Examining HIV and Tuberculosis Using a Decision Support Systems Computer Simulation Model: The Case of the Russian Federation

The aim of this paper is to describe the development and use of a computer simulation model that can be used as a Decision Support System (DSS) to tackle the critical public health issues of the chronic diseases, HIV and HIV related Tuberculosis in the Russian Federation. The model was developed to enable health officials and decision makers to determine the impact of policies to control the chronic diseases spread in an area of Russia. This area, like many others in Russia and elsewhere, have recently witnessed an explosion of HIV infections and a worrying spread of the Multi Drug Resistant form of Tuberculosis (MDRTB). The conclusions drawn is that a high population coverage with Highly Active Anti Retroviral Treatment (HAART) (75% or higher), allied with high MDRTB cure rates, reduces cumulative deaths by 60%, with limited impact below this level. The contributions that this research offers are the development of a simulation model that can be applied as a DSS by public health officials and managers in order to inform policy making. By doing so, ways of best controlling the spread of HIV and MDRTB and reduce the mortality rate from these serious public health threats is provided

Additive manufacturing technology and its implementation in construction as an eco-innovative solution

Additive manufacturing (AM) of construction materials has been one of the emerging advanced technologies that aim to minimise the supply chain in the construction industry through autonomous production of building components directly from digital models without human intervention and complicated formworks. However, technical challenges needs to be addressed for the industrial implementation of AM, e.g. materials formulation standardization, and interfacial bonding quality between the deposited layers amongst others. AM as one of the most highlighted key enabling technologies has the potential to create disruptive solutions, the key for its successful implementation is multidisciplinary effort in synergy involving materials science, architecture/design, computation, and robotics. There are crucial links between the material design formulations and the printing system for the manufacturing of the complex 3D geometries. Understanding and optimising the mix design for fresh rheology of materials and sufficient adhesion/cohesion of interface can allow the incorporation of complexity in the geometry

Moral wrongs, disadvantages, and disability: a critique of critical disability studies

Critical disability studies (CDS) has emerged as an approach to the study of disability over the last decade or so and has sought to present a challenge to the predominantly materialist line found in the more conventional disability studies approaches. In much the same way that the original development of the social model resulted in a necessary correction to the overly individualized accounts of disability that prevailed in much of the interpretive accounts which then dominated medical sociology, so too has CDS challenged the materialist line of disability studies. In this paper we review the ideas behind this development and analyse and critique some of its key ideas. The paper starts with a brief overview of the main theorists and approaches contained within CDS and then moves on to normative issues; namely, to the ethical and political applicability of CDS

The Behaviour Change Technique Ontology: Transforming the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1 [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

BACKGROUND: The Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1 (BCTTv1) specifies the potentially active content of behaviour change interventions. Evaluation of BCTTv1 showed the need to extend it into a formal ontology, improve its labels and definitions, add BCTs and subdivide existing BCTs. We aimed to develop a Behaviour Change Technique Ontology (BCTO) that would meet these needs. METHODS: The BCTO was developed by: (1) collating and synthesising feedback from multiple sources; (2) extracting information from published studies and classification systems; (3) multiple iterations of reviewing and refining entities, and their labels, definitions and relationships; (4) refining the ontology via expert stakeholder review of its comprehensiveness and clarity; (5) testing whether researchers could reliably apply the ontology to identify BCTs in intervention reports; and (6) making it available online and creating a machine-readable version. RESULTS: Initially there were 282 proposed changes to BCTTv1. Following first-round review, 19 BCTs were split into two or more BCTs, 27 new BCTs were added and 26 BCTs were moved into a different group, giving 161 BCTs hierarchically organised into 12 logically defined higher-level groups in up to five hierarchical levels. Following expert stakeholder review, the refined ontology had 247 BCTs hierarchically organised into 20 higher-level groups. Independent annotations of intervention evaluation reports by researchers familiar and unfamiliar with the ontology resulted in good levels of inter-rater reliability (0.82 and 0.79, respectively). Following revision informed by this exercise, 34 BCTs were added, resulting in a final version of the BCTO containing 281 BCTs organised into 20 higher-level groups over five hierarchical levels. DISCUSSION: The BCT Ontology provides a standard terminology and comprehensive classification system for the content of behaviour change interventions that can be reliably used to describe interventions

The Behaviour Change Technique Ontology: Transforming the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1

Background: The Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1 (BCTTv1) specifies the potentially active content of behaviour change interventions. Evaluation of BCTTv1 showed the need to extend it into a formal ontology, improve its labels and definitions, add BCTs and subdivide existing BCTs. We aimed to develop a Behaviour Change Technique Ontology (BCTO) that would meet these needs. Methods: The BCTO was developed by: (1) collating and synthesising feedback from multiple sources; (2) extracting information from published studies and classification systems; (3) multiple iterations of reviewing and refining entities, and their labels, definitions and relationships; (4) refining the ontology via expert stakeholder review of its comprehensiveness and clarity; (5) testing whether researchers could reliably apply the ontology to identify BCTs in intervention reports; and (6) making it available online and creating a machinereadable version. Results: Initially there were 282 proposed changes to BCTTv1. Following first-round review, 19 BCTs were split into two or more BCTs, 27 new BCTs were added and 26 BCTs were moved into a different group, giving 161 BCTs hierarchically organised into 12 logically defined higher-level groups in up to five hierarchical levels. Following expert stakeholder review, the refined ontology had 247 BCTs hierarchically organised into 20 higher-level groups. Independent annotations of intervention evaluation reports by researchers familiar and unfamiliar with the ontology resulted in good levels of inter-rater reliability (0.82 and 0.79, respectively). Following revision informed by this exercise, 34 BCTs were added, resulting in a final version of the BCTO containing 281 BCTs organised into 20 higher-level groups over five hierarchical levels. Discussion: The BCT Ontology provides a standard terminology and comprehensive classification system for the content of behaviour change interventions that can be reliably used to describe interventions

Behaviour change techniques taxonomy v1: Feedback to inform the development of an ontology [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

Background: To build cumulative evidence about what works in behaviour change interventions, efforts have been made to develop classification systems for specifying the content of interventions. The Behaviour Change Techniques (BCT) Taxonomy v1 (BCTTv1) is one of the most widely used classifications of behaviour change techniques across a variety of behaviours. The BCTTv1 was intentionally named version 1 to allow for further revisions to the taxonomy. This study aimed to gather data to improve the BCTTv1 and provide recommendations for developing it into a more elaborated knowledge structure, an ontology. Methods: Feedback from users of BCTTv1 about limitations and proposed improvements was collected through the BCT website, user survey, researchers and experts involved in the Human Behaviour-Change Project, and a consultation. In addition, relevant published research reports and other classification systems of BCTs were analysed. These data were synthesised to produce recommendations to inform the development of an ontology of BCTs. Results: A total of 282 comments from six sources were reviewed and synthesised into four categories of suggestions: additional BCTs, amendments to labels and definitions of specific BCTs, amendments to the groupings, and general improvements. Feedback suggested some lack of clarity regarding understanding and identifying techniques from labels, definitions, and examples; distinctions and relations between BCTs; and knowing what they would look like in practice. Three recommendations to improve the BCTTv1 resulted from this analysis: to review the label and definition of each BCT, the 16 groupings of BCTs, and the examples illustrating BCTs. Conclusions : This review of feedback about BCTTv1 identified the need to improve the precision and knowledge structure of the current taxonomy. A BCT ontology would enable the specification of relationships between BCTs, more precise definitions, and allow better interoperability with other ontologies. This ontology will be developed as part of the Human Behaviour-Change Project

Behaviour change techniques taxonomy v1: Feedback to inform the development of an ontology

Background: To build cumulative evidence about what works in behaviour change interventions, efforts have been made to develop classification systems for specifying the content of interventions. The Behaviour Change Techniques (BCT) Taxonomy v1 (BCTTv1) is one of the most widely used classifications of behaviour change techniques across a variety of behaviours. The BCTTv1 was intentionally named version 1 to allow for further revisions to the taxonomy. This study aimed to gather data to inform the development of BCTTv1 into a more elaborated knowledge structure, an ontology. Methods: Feedback from users of BCTTv1 about limitations and proposed improvements was collected through the BCT website, a user survey, researchers and experts involved in the Human Behaviour Change Project, and a consultation. In addition, relevant published research reports and other classification systems of BCTs were analysed. These data were synthesised to produce recommendations to inform the development of an ontology of BCTs. Results: A total of 282 comments from six sources were reviewed and synthesised into four categories of suggestions: additional BCTs, amendments to labels and definitions of specific BCTs, amendments to the groupings, and general improvements. Feedback suggested some lack of clarity regarding understanding and identifying techniques from labels, definitions, and examples; distinctions and relations between BCTs; and knowing what they would look like in practice. Three recommendations resulted from this analysis: to review the label and definition of each BCT, the 16 groupings of BCTs, and the examples illustrating BCTs. Conclusions: This review of feedback about BCTTv1 identified the need to improve the precision and knowledge structure of the current taxonomy. A BCT ontology would enable the specification of relationships between BCTs, more precise definitions, and allow better interoperability with other ontologies. This ontology will be developed as part of the Human Behaviour Change Project

Origin of the high piezoelectric response in PbZr(1-x)TixO3

High resolution x-ray powder diffraction measurements on poled PbZr(1-x)TixO3 (PZT) ceramic samples close to the rhombohedral-tetragonal phase boundary (the so-called morphotropic phase boundary, MPB) have shown that for both rhombohedral and tetragonal compositions, the piezoelectric elongation of the unit cell does not occur along the polar directions but along those directions associated with the monoclinic distortion. This work provides the first direct evidence for the origin of the very high piezoelectricity in PZT.Comment: 4 pages, 4 EPS figures embedded. More specific title and abstract. To appear in Phys. Rev. Let