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Co-Design Of An Online Mindfulness Program For Informal Carers Of People Living With Dementia: A Qualitative Study Of Co-Designers’ Experience, Charunya A.K.R. Abeysinghe Mudiyanselage, Seng Giap Marcus Ang, Aisling Smyth, Joanne M. Dickson, Beverley Ewens Jan 2026

Co-Design Of An Online Mindfulness Program For Informal Carers Of People Living With Dementia: A Qualitative Study Of Co-Designers’ Experience, Charunya A.K.R. Abeysinghe Mudiyanselage, Seng Giap Marcus Ang, Aisling Smyth, Joanne M. Dickson, Beverley Ewens

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: Informal carers face significant challenges related to care provision for people living with dementia. Participating in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program could improve the wellbeing of informal carers. However, engaging in these programs can be difficult for informal carers due to the needs of their care recipients. Purpose: This study aimed to co-design an online mindfulness program in collaboration with a range of stakeholders and those with lived experience as carers. Methods: This co-design study adopted an interpretive descriptive qualitative approach to the development of the program. The stakeholders (co-designers) included people with lived experience as informal carers and …

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Sustainable Textiles Through Electrospinning: Addressing Environmental Challenges, Nicole Sharples, Omid Doustdar, Miguel Carmona‐Cabello, Shayan Abrishami, Jose M. Herreros, Ali Sadaghiani, Karl D. Dearn Jan 2026

Sustainable Textiles Through Electrospinning: Addressing Environmental Challenges, Nicole Sharples, Omid Doustdar, Miguel Carmona‐Cabello, Shayan Abrishami, Jose M. Herreros, Ali Sadaghiani, Karl D. Dearn

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The textile industry, known for its significant environmental footprint, faces growing pressure to adopt sustainable practices. This review identifies the textile industry’s sustainability challenges and examines electrospinning as a promising technology to mitigate its environmental impact. Electrospinning enables the production of nanofibers with enhanced properties suitable for various textile applications, offering potential solutions to reduce resource consumption and waste generation. This review discusses the current uses of electrospinning in textile manufacturing and analyses emerging trends in textile recycling, emphasising the role of electrospinning in transforming waste textiles into value-added products. Prospects for advancing electrospinning techniques to achieve efficient textile recycling …

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Discrepancies In Combat Sports Injury Reporting: A Comparison Of Athlete Self-Reports And Ringside Physician Data, Colin S. Doherty, Oliver R. Barley, Lauren V. Fortington Jan 2026

Discrepancies In Combat Sports Injury Reporting: A Comparison Of Athlete Self-Reports And Ringside Physician Data, Colin S. Doherty, Oliver R. Barley, Lauren V. Fortington

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Objectives: The objective of this study is to describe and compare competition injuries in combat sports using two sources: (1) athletes' self-reported injury-related health problems (HPs) seven days after the competition, and (2) injury reports completed by ringside physicians immediately after each contest. Design: Cross-sectional study of 29 combat sport events in Western Australia between August 2022 and November 2023. Methods: Athletes reported injury-related HPs through an online questionnaire that included the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Questionnaire on Health Problems 2 (OSTRC-H2). Ringside physicians-documented injuries/medical notes were provided by the Western Australia Combat Sports Commission. Results: Out of 250 …

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Towards Carbon Geosequestration: Comparing The Wettability Performance Of Western Australian Altered Basaltic Rock/Co2/Water Systems, Seyi Philemon Akanji, Rossen Sedev, Lionel Esteban, Ausama Giwelli, Trevor Beardsmore, Heather Howard, Joel Sarout, Alireza Keshavarz, Stefan Iglauer Jan 2026

Towards Carbon Geosequestration: Comparing The Wettability Performance Of Western Australian Altered Basaltic Rock/Co2/Water Systems, Seyi Philemon Akanji, Rossen Sedev, Lionel Esteban, Ausama Giwelli, Trevor Beardsmore, Heather Howard, Joel Sarout, Alireza Keshavarz, Stefan Iglauer

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Geosequestration of carbon dioxide in basaltic rock formations is considered to have the potential to safely and permanently store significant quantities of this greenhouse gas and thereby mitigate its potential global warming effect. The success of this storage method is primarily dependent on the wettability behaviour of the rock-water-CO2 system, which significantly affects fluid distribution, fluid transport, storage capacity and containment security. This study investigates the wettability performance of several Western Australian altered basaltic rocks, of similar geochemistry, porosity and inter-connection. The wettability behaviour of the basaltic materials is assessed using water containing ions that have been leached from the …

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Integrating Environmental Awareness In Underwater Acoustic Networks: A Comprehensive Review, Sadaf Vahabli, Iftekhar Ahmad, Quoc Viet Phung, Daryoush Habibi, Walid K. Hasan, Ruba Zaheer Jan 2026

Integrating Environmental Awareness In Underwater Acoustic Networks: A Comprehensive Review, Sadaf Vahabli, Iftekhar Ahmad, Quoc Viet Phung, Daryoush Habibi, Walid K. Hasan, Ruba Zaheer

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Underwater Acoustic Networks (UANs) are critical for enabling long-range underwater communication, supporting a wide range of applications, such as environmental monitoring, resource exploration, disaster prevention and marine security. Unfortunately, UANs operate within a limited acoustic spectrum, where these spectrums often overlap with those used by marine animals for communication, navigation and foraging. Additionally, anthropogenic noise from industrial activities contributes to acoustic pollution, intensifying this problem. This frequency overlap poses significant risks to marine life. Therefore, this review highlights the urgent need to develop environmentally aware UANs that minimize harmful acoustic interference with marine mammals, fish and invertebrates. Further, it focuses …

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Exploring The Mechanisms Of Tanshinone Iia In The Treatment Of Intracranial Aneurysm Based On Network Pharmacology And Machine Learning, Wanqi Wang, Lois Balmer, Shaotao Weng Jan 2026

Exploring The Mechanisms Of Tanshinone Iia In The Treatment Of Intracranial Aneurysm Based On Network Pharmacology And Machine Learning, Wanqi Wang, Lois Balmer, Shaotao Weng

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background Intracranial aneurysm (IA) is a cerebrovascular disease with high mortality and limited treatment options. Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA), a bioactive compound from Salvia miltiorrhiza , has shown vascular protective effects, but its mechanism in the treatment of IA remains unclear. Methods The GSE75436 dataset was used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed to identify disease-related modules. IA targets were obtained from GeneCards and the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). Potential targets of Tan IIA were predicted using TCMSP, SwissTargetPrediction, and SymMap. KEGG enrichment analysis was conducted for DEGs, WGCNA modules, disease-related genes, …

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Love Letters To The Self: Building Heart Skills Through Positive Autoethnography, Madalena Grobbelaar, Elizabeth Reid Boyd Jan 2026

Love Letters To The Self: Building Heart Skills Through Positive Autoethnography, Madalena Grobbelaar, Elizabeth Reid Boyd

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article is an enquiry between two educators, one from social science and the other from counselling psychology, exploring how Positive Autoethnography can be applied in both teaching and therapeutic contexts. An exploration by co-founders of #Love@ECU, a research initiative at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia, the piece investigates the intersection of emotional learning and educational practice through the emerging framework of Heart Skills, an original format currently used in teaching interpersonal skills at ECU. It integrates personal narrative, embodied experience and emotional insight to consider how student growth and resilience can be cultivated. Central to this exploration …

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Praxis: The Missing Theory To Practice Link In Maximising Early Childhood Science Opportunities, Pauline Roberts, Patricia R. Collins Jan 2026

Praxis: The Missing Theory To Practice Link In Maximising Early Childhood Science Opportunities, Pauline Roberts, Patricia R. Collins

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Science teaching in early years contexts has been identified as deficient due to poor educator confidence, lack of content knowledge, or minimal opportunities being made available for science experiences. To identify strategies to counteract these factors, this study explored how these deficiencies are enacted in learning contexts by examining the beliefs and practices of educators across three early learning sites. The focus of this study was threefold: to gather the perception of educators in relation to early childhood science; explore the learning environments; and observe the interactions facilitated by the educators to develop scientific knowledge and skills for young children. …

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Fostering Sustainable Business Performance: The Synergistic Role Of Entrepreneurial Leadership And Green Organizational Support In The Hotel Industry, Kwame Owusu Boakye, Michael Kyei-Frimpong, Aaron Makafui Ametorwo, Linda Quagraine, Richard Sam-Mensah Jan 2026

Fostering Sustainable Business Performance: The Synergistic Role Of Entrepreneurial Leadership And Green Organizational Support In The Hotel Industry, Kwame Owusu Boakye, Michael Kyei-Frimpong, Aaron Makafui Ametorwo, Linda Quagraine, Richard Sam-Mensah

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study investigated the moderating role of green organizational support in the nexus between entrepreneurial leadership and sustainable business performance. The study adopted the explanatory research design, where data were collected from 208 employees working in star-rated hotels in Ghana and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result revealed that entrepreneurial leadership significantly relates to sustainable social and environmental performance but not to sustainable economic performance. More so, green organizational support moderated the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and sustainable economic and social performance but did not moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and sustainable environmental performance. Theoretical and practical …

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Midwifery Students' Definitions Of Normal Labor And Birth: A Study From Five Countries, Jalana Lazar, Juliet Wood, Jane Fry, Barbara Baranowska, Urszula Tataj-Puzyna, Debora Dole, Emma Ritchie, Clare Davison, Cindy L. Farley, Felicity Agwu Kalu, Maria Healy, Maria Węgrzynowska Jan 2026

Midwifery Students' Definitions Of Normal Labor And Birth: A Study From Five Countries, Jalana Lazar, Juliet Wood, Jane Fry, Barbara Baranowska, Urszula Tataj-Puzyna, Debora Dole, Emma Ritchie, Clare Davison, Cindy L. Farley, Felicity Agwu Kalu, Maria Healy, Maria Węgrzynowska

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: Internationally, many women and birthing people are receiving maternity care interventions as a routine with no medical indication for their use. This medicalized environment influences midwives' practice and, by extension, midwifery students' clinical learning experiences, gaining knowledge and confidence in facilitating normal labor and birth. To educate midwifery students in the provision of high-quality maternal and newborn care, it is important to explore their understanding of normal labor and birth, as this underpins their philosophy of care and will inform their future practice. Methods: An online survey was developed from a review of current evidence. Following ethical approval, the …

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Sustaining Caring Mobilities In Immobility Regimes: Adaptive Strategies Of Vietnamese Migrant (Grand)Parents In Australia, Hien Thi Nguyen, Catriona Turnbull, Loretta Baldassar Jan 2026

Sustaining Caring Mobilities In Immobility Regimes: Adaptive Strategies Of Vietnamese Migrant (Grand)Parents In Australia, Hien Thi Nguyen, Catriona Turnbull, Loretta Baldassar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

(Grand)parents are increasingly traveling internationally to visit and spend time with their transnational families. This mobility is essential to provide informal, unpaid care, driven by globalisation as family members relocate for study and work. However, governments in receiving countries like Australia are implementing restrictive measures, defined in the literature as ‘immobility regimes’, to control the movement of older migrants into their territories, including overseas (grand)parents. Drawing on the lived experiences of 22 Vietnamese migrants (11 (grand)parent visitors and 11 adult migrants who host their (grand)parent visitors), this paper explores the relationship between transnational mobility and institutional migration policies in the …

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Making The Implicit Explicit: Leadership In Primary Care Dental Practice, Sally Hanks, Debby R.E. Cotton Jan 2026

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 …

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How Low Can We Go? Quantization Effects On Llm Sparql Generation, Matt Murtagh-White, P. J. Wall, Declan O’Sullivan Jan 2026

How Low Can We Go? Quantization Effects On Llm Sparql Generation, Matt Murtagh-White, P. J. Wall, Declan O’Sullivan

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

SPARQL is a powerful but complex language for querying knowledge graphs, motivating research into natural language-to-SPARQL generation using large language models (LLMs). While large, proprietary LLMs excel at this task, their resource requirements can limit practical deployment. This paper evaluates smaller, open-source LLMs (0.5B–9B parameters) with quantization methods (8-bit and 4-bit compression) to balance computational efficiency and query generation performance. Our findings demonstrate that 8-bit quantization can maintain or enhance performance in smaller models, whereas 4-bit quantization leads to notable degradation, especially for larger models. This highlights the potential of quantized, smaller LLMs for SPARQL generation in resource-constrained scenarios and …

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Preface, Páraic Carroll, Beatriz Martinez-Pastor, Bidisha Ghosh, Marina Efthymiou, Nikolaos Valantasis-Kanellos, Ciaran Mcnally Jan 2026

Preface, Páraic Carroll, Beatriz Martinez-Pastor, Bidisha Ghosh, Marina Efthymiou, Nikolaos Valantasis-Kanellos, Ciaran Mcnally

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

No abstract provided.

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Application Of Healthcare Data Mining Techniques To Planning For Nursing Length Of Stay In Surgical Departments, Mahdi Yousefi Nejad Attari, Akbar Abbaspour Ghadim, Ali Ala, Vladimir Simic, Domonkos Tinka, Dragan Pamucar Jan 2026

Application Of Healthcare Data Mining Techniques To Planning For Nursing Length Of Stay In Surgical Departments, Mahdi Yousefi Nejad Attari, Akbar Abbaspour Ghadim, Ali Ala, Vladimir Simic, Domonkos Tinka, Dragan Pamucar

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Effective allocation of nurse resources in surgical departments is essential for improving patient care and controlling operating costs in a health society. Length of stay (LOS) is the metric that connects clinical workload to staffing decisions, yet ward-level forecasting and its translation into daily nursing schedules remain limited. This study presents a hybrid, data-driven decision-support system that combines machine-learning LOS prediction with Reinforcement Learning (RL) for the surgical ward. A dataset of 137,145 records is used to evaluate Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, Decision Tree, and a Multi-layer Perceptron. Random Forest achieved the most accurate and stable performance (R² = 0.84; …

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Sustainable Closed-Loop Supply Chain Network Design Under Uncertainty Using A Fuzzy Multi-Objective Optimization Framework For The Battery Industry, Mahdi Yousefi Nejad Attari, Sahar Rezanejad, Ali Ala, Vladimir Simic, Dragan Pamucar Jan 2026

Sustainable Closed-Loop Supply Chain Network Design Under Uncertainty Using A Fuzzy Multi-Objective Optimization Framework For The Battery Industry, Mahdi Yousefi Nejad Attari, Sahar Rezanejad, Ali Ala, Vladimir Simic, Dragan Pamucar

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

The study presents a sustainable closed-loop supply chain network that integrates financial, environmental, and social objectives within a context of uncertainty. A fuzzy-based modeling approach is introduced to address uncertainty in customer demand, cost parameters, and carbon emission coefficients across the sustainable closed-loop supply chain network. Two metaheuristic methods, the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) and multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), are employed to address the problem and are compared against each other. A practical case study of a battery company is employed to validate the framework. The findings indicate that MOPSO surpasses non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II in …

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Snif: Explainability-Driven Feature Selection Through State-Of-The-Art Shap–Nca Intersection Framework For Malware Detection, Sadia Nazim, Syed Shujaa Hussain, Bilal Yousuf, Jawahir Che Mustapha Jan 2026

Snif: Explainability-Driven Feature Selection Through State-Of-The-Art Shap–Nca Intersection Framework For Malware Detection, Sadia Nazim, Syed Shujaa Hussain, Bilal Yousuf, Jawahir Che Mustapha

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Modern malware detection rely on Deep neural networks to achieve high detection performance by leveraging a large feature space. However, these models often suffer from high dimensionality, limited interpretability, and reduced reliability due to redundant features. As a result, they obscure the true contribution of features to the rationale for the prediction. To address these challenges, this study proposes an explainability-aware feature pruning technique to improve the performance and efficiency of deep neural networks. The key focus of this study is the development of the novel SHAP–NCA Intersection Framework (SNIF), which integrates explainability with feature selection for efficient and trustworthy …

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Human Capability Development In Irish Tech Smes, Anna Zherdeva Jan 2026

Human Capability Development In Irish Tech Smes, Anna Zherdeva

Doctoral

Purpose: SMEs are the backbone of the European economic model and represent 99.8% of all businesses, highlighting the importance of research that assesses challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs. The reviewed literature revealed a significant lack of research on how SMEs can develop management, teamwork, and team-building skills in the context of the twin transition (i.e., digital and green transitions), particularly regarding digital transformation and its impact on economic development and business cooperation. Researchers have presented evidence of the difficulties SMEs face in competing with corporations due to numerous constraints, including a lack of investment and qualified human resources. To …

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Motivation System Evoked By High Performance Work System In Chinese Universities And Colleges - An Examination Of The Relationship Between Human Resource Practices, Basic Psychological Needs, And Job Performance, Juan Chen Jan 2026

Motivation System Evoked By High Performance Work System In Chinese Universities And Colleges - An Examination Of The Relationship Between Human Resource Practices, Basic Psychological Needs, And Job Performance, Juan Chen

Doctoral

High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) are strategic, integrated Human Resource Practices (HRPS) designed to enhance employee abilities, motivation, and opportunities for participation, driving sustained organisational performance. While early research emphasized commitment HRPS, recent studies recognise that control and commitment HRPS are complementary rather than mutually exclusive, with neither holding an absolute advantage. Their success depends on contextual factors such as country, industry,organisation, economic environment, and workforce. In Chinese higher education institutions, transitioning from a high-commitment “iron rice bowl” system to a more control-oriented HR model has created tensions between efficiency and academic freedom. Based on the resource-based view, social exchange …

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Using Drawings To Understand Undergraduates’ Perceptions Of Politics—The Us And Ireland, John Hogan, Sharon Feeney, Paul Kosempel Jan 2026

Using Drawings To Understand Undergraduates’ Perceptions Of Politics—The Us And Ireland, John Hogan, Sharon Feeney, Paul Kosempel

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Purpose: This article seeks to gain insights from the interpretations of freehand drawings produced by American and Irish students, young voters, in response to the question: “What is American/Irish politics?” Our goal in using freehand drawing is to foster a collaborative and critical learning environment where participants enhance their ability to interpret and engage in self-reflection. Design/methodology/approach: Freehand drawing is a visual representation method that can bypass cognitive verbal processing pathways as part of a critical pedagogy. This approach enables participants to create clear, more critical, and inclusive depictions of their understanding of a topic, regardless of their vocabulary. Over …

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When Survival Becomes Politics: Necessity Activism And Identity Work Under Precarity, Lucia Garcia-Lorenzo, Lucia Sell-Trujillo, Paul Donnelly Jan 2026

When Survival Becomes Politics: Necessity Activism And Identity Work Under Precarity, Lucia Garcia-Lorenzo, Lucia Sell-Trujillo, Paul Donnelly

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Collective action is essential for tackling social, institutional, and environmental challenges, often fueled by shared identities, common norms, and a belief in the possibility of change. However, the impact of participating in collective action on individual identities, and how this knowledge can shape future efforts to maintain engagement and promote positive change, remains underexplored. This study uses a liminal and identity work approach to examine how precarious Spanish activists, involved in long-term struggles against precarity, develop and negotiate their identities as activists through protest participation. Based on a qualitative study spanning over 9 years, this research focuses on the experiences …

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Thermal Barrier Coatings And Their Impact On The Mechanical And Thermal Behaviour Of Fused Deposition Modelled Polymers In Harsh Environments, Simon Weait Jan 2026

Thermal Barrier Coatings And Their Impact On The Mechanical And Thermal Behaviour Of Fused Deposition Modelled Polymers In Harsh Environments, Simon Weait

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Coordinated deployment of thermally protected unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)equipped for active firefighting operations around incidents such as the GrenfellTower fire could have provided substantial support to life-saving efforts. Incurrent practice, UAVs employed in comparable emergencies are largelyconfined to observational and surveillance roles, thereby substantiallyunderutilising their potential. Expanding their use to direct firefighting tasksrequires the integration of advanced thermal protection systems capable ofwithstanding significantly elevated temperatures associated with carbonaceousfire plumes. In particular, the development of a lightweight thermal barrier coatingthat adheres reliably to fused deposition modelled (FDM) polymers, such aspolylactic acid (GTP), is critical for operational viability and the minimisation ofthe …

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Leveraging Natural Language Processing Methods For Next Generation Customer Service In Telecommunications Industry, Hesham Abdelmotaleb Jan 2026

Leveraging Natural Language Processing Methods For Next Generation Customer Service In Telecommunications Industry, Hesham Abdelmotaleb

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This research explores application of Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods to better understand and improve customer service feedback in telecom industry. We collect novel reallife datasets of customer reviews and social media comments within British telecommunication industry over one year. Then, we apply three main modelling approaches. First, we study topic modelling for short text: we propose a new evaluation metric for GSDMM model and demonstrate that our metric helps to choose meaningful topics when texts are very brief. Second, we perform an extensive comparative study of word embedding models for text classification: we test nine word embedding and feature …

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Investigating The Biocompatibility Of Nanosilver Hydroxyapatite Coatings With Human Gingival Fibroblasts To Enhance Abutment Integrity For Periodontal Health, Sian Morgan Jan 2026

Investigating The Biocompatibility Of Nanosilver Hydroxyapatite Coatings With Human Gingival Fibroblasts To Enhance Abutment Integrity For Periodontal Health, Sian Morgan

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Dental implants are susceptible to bacterial colonisation, which can initiate peri-implant inflammation and ultimately lead to peri-implantitis and implant failure. Antimicrobial surface modifications represent a promising strategy to mitigate bacterial infection however, such approaches must preserve biocompatibility with peri-implant soft tissue cells to ensure effective mucosal sealing and long-term implant success. In particular, human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) play a critical role in soft tissue integration at the implant-abutment interface, yet their interactions with antimicrobial silver-based coatings remain insufficiently understood. This thesis investigates the biocompatibility of nano silver-hydroxyapatite (Ag+nHA) coatings deposited on titanium substrates, with the aim of developing an antimicrobial …

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Mapping The Uk Commercial Fishing Network: A Knowledge-Based Framework For Sustainable Technology Adoption And Environmental Decision-Making, Matthew Prowse Jan 2026

Mapping The Uk Commercial Fishing Network: A Knowledge-Based Framework For Sustainable Technology Adoption And Environmental Decision-Making, Matthew Prowse

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The UK commercial fishing industry operates within a complex web of stakeholders, technologies, and environmental pressures that challenge traditional approaches to sustainability and resource management. This research develops a comprehensive framework for understanding how technological advancement in UK fisheries creates unintended consequences that threaten long-term sustainability. Through a mixed-methods approach combining PESTLE analysis, grounded theory methodology, stakeholder mapping, case study investigation, this study introduces the "By-Product and Excess" theoretical framework to explain how fishing technologies generate two critical outcomes: by-products (undesirable environmental impacts such as CO₂ emissions, microplastics, and ecosystem damage) and excess (enhanced capacity to harvest beyond sustainable limits).The …

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Coupled Thermo-Structural Analysis Of Steel Reinforced Geopolymer Concrete Structural Members, Bin Zhang Jan 2026

Coupled Thermo-Structural Analysis Of Steel Reinforced Geopolymer Concrete Structural Members, Bin Zhang

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis investigates the coupled thermal, flexural and steel–concrete bond response of steel-reinforced geopolymer concrete (GPC) and ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPCC) beam cross-sections subjected to one-sided standard fire exposure. A sequential analytical framework is developed to link transient heat-transfer analysis, temperature-dependent sectional flexural analysis, and temperature-dependent bond and flexural–bond coupling assessment.The thermal analysis is performed using a one-dimensional transient heat-conduction model implemented in MATLAB PDEPE. Separate temperature-dependent density, specific-heat and thermal-conductivity relationships are adopted for OPCC and GPC. A dedicated OPCC model of the B1 validation specimen is assessed against 13 matched experimental reinforcement-temperature measurements, giving R^2=0.9542 and an …

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Life Cycle Assessment Of Marine Composite Recreational Craft Manufacturing And Operations, Badr Moutik Jan 2026

Life Cycle Assessment Of Marine Composite Recreational Craft Manufacturing And Operations, Badr Moutik

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Marine composite recreational craft are growing in number. Sectoral roadmaps for sustainable development are increasing pressure to demonstrate life cycle environmental performance. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been identified as a key strategic decision support tool. However, current practice is undermined by sparse, non-representative data and methodological inconsistencies. These weaknesses increase the risk of biased or misleading interpretation, constrain wider uptake of LCA, and limit the sector’s ability to respond credibly to tightening environmental sustainability expectations. This thesis assesses the cradle-to-grave environmental impacts of a market-representative glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) motor yacht across 16 impact categories. The research builds on …

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Modelling And Optimisation Of Dynamic Power Cable Configurations For Floating Offshore Renewable Energy, Anna Holcombe Jan 2026

Modelling And Optimisation Of Dynamic Power Cable Configurations For Floating Offshore Renewable Energy, Anna Holcombe

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Floating offshore renewable energy requires dynamic power cables to transmit generated electricity from the floating device to the seabed, or to an adjacent device, so that it can be exported to shore. Dynamic power cables are connected at the top end to a floating device, and traverse the water column, subjected to loading at the hang-off, and direct hydrodynamic loading from waves and currents. Their reliability has been a concern within industry and research, particularly due to historically high failure rates of static subsea cables. It is essential that design and analysis of dynamic power cables is accurate, to mitigate …

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The Effects Of Altered Partial Pressures Of Gas On Cognitive And Neural Function, Daniel Graham Jan 2026

The Effects Of Altered Partial Pressures Of Gas On Cognitive And Neural Function, Daniel Graham

School of Psychology Theses

Oxygen is central to neural function, yet the precise mechanisms and effects by which varying oxygen levels, whether through Hypoxia, Hyperoxia, or Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), shape cognition and brain activity remain incomplete. This thesis adopts a novel, multi-modal framework that integrates normobaric gas manipulations, cognitive testing, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), Electroencephalography (EEG), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), and HBOT to examine how gas and pressure variability influences cognitive, motor, and neural processes. Chapter 3 presents the findings of a preliminary experiment investigating normobaric oxygen manipulations on cognition. Standardised cognitive assessments revealed domain-general impairments (i.e. memory and executive function) under …

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Multimodal Imaging Markers Of Brain Dysfunction In Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy: Sleep-Wake Regulation And Metabolic Dysfunction, Hannah Windmill Jan 2026

Multimodal Imaging Markers Of Brain Dysfunction In Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy: Sleep-Wake Regulation And Metabolic Dysfunction, Hannah Windmill

School of Psychology Theses

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a common complication of chronic liver disease, with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) characterised by subclinical cognitive dysfunction, mood disturbance, and sleep disruption. MHE remains underdiagnosed due to poor correlation of prevalence with disease severity and absence of a standardised clinical diagnostic tool. This thesis employs a multimodal neuroimaging framework, integrating MR spectroscopy (MRS), diffusion MRI, fMRI, and EEG, to identify sensitive early markers of MHE and examine the confounding influence of sleep on brain-based outcomes.Chapter 4 investigated neuroimaging biomarkers of MHE in a cross-sectional cohort of liver disease patients and healthy controls. Primary outcomes were EEG …

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