103 research outputs found

    Introduction: new directions in energy demand research

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    Meeting the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement and limiting global temperature increases to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels demands rapid reductions in global carbon dioxide emissions. Reducing energy demand has a central role in achieving this goal, but existing policy initiatives have been largely incremental in terms of the technological and behavioural changes they encourage. Against this background, this book develops a sociotechnical approach to the challenge of reducing energy demand and illustrates this with a number of empirical case studies from the United Kingdom. In doing so, it explores the emergence, diffusion and impact of low-energy innovations. This chapter introduces the main themes of the book, including explorations of the processes and mechanisms through which different types of innovations become (or fail to become) established, the identification of the role of different groups, assessments of the resulting impacts on energy demand and other social goals, and the development of recommendations for both encouraging the diffusion of such innovations and maximising their long-term impact

    What did we learn about elite student athlete mental health systems from the COVID-19 Pandemic?

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    Elite student-athletes (SAs) in higher education (HE) have distinct mental health (MH) risks. The COVID-19 pandemic put pressure on systems and increased elite SA vulnerability to adverse MH outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore the provision and management of MH in elite HE sports settings during the time of COVID-19 pandemic stress. The secondary aim was to identify lessons and opportunities to enhance future mental healthcare systems and services for elite SAs. A qualitative study design was used to investigate the views of three groups (athletic directors, coaches and sport healthcare providers). Ten key leaders were purposively recruited from HE institutions in Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom. They represented various universities from the National College Athletic Association, U SPORTS Canada and British Universities and Colleges Sport. Semistructured interviews were conducted, recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Five key themes were identified: (1) The pandemic disruption had salient impacts on motivation and how elite SAs engaged with sport (2) when student sport systems are under pressure, support staff perceive a change in duties and experience their own MH challenges, (3) the pandemic increased awareness about MH care provision and exposed systemic challenges, (4) digital transformation in MH is complex and has additional challenges for SAs and (5) there were some positive outcomes of the pandemic, lessons learnt and a resulting motivation for systems change. Participants highlighted future opportunities for MH provision in elite university sport settings. Four recommendations were generated from the results.</p

    Situating occupational injustices experienced by children with disabilities in rural India within sociocultural, economic, and systemic conditions

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    This paper contributes to diversifying and situating understandings of occupational injustices through presenting findings from the knowledge generation phase of a participatory action research (PAR) project that utilized participatory filmmaking with children with disabilities in rural South India as co-researchers. Centering on situations of occupational injustices generated through a participatory analysis conducted with the child co-researchers, a critical theoretical analysis, informed by critical occupational science and critical disability perspectives, was carried out. This theoretical analysis of data generated through the filmmaking process, as well as data generated with parents of children with disabilities, community members, and service providers, was used to elucidate forces shaping and perpetuating occupational injustices within the study context. Findings address the complex layers of sociocultural, economic, and systemic forces shaping occupational injustices, as well as ways contested responsibility and individualization of issues limited collective action. The paper illustrates the contributions that can be made through critical participatory approaches to enhancing understanding of the production and perpetuation of occupational injustices in ways that contribute to nuanced understanding of diverse human occupations. As well, issues of occupational injustice related to occupational marginalization, restricted occupational possibilities, occupational degradation, and non- sanctioned occupations are fore fronted

    Fair, Affordable and Open Access to Knowledge: The Caul Collection and Reporting of APC Information Project

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    Article processing charges (APCs) are fundamental to the business models of many Hybrid and Gold open access (OA) journals. The need to quantify the volume of APC payments paid on behalf of institutional researchers has therefore never been greater. New publishing models will have profound implications for future institutional budgets, and libraries urgently require better information about potential costs and savings. In 2018, the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) commissioned a project to examine the financial impact of APC payments on universities in Australia and New Zealand. The project aims to develop a methodology for the estimation of APC payments based on data from sources such as Scopus, Web of Science and Unpaywall. In order to test this methodology, the Working Group began a pilot project in February 2019. As part of this pilot, data on publications produced by researchers at six local universities in 2017 were collated and analysed. This paper will explain the rationale behind the project methodology. It will present the preliminary findings of the pilot, and flag some of the lessons learnt to date. In addition, the paper will identify future changes. It will be of interest to any librarian concerned with the potential impact of changing publishing models on institutional budgets

    A Psychophysiological Examination of the Mutability of Type D Personality in a Therapeutic Trial

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    Identifying the associations between health and personality has been a focus for psychophysiological research. Type D personality is associated with predisposition to physical and psychological ill-health. This statistician-blind parallel-group controlled trial (intervention group vs. waiting list control group) examined the impact of Havening Techniques on the Type D constituents of negative affect (NA) and social inhibition (SI). One hundred twenty-five adult (18+ years) participants in the United Kingdom (72 females, 53 males) completed the Type D Scale-14 (DS14) measure of Type D personality at baseline (T1), 24-hours (T2), and at 1-month (T3). Forty participants in the treatment group received additional stress biomarker assessment of heart rate, blood pressure, and salivary cortisol. Type D caseness remained stable in the waiting list participants (n = 57). In the treatment group (n = 68); NA, SI, and total scores decreased from T1 to T2 (p < .001, p < .001, and p < .001, respectively), and from T2 to T3 (p = .004, p < .001, and p < .001, respectively), significantly transmuting to non-caseness (p < .001 for T1 to T2; p = .025 for T2 to T3). Between T1 and T2, decreases in cortisol (p < .001), diastolic blood pressure (p < .001), and systolic blood pressure (p < .001) were demonstrated. Heart rate fell nonsignificantly between T1 and T2 (p = .063), but significantly from T1 to T3 (p = .048). The findings of this study indicate the potential mutability of the psychophysiological illness-prone characteristics of Type D personality

    Accurate Estrogen Receptor Quantification in Patients with Negative and Low-Positive Estrogen-Receptor-Expressing Breast Tumors: Sub-Analyses of Data from Two Clinical Studies

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    <p>Full copyright for enhanced digital features is owned by the authors.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Article full text</strong></p><p><br> The full text of this article can be found <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12325-019-0896-0"><b>here</b>.</a> <br> <br> <strong>Provide enhanced digital features for this article</strong><br> If you are an author of this publication and would like to provide additional enhanced digital features for your article then please contact <u>[email protected]</u>.<br> <br> The journal offers a range of additional features designed to increase visibility and readership. All features will be thoroughly peer reviewed to ensure the content is of the highest scientific standard and all features are marked as ‘peer reviewed’ to ensure readers are aware that the content has been reviewed to the same level as the articles they are being presented alongside. Moreover, all sponsorship and disclosure information is included to provide complete transparency and adherence to good publication practices. This ensures that however the content is reached the reader has a full understanding of its origin. No fees are charged for hosting additional open access content.<br> <br> Other enhanced features include, but are not limited to:<br> • Slide decks<br> • Videos and animations<br> • Audio abstracts<br> • Audio slides</p> <p> </p

    UK-born Pakistani-origin infants are relatively more adipose than white British infants: findings from 8704 mother-offspring pairs in the Born-in-Bradford prospective birth cohort

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    Background: Previous studies have shown markedly lower birth weight among infants of South Asian origin compared with those of White European origin. Whether such differences mask greater adiposity in South Asian infants and whether they persist across generations in contemporary UK populations is unclear. Our aim was to compare birth weight, skinfold thickness and cord leptin between Pakistani and White British infants and to investigate the explanatory factors, including parental and grandparental birthplace. Methods: We examined the differences in birth weight and skinfold thickness between 4649 Pakistani and 4055 White British infants born at term in the same UK maternity unit and compared cord leptin in a subgroup of 775 Pakistani and 612 White British infants. Results: Pakistani infants were lighter (adjusted mean difference −234 g 95% CI −258 to −210) and were smaller in both subscapular and triceps skinfold measurements. The differences for subscapular and triceps skinfold thickness (mean z-score difference −0.27 95% CI −0.34 to −0.20 and −0.23 95% CI −0.30 to −0.16, respectively) were smaller than the difference in birth weight (mean z-score difference −0.52 95% CI −0.58 to −0.47) and attenuated to the null with adjustment for birth weight (0.03 95% CI −0.03 to 0.09 and −0.01 95% CI −0.08 to 0.05, respectively). Cord leptin concentration (indicator of fat mass) was similar in Pakistani and White British infants without adjustment for birth weight, but with adjustment became 30% higher (95% CI 17% to 44%) among Pakistani infants compared with White British infants. The magnitudes of difference did not differ by generation. Conclusions: Despite being markedly lighter, Pakistani infants had similar skinfold thicknesses and greater total fat mass, as indicated by cord leptin, for a given birth weight than White British infants. Any efforts to reduce ethnic inequalities in birth weight need to consider differences in adiposity and the possibility that increasing birth weight in South Asian infants might inadvertently worsen health by increasing relative adiposity
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