen release and dispersion. Simultaneously, airborne pollen was sequenced using Illumina MySeq for metabarcoding, analysed against a reference database with all UK grasses using the R packages DADA2 and phyloseq to calculate Shannon's Diversity Index ( -diversity). The flowering phenology of a local Festuca rubra population was observed. We found that grass pollen concentrations varied on a microscale level, likely attributed to local topography and the dispersion distance of pollen from flowering grasses in local source areas. Six genera (Agrostis, Alopecurus, Arrhenatherum, Holcus, Lolium and Poa) dominated the pollen season, comprising on average 77 % of the relative abundance of grass species reads. Temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, turbulence and wind speeds were found to be relevant for grass pollen release and dispersion processes. An isolated flowering Festuca rubra population contributed almost 40 % of the relative pollen abundance adjacent to the nearby sampler, but only contributed 1 % to samplers situated 300 m away. This suggests that most emitted grass pollen has limited dispersion distance and our results show substantial variation in airborne grass species composition over short geographical scales.

The Effect Of High-Speed Power Training On Physical Frailty In Older Adults: Effect Of A Visual-Guided Exercise Program In South Korean Rural Areas, Dong H. Yoon, Jin-Soo Kim, Su S. Hwang, Dong W. Lee, Wook Song

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Objective. Exercise has been shown to be an effective intervention; the difficulty still lies in providing exercise programs to the older adults in rural areas. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effects of a 12-week exercise program provided with visual guidelines (prerecorded video) on frailty among older adults in rural areas. Methods. Fifty participants (71.7 ± 4.9 years) from 5 different rural areas were recruited and divided into two groups: the exercise group (EX, n = 24 (male: 8, female: 18)) and the control group (CON, n = 26 (male: 7, female: 17)). With the commencement of the exercise …

Seagrass Posidonia Escarpments Support High Diversity And Biomass Of Rocky Reef Fishes, Oscar Serrano Gras, Karina Inostroza, Glenn Hyndes, Alan M. Friedlander, Eduard Serrano, Caitlin Rae, Enric Ballesteros

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Although seagrass meadows form a relatively homogenous habitat, escarpments, which form three-dimensional structures and originate from the erosion of seagrass peat, can provide important habitat for reef fishes. Here, we compare fish assemblages and habitat structural complexity among seagrass Posidonia australis escarpments and canopies, as well as limestone reef habitats, to understand the role of seagrass escarpments as reef fish habitat in Shark Bay, Western Australia. The total number of fish species, fish biomass, and top predator biomass were significantly higher in seagrass escarpments and reef habitats than in seagrass canopies due to lower habitat structural complexity and thus becoming …

Unrecognized Hypertension Among A General Adult Ghanaian Population: An Urban Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study Of Prevalence And Putative Risk Factors Of Lifestyle And Obesity Indices, Enoch O. Anto, Wina I. O. Boadu, Emmanuel E. Korsah, Ezkiel Ansah, Eric Adua, Joseph Frimpong, Patience Nyarkoa, Valentine C. K. T. Tamakloe, Emmanuel Acheampong, Evans A. Asamoah, Stephen Opoku, Ebenezer Afrifa-Yamoah, Max E. Annani-Akollor, Christian Obirikorang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Hypertension (HTN) is the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless, most individuals in developing countries are unaware of their blood pressure status. We determined the prevalence of unrecognized hypertension and its association with lifestyle factors and new obesity indices among the adult population. This community-based study was conducted among 1288 apparently healthy adults aged 18–80 years in the Ablekuma North Municipality, Ghana. Sociodemographic, lifestyle characteristics, blood pressure and anthropometric indices were obtained. The prevalence of unrecognized HTN was 18.4% (237 / 1288). The age groups 45–54 years [aOR = 2.29, 95% CI (1.33–3.95), p = 0.003] and 55–79 years [aOR …

Utility Of Dna Methylation As A Biomarker In Ageing And Alzheimer’S Disease, Lidija Milicic, Tenielle Porter, Michael Vacher, Simon M. Laws

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation have been implicated in a number of diseases including cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. While it is recognized that DNA methylation is tissue-specific, a limitation for many studies is the ability to sample the tissue of interest, which is why there is a need for a proxy tissue such as blood, that is reflective of the methylation state of the target tissue. In the last decade, DNA methylation has been utilized in the design of epigenetic clocks, which aim to predict an individual’s biological age based on an algorithmically defined set …

Vitamin K-1 Intake And Incident Diabetes In The Danish Diet, Cancer, And Health Study, Pratik Pokharel, Jamie W. Bellinge, Frederik Dalgaard, Kevin Murray, Marc Sim, Bu B. Yeap, Emma Connolly, Lauren C. Blekkenhorst, Catherine P. Bondonno, Joshua R. Lewis, Gunnar Gislason, Anne Tjønneland, Kim Overvad, Jonathan M. Hodgson, Carl Schultz, Nicola P. Bondonno

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Context: Observational studies have reported lower risks of type 2 diabetes with higher vitamin K1 intake, but these studies overlook effect modification due to known diabetes risk factors. Objective: To identify subgroups that might benefit from vitamin K1 intake, we examined associations between vitamin K1 intake and incident diabetes overall and in subpopulations at risk of diabetes. Methods: Participants from the prospective cohort, the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study, with no history of diabetes were followed up for diabetes incidence. The association between intake of vitamin K1, estimated from a food frequency questionnaire completed at baseline, and incident diabetes …

Voltammetric Determination Of Inorganic Arsenic In Mildly Acidified (Ph 4.7) Groundwaters From Mexico And India, Martijn Eikelboom, Yaxuan Wang, Gemma Portlock, Arthur Gourain, Joseph Gardner, Jay Bullen, Paul Lewtas, Matthieu Carriere, Alexandra Alvarez, Arun Kumar, Shane O'Prey, Tamás Tölgyes, Dario Omanović, Subhamoy Bhowmick, Dominik Salaun, Pascal Salaun

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Routine monitoring of inorganic arsenic in groundwater using sensitive, reliable, easy-to-use and affordable analytical methods is integral to identifying sources, and delivering appropriate remediation solutions, to the widespread global issue of arsenic pollution. Voltammetry has many advantages over other analytical techniques, but the low electroactivity of arsenic(V) requires the use of either reducing agents or relatively strong acidic conditions, which both complicate the analytical procedures, and require more complex material handling by skilled operators. Here, we present the voltammetric determination of total inorganic arsenic in conditions of near-neutral pH using a new commercially available 25 m diameter gold microwire (called …

When Agility Meets A Project Portfolio: A Study Of Success Factors In Large Organisations, Masoud Aghajani, Kamrul Ahsan, Naomi Whiteside

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The iterative nature of agile methods combined with high levels of team and customer interactions and continuously changing IT and software development project requirements make the management of agile project portfolios very complex. To date, the mechanisms under which project portfolio management adapts to these complexities and achieves portfolio success have not been thoroughly investigated. This study explores the notion of success and its impacting factors in large organisations' portfolios of agile IT and software development projects. Using a multiple case study design, we analysed the agile project portfolios of seven large organisations. We identified four success criteria and 15 …

A Potential Role For Sirtuin-1 In Alzheimer's Disease: Reviewing The Biological And Environmental Evidence, Mehrane Mehramiz, Tenielle Porter, Eleanor K. O'Brien, Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith, Simon M. Laws

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Sirtuin-1 (Sirt1), encoded by the SIRT1 gene, is a conserved Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) dependent deacetylase enzyme, considered as the master regulator of metabolism in humans. Sirt1 contributes to a wide range of biological pathways via several mechanisms influenced by lifestyle, such as diet and exercise. The importance of a healthy lifestyle is of relevance to highly prevalent modern chronic diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). There is growing evidence at multiple levels for a role of Sirt1/SIRT1 in AD pathological mechanisms. As such, this review will explore the relevance of Sirt1 to AD pathological mechanisms, by describing the involvement …

A Scoping Review: Identifying Targeted Intervention Strategies For Workers With Occupational Hearing Loss, Adelle Liebenberg, Melinda Gardner, Valerie M. Nie, Carole L. James, Sue Reed

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

An apparent disconnect exist in workplaces regarding identification of occupational hearing loss (OHL) and implementation of specific strategies to prevent progression of OHL, evident through continued high incidence of OHL. This scoping review aimed to identify evidence regarding targeted intervention used by industry, specifically to prevent the progression of OHL for workers. The scoping review was undertaken using the PRISMA-ScR methodology. Search terms were based on three broad categories, hearing loss, workplace, and intervention. Initially 1309 articles were identified for screening and 1,207 studies not meeting the criteria were excluded. Full text reviews of 102 articles were completed and a …

An Artificial Therapist (Manage Your Life Online) To Support The Mental Health Of Youth: Co-Design And Case Series, Aimee-Rose Wrightson-Hester, Georgia Anderson, Joel Dunstan, Peter M. Mcevoy, Christopher J. Sutton, Bronwyn Myers, Sarah Egan, Sara Tai, Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, Wai Chen, Tom Gedeon, Warren Mansell

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: The prevalence of child and adolescent mental health issues is increasing faster than the number of services available, leading to a shortfall. Mental health chatbots are a highly scalable method to address this gap. Manage Your Life Online (MYLO) is an artificially intelligent chatbot that emulates the method of levels therapy. Method of levels is a therapy that uses curious questioning to support the sustained awareness and exploration of current problems. Objective: This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a co-designed interface for MYLO in young people aged 16 to 24 years with mental health problems. …

Sensitive Content, Marziya Mohammedali

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

September 2022 saw the rise of a wave of worldwide protests around the death of Jina ‘Mahsa’ Amini in Iran. . . .

Surviving Child Sexual Abuse In Women's Artistic Gymnastics: ‘It's Beautiful, Because Had I Stayed In The Past, I Wouldn’T Have Evolved As A Person’, Natalie Barker-Ruchti, Valeria Varea

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal raised global awareness about child sexual abuse (CSA) in women's artistic gymnastics. The ensuing media coverage also centre-staged victims’ survivorship stories, a process that for many moved from dissociating, recognising and disclosing CSA to feeling comfort when connecting with survivors and accepting CSA as part of their life history. However, scholarship on what survivorship from CSA in sport entails, and importantly, what it means to athletes, is limited. In this article, we frame the survival of CSA using Arthur Frank’s socio-narratological conceptualisation of people being able to process the devastating consequences of a life-threatening …

Sustainability Leadership: An Integrative Review And Conceptual Synthesis, Aymen Sajjad, Gabriel Eweje, Muhammad M. Raziq

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Over the past few decades, scholars have extensively investigated the topic of leadership, contributing to the development of diverse leadership theories and contemporary managerial practice. However, the emergence and renewed focus on societal grand challenges warrant an alternative approach to leadership such as sustainability leadership. Despite the critical importance of sustainability leadership in addressing these global concerns, scholarly research in this field of inquiry, by and large, remained scant and fragmented, lacking conceptual coherence and theoretical integration. While the existing literature provides insights into sustainability leadership characteristics, competencies, behaviors, and actions, it failed to integrate a holistic understanding of how …

The Relationships Between Multidimensional Sleep Health And Work Productivity In Individuals With Neurological Conditions, Mitchell Turner, Manja Laws, Madeline Griffiths, Kate Turner, Leah Dempsey, Simon M. Laws, Travis Cruickshank

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Numerous studies have reported the negative impacts of poor sleep on work productivity in the general population. However, despite the known sleep issues that individuals living with neurological conditions experience, no study has explored its impact on their work productivity. Sleep health is a concept that includes multiple domains of sleep, measured with a combination of objective and subjective measures. Therefore, this study aimed to ascertain the associations between sleep health and its domains and work productivity in individuals with neurological conditions. Sleep health domains were determined through actigraphy data collected over 1 week and sleep questionnaires. Work productivity was …

Transforming Transitions To Primary School: Using Children’S Funds Of Knowledge And Identity, Fiona Boylan, Lennie Barblett, Leanne Lavina, Amelia Ruscoe

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Transition to school experiences influence children’s wellbeing, development, and learning at the time of transition and future transitions. Effective transitions require schools to engage with children and families in ways that connect and empower them in the transition process. In this study children aged 3–6 years and their teachers used a Funds of Knowledge (FoK) and Funds of Identity (FoI) lens to reimagine transition practices for children and their families. Through a design-based thinking process, qualitative data was collected from four professional learning days, as well as individual coaching sessions, observations of the first days of school, and stakeholder interviews. …

Digital Literacy: A Review Of Literature, Lennie Barblett, Raisa Akifeva, Leanne Lavina, Fiona Boylan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This report describes the main themes of collected literature to examine and explain the information in relation to making best practice recommendations for using digital technologies with children, and their families using Better Beginnings programs. These themes include:

• definitions of literacy,
• digital literacy in the context of childhood and children’s rights,
• dimensions of children’s digital literacy,
• digital technology, children and families,
• digital divide and diversity,
• eSafety, privacy, protection,
• children’s digital literacy learning, and
• librarian staff as digital literacy mentors and advocates.

The early childhood phase of childhood (particularly birth to age five) is one of the most under - researched …

A Review Of Cyber Vigilance Tasks For Network Defense, Oliver A. Guidetti, Craig Speelman, Peter Bouhlas

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The capacity to sustain attention to virtual threat landscapes has led cyber security to emerge as a new and novel domain for vigilance research. However, unlike classic domains, such as driving and air traffic control and baggage security, very few vigilance tasks exist for the cyber security domain. Four essential challenges that must be overcome in the development of a modern, validated cyber vigilance task are extracted from this review of existent platforms that can be found in the literature. Firstly, it can be difficult for researchers to access confidential cyber security systems and personnel. Secondly, network defense is vastly …

Careful And Curious: A Transformative Ethos For Artistic Evaluation, Vahri Mckenzie, Denise Thwaites, Cathy Hope

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The logic of government subsidy recognises that there are forms of value not suitably captured by exchanges of the free market. Yet there remains a growing impetus for arts organisations and individual artists to measure and articulate the specific value of their practices through formal processes of evaluation. In the context of government subsidy, evaluation typically misses opportunities to capture unforeseen insights that artists and communities may articulate through alternative forms of evaluation. This article offers a conceptual discussion and illustrative example of how more open and exploratory evaluation methodologies may intersect with existing government frameworks. We draw on the …

Factors Influencing Medication Adherence Among Adults Living With Diabetes And Comorbidities: A Qualitative Systematic Review, Kendall Gow, Amineh Qin, Lisa Whitehead

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose of review: Medication adherence plays an important role in improving health outcomes related to diabetes and comorbidity. The potential factors influencing medication adherence and how they contribute to health behaviors have not been synthesized to date. This review synthesized qualitative studies that identified factors influencing medication adherence among adults living with diabetes and comorbidity. Recent findings: Twenty-eight findings were extracted and synthesized into four themes: perceived support, lack of knowledge, medication issues, and the importance of routine. The findings highlight the factors that support medication adherence and areas that can be targeted to support and promote medication adherence. The …

Human In Vivo Medial Gastrocnemius Gear During Active And Passive Muscle Lengthening: Effect Of Inconsistent Methods And Nomenclature On Data Interpretation, Matheus Daros Pinto, Kazunori Nosaka, James M. Wakeling, Anthony J. Blazevich

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

‘Muscle gear’ is calculated as the ratio of fascicle-to-muscle length change, strain, or velocity. Inconsistencies in nomenclature and definitions of gear exist across disciplines partly due to differences in fascicle [curved (Lf) versus linear (Lf,straight)] and muscle [whole-muscle belly (Lb) versus belly segment (Lb,segment)] length calculation methods. We tested whether these differences affect gear magnitude during passive and active muscle lengthening of human medial gastrocnemius of young men (n=13, 26.3±5.0 years) using an isokinetic dynamometer. Lb, Lb,segment, Lf and Lf,straight were measured from motion analysis and ultrasound imaging data. Downshifts in belly gear but not belly segment gear occurred with …

Noncovalent Chalcogen And Tetrel Bonding Interactions: Spectroscopic Study Of Halide-Carbonyl Sulfide Complexes, Christian T. Haakansson, Peter D. Watson, Timothy R. Corkish, Hayden T. Robinson, Allan J. Mckinley, Duncan A. Wild

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Chalcogen and tetrel intermolecular bonding interactions formed between carbonyl sulfide and halide anions have been studied utilizing a combined experimental and theoretical approach. In particular, high-level CCSD(T) energetics and experimental anion photoelectron spectroscopy have been used in order to assign the dominant binding motif exhibited in these complexes. Halide anions solvated by multiple carbonyl sulfide molecules have also been investigated in order to ascertain the effect that additional binding partners has on the strength of the noncovalent interactions. The experimental and computational results support the main binding motif of carbonyl sulfide molecules with halide anions being chalcogen bonding, both in …

Pedagogy Of Belonging: Pausing To Be Human In Higher Education, Narelle Lemon

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Valuing care and self-care in higher education requires a conscious pause and rethinking of how we are together as educators and students. The pandemic caused various complexities, including changes in curriculum delivery, deadlines, and assessment modes, leading to feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, and change fatigue, which contributed to the emergence of panicgogy. This paper argues for the need to disrupt this way of being and experiencing the pandemic through valuing humanity and repositioning self-care and care by and for academics to inform their pedagogy. Presented is the narrative and the design story behind Pedagogy of Belonging (PoB), a systems informed …

Virtual Reality And Serious Gaming In Re-Engineering Clinical Teaching: A Review Of Literature Of The Experiences And Perspectives Of Clinical Trainers, Lucy W. Kivuti-Bitok, Joyce J. Cheptum, Mariana Mutwiri, Susan Wanja, Irene Ngune

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Re-engineer clinical teaching through innovative approaches such as virtual reality (VR) and Serious Gaming (SG) may increase patient safety. While several studies have focused on the experiences and perceptions of learners about VR and SG, few have if any have focused on the instructors. We reviewed and appraised published evidence to establish the experiences and intention to adopt VR and SG in clinical teaching. Relevant articles were sourced from five databases (PubMed/Medline, Informit, +A Education, ProQuest-ERIC, and CINHAL-EBSCO host). Experiences of clinical trainers were reported using the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) model. The intention to adopt VR and …

Decentralizability Of Efficient Allocations With Heterogenous Forecasts, Shurojit Chatterji, Atsushi Kajii

Research Collection School Of Economics

Do price forecasts of rational economic agents need to coincide in perfectly competitive complete markets? To address this question, we define an efficient temporary equilibrium (ETE) within the framework of a two period economy. Although an ETE allocation is intertemporally efficient and is obtained by perfect competition, it can arise without the agents forecasts being completely coordinated on a perfect foresight price. Nevertheless, it entails price forecasts delicately related with each other: we show that regardless of the number of agents, there is a one dimensional set of such Pareto efficient allocations for generic endowments.

Editorial: Sleep, Vigilance & Disruptive Behaviors, Osman S. Ipsiroglu, Gerhard Klösch, Rosalia C. Silvestri, Susan M. Mccabe, Georg Dorffner, Thomas C. Wetter, Luci Wiggs

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The Frontiers in Psychiatry Research Theme of Sleep, vigilance, and disruptive behaviors has two aims: first, to promote the understanding of the connections between vigilance and disruptive daytime behavior in the context of sleep deprivation and, second, to explore how naturalistic observations and pattern recognition can play a role in furthering our understanding of these connections. . . .

Exploring The Re-Legitimisation Of Messages For Health And Physical Education Within Contemporary English And Welsh Curricula Reform, J. Stirrup, David Aldous, S. Gray, R. Sandford, O. Hooper, S. Hardley, A. S. Bryant, N. R. Carse

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper explores how messages for health and PE ([H]PE) within English and Welsh curricula are being re-legitimised through distinct performance and competence pedagogic models. Drawing upon Bernstein’s sociology of knowledge (Bernstein, 1996. Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique. Taylor and Francis; 2000. Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research and critique (revised ed.). Rowman and Littlefield) data was generated through a deductive content analysis of the contemporary statutory English National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) and the new Curriculum for Wales (CfW), Health and Well-Being Area of Learning and Experience (HWB-AoLE). Findings illustrate how the current English …

Feeling And Hearing Country As Research Method, Anne Poelina, Marlikka Perdrisat, Sandra Wooltorton, Edwin L. Mulligan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper explains Feeling and Hearing Country as an Australian Indigenous practice whereby water is life, Country is responsive, and Elders generate wisdom for a communicative order of things. The authors ask, as a society of Indigenous people and those no longer Indigenous to place, can we walk together in the task of collectively healing Country? The research method uses experiential, creative, propositional, and practical ways of knowing and being in and with local places. Evidence may take many forms based upon engagement with an animate, sentient world. The research method can generate new meanings, implications and insights, and regenerate …

More Than Energy Cost: Multiple Benefits Of The Long Achilles Tendon In Human Walking And Running, Anthony J. Blazevich, Jared R. Fletcher

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Elastic strain energy that is stored and released from long, distal tendons such as the Achilles during locomotion allows for muscle power amplification as well as for reduction of the locomotor energy cost: as distal tendons perform mechanical work during recoil, plantar flexor muscle fibres can work over smaller length ranges, at slower shortening speeds, and at lower activation levels. Scant evidence exists that long distal tendons evolved in humans (or were retained from our more distant Hominoidea ancestors) primarily to allow high muscle–tendon power outputs, and indeed we remain relatively powerless compared to many other species. Instead, the majority …