Does acupuncture improve overactive bladder symptoms? A protocol for a qualitative study to explore patient experiences of receiving acupuncture for OAB symptoms

Overactive bladder (OAB) affects around 12% of the adult population and is the subject of thousands of studies. Qualitative studies of OAB are less common and the patient voice is rarely heard. This protocol outlines the theoretical framework underpinning the study and defines the methodology that will be used to investigate the lived experience of OAB and choices regarding treatment options. This study will reference the patient experience of receiving acupuncture for OAB symptoms, a novel treatment with a growing evidence base. This is the first study to address patient experience related to acupuncture for OAB and may produce information of use to people with OAB, clinicians and those developing new pathways of care

Resilient SMEs and entrepreneurs: evidence from the UK craft brewing sector

Purpose The paper examines the sudden changes and challenges experienced by British craft breweries because of COVID-19. The purpose is twofold; firstly, to evaluate the overall growth trajectory of the craft brewing sector prior to the pandemic crisis and, secondly, to identify features of resilience and adaptability that aided business survival. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted 24 interviews with a sample of craft brewers during 2020, supplemented with a focus group later in 2021, to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on their businesses. Inductive thematic analysis followed a flexible six-stage approach to generating codes. Qualitative findings were set in the context of the pre-COVID-19 industry trends which were analysed using panel data from the Society of Independent Brewers' (SIBA) Annual Surveys between 2015 and 2018. Findings Findings from the analysis reveal a range of factors influencing growth in the UK craft beer sector before the pandemic crisis, such as levels of investment and local network ties, and identify a range of strategies implemented by brewers in response to the crisis, including new packaging and supply channels, more intensive marketing and greater online engagement with customers. Analysis of the intersection between aspects of individual and organisational resilience also revealed that dynamic responses to an external crisis depend on individual resilience characteristics before organisational strategies can be developed. Originality/value The study provides fresh empirical evidence to practitioners and policymakers to help forecast and future-proof the UK craft beer sector, as well as elucidating aspects of resilience that apply to SMEs in the global industry who face similar challenges. Moving towards a post-COVID-19 economy, the paper offers important theoretical insights into how the resilience of breweries, and other SMEs, is shaped by complex interdependencies and networks and how their adaptive responses might strengthen future business models

Implementing PointNet for point cloud segmentation in the heritage context

Automated Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) from the point cloud data has been researched in the last decade as HBIM can be the integrated data model to bring together diverse sources of complex cultural content relating to heritage buildings. However, HBIM modelling from the scan data of heritage buildings is mainly manual and image processing techniques are insufficient for the segmentation of point cloud data to speed up and enhance the current workflow for HBIM modelling. Artificial Intelligence (AI) based deep learning methods such as PointNet are introduced in the literature for point cloud segmentation. Yet, their use is mainly for manufactured and clear geometric shapes and components. To what extent PointNet based segmentation is applicable for heritage buildings and how PointNet can be used for point cloud segmentation with the best possible accuracy (ACC) are tested and analysed in this paper. In this study, classification and segmentation processes are performed on the 3D point cloud data of heritage buildings in Gaziantep, Turkey. Accordingly, it proposes a novel approach of activity workflow for point cloud segmentation with deep learning using PointNet for the heritage buildings. Twenty-eight case study heritage buildings are used, and AI training is performed using five feature labelling for segmentation namely, walls, roofs, floors, doors, and windows for each of these 28 heritage buildings. The dataset is divided into clusters with 80% training dataset and 20% prediction test dataset. PointNet algorithm was unable to provide sufficient accuracy in segmenting the point clouds due to deformation and deterioration on the existing conditions of the heritage case study buildings. However, if PointNet algorithm is trained with the restitution-based heritage data, which is called synthetic data in the research, PointNet algorithm provides high accuracy. Thus, the proposed approach can build the baseline for the accurate classification and segmentation of the heritage buildings

Ultrahigh-sensitivity label-free single mode-tapered multimode-single mode fiber U-shaped biosensor for Staphylococcus aureus detection

The rapid detection of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), particularly in the case of very low levels of S. aureus, is very important in food safety and medical diagnostics. In this paper, a fast (<20 mins), label-free biosensor using a U-shaped single mode- tapered multimode- single mode (STMS) fiber structure is presented. The average wavelength shift of the sensor (modified with the IgG from porcine serum with a concentration 200 μg/mL) is as high as 1.552 nm when it is immersed into an S. aureus sample with a concentration of 4 cells/mL. By further diluting the S. aureus to 0.4 cells/mL for a sample volume of 1.5 mL, it is found that a dip wavelength shift of 0.348 nm is observed on occasion which confirms that the biosensor can detect a single colony (cell) of S. aureus. Results for the detection of S. aureus in milk and lettuce samples are also presented and are compared with the wavelength shift results in phosphate buffered saline (PBS), and it is found that the variation in the average wavelength shift is -21 for S. aureus concentrations from 4 to 4×103 cells/mL

Current understanding and perspectives on anaerobic digestion in developing countries: Colombia case study

Anaerobic digestion (AD) technology has become increasingly important due to its contribution to sustainability and a circular bioeconomy. While AD technologies are widespread in developing countries, developed countries have mainly driven research. The aim of this research is to analyze the biogas sector development from the point of view of a developing country like Colombia. AD research ranges from laboratory mesophilic AD to psychrophilic full-scale digesters, which are intergrated with household farms as a thermal energy source for cooking, nutrient recycling for agriculture, and waste management. Research on agricultural waste substrates, inocula, and co-digestion has dominated the Colombian publications, while full-scale digesters performance research is incipient. A survey of installed digesters collected information about 996 systems and found that 79% were psychrophilic low-cost tubular digesters. Regulations for biogas were reviewed, and it was found that they are not adequate for low-cost digesters and are inherited from developed countries, ignoring the national context. Five case studies are presented on the characterization of AD technology experiences, analyzing barriers and opportunities for the technology. National networks that include farmers, NGOs, and academia are driven slowly by Colombia's widespread AD technology, mainly on small-to medium-scale farms

New development: Learning communities—an approach to dismantling barriers to collective improvement

Public services operate in conditions of complexity. Practitioners and service users can never be certain of the impact or outcome of a course of action and, consequently, responsible failure must be supported. A new methodology for enabling public service professionals to navigate the complexity of their practice is introduced in this article: ‘learning communities’ (LCs). Drawing from developmental applications of this methodology, the authors describe how LCs provide environments for talking authentically about uncertainties and mistakes with the purpose of collective improvement, and draw parallels with similar methods of community co-creation. The way that LCs tackle two key elements of the public sector’s learning capacity noted in the literature—structure and culture—is explained

Maximal Marginal Relevance-Based Recommendation for Product Customisation

Customised product design is attracting increasing attention. However, consumers can be overwhelmed by the variety of products. To confront this challenge, this paper presents a two-step recommendation approach for customised products. First, an adaptive specification process captures customer requirements in an accelerated manner by presenting the most informative attribute for a customer to specify. Then, a maximal marginal relevance-based recommendation set is presented, based on the customer’s partial specifications. This process ensures broad coverage of customers’ needs by considering not only the relevance of each product to their requirements but also redundancy in the recommendation set

A scoping review of recent advancements in intervention and outcome measures for post-stroke cognitive impairments

Background: Cognitive deficit is one of the common impairments that occur post stroke and have a major effect on the quality of life of stroke survivors. However, the intervention and outcome measures used to remediate post‑stroke cognitive impairments are diverse and highly heterogeneous. Therefore, a review of intervention and outcome measures for post‑stroke cognitive impairments was carried out. Objectives: To review all available information on the recent advancements in intervention and outcome measures for post‑stroke cognitive impairments. Methods: An electronic database search was conducted in PubMed, Medline, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Library with key search terms between 2001 and 2021. The search results were systematically screened, and data was independently extracted by three reviewers. The data was thematically analyzed and narratively synthesized. Results: The search retrieved 2018 records, and we included 12 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies targeted global cognitive deficits in ischemic stroke patients in the chronic phase. We categorized data based on the type of cognitive impairment, cognitive‑ domain targeted, intervention, and available outcome measures for post‑stroke cognitive rehabilitation. Attention, memory, executive function, and global cognition were the common cognitive components targeted, managed, and assessed using an outcome measure. We found that technology is replacing conventional approaches to improve cognitive impairment. Conclusion: Regardless of many new developments in post‑stroke cognitive rehabilitation interventions driven by technology, there is limited data available on actual implementation as a scalable solution. There is an extensive need for future research for evidence‑based assessment and management of cognitive impairments in post‑stroke rehabilitation

Variegated Forms of Corporate Capture: The State, MNCs, and the Dark Side of Strategic Coupling

Mainstream literature on global value chains (GVCs) and global production networks (GPNs) has increasingly demonstrated how the state and political conjunctures play a central role in strategic coupling. Nonetheless, scholarly attention still remains on the role of firms and their strategies. By focusing on firms, GVC and GPN scholars often underestimate the influence that non-firm actors such as the state have on strategic coupling, especially concerning its negative development implicationsits “dark side”. To contribute to this literature, this article proposes an approach and research agenda to examine how processes of corporate capture evolve via strategic coupling. This approach is based on the interplay of three variables: the strategic selectivity of states; the strategic action of firms; and states' predominant mode of insertion into GPNs. I argue that corporate capture is much more common and variegated in capitalist states and consequently in strategic coupling than often assumed in mainstream literature

Bereaved military families: Relationships and identity

An untimely sudden or violent death is a risk for those serving in the armed forces and can result in unique challenges for surviving military family members. This research considered how bereavement affects a range of relationships for military bereaved families in the UK and how they impact the reconstruction of a new identity in civilian life. A two-phase exploratory sequential design, involving semi-structured interviews (n = 15) and a mixed methods survey (n = 264) of military family members, was conducted. Findings revealed changing relationships with friends and family over time, reconstruction of identity, long-term impact on children, and loneliness