Identifying the effects of human factors and training methods on a weld training program

The purpose of this research was to enhance the welding training programs in technical colleges, post-secondary institutions, and industry to prepare certified welders. This dissertation contains three papers: (1) a study describing the ability of dexterity to predict future performance in beginning welders, (2) a study identifying the ability of virtual reality welding simulation to reduce the amount of anxiety experienced by beginning welders when completing test welds, and (3) a descriptive study assessing the ability of virtual reality welding simulations to evaluate seasoned welders. With a high demand for certified welders, training programs need efficient methods of preparing certified welders. It was concluded that all welding training participants experienced anxiety during test welds. In addition, the more a participant used the virtual reality welding simulator, the more the participant experienced anxiety during completion of test welds. This implies that a virtual reality integrated welding training program will reduce anxiety better than a 100% virtual reality training program. The use of virtual reality welding simulations may lead to heightened interest in welding among members of the gaming generation, which could lead to influx of individuals wanting to become welders. With increased numbers of potential welding trainees also comes an increase in cost of training (Mavrikios, Karabatsou, Fragos, & Chryssolouris, 2006). This increase in training cost has led welding training programs to look for criteria by which to select trainees. Dexterity has been documented as a needed skill among certified welders (Giachino & Weeks, 1985). Using the Complete Minnesota Dexterity Test, dexterity could predict future performance for simple welds (2F - horizontal fillet weld and 1G - flat groove weld). This implies that training programs that prepare trainees to become certified in the 2F and 1G weld types can use dexterity as a criterion for selecting potential trainees. Industry must also create a more efficient method of evaluating seasoned welders. The third article of the dissertation concluded that virtual reality welding simulations can distinguish between novice and seasoned welders. The conclusions from the three articles can be used to modify and improve welding training programs in technical colleges, four-year institutions, and industry to prepare certified welders

Family Safeguarding Hertfordshire

Family Safeguarding Hertfordshire is a reform of children’s services that aims to improve how these services work with families, and outcomes for children and their parents. The report evaluates the project and presents local and national lessons

Utilising and Developing Methods for Routinely Collected Data in Health Research

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is at a turning point, the organisation is still recovering from the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare worker strikes have further increased pressures on healthcare delivery. Technological advancements and improvements in data usage both provide significant opportunities and challenges for the NHS’s near future. Data is collected for almost every patient interaction with the NHS, this is routinely collected data (RCD). There are vast amounts of RCD held within NHS systems, with massive potential for health research. Enabling large scale usage of this data requires complex data infrastructure along with streamlining of data access procedures, while ensuring patient data remains anonymous and confidential. Developing this infrastructure is a technological undertaking in itself. Presented in this thesis are three projects conducted using RCD demonstrating opportunities of using this data in research while providing findings to impact healthcare provision. The first project uses linked NHS data in a State Sequence Analysis to investigate patterns of healthcare usage of care home residents around COVID-19 testing events, demonstrating that vulnerable residents received high impact inpatient stays despite known risks. The second project evaluates a digital technology intervention in care homes using a Generalised Linear Mixed Model framework, finding a reduction in unplanned secondary care usage for residents registered on the technology. The third project uses administrative emergency department data in a survival analysis framework, finding improvements in patient flow on strike days are likely due to increased inpatient capacity made available. Improved access to NHS routine data is crucial to ensuring that researchers can undertake responsive analysis to current pressures, such as those presented in this thesis, providing evidence to support optimised patient care throughout the NHS

The impact of digital technology in care homes on unplanned secondary care usage and associated costs.

BackgroundA substantial number of Emergency Department (ED) attendances by care home residents are potentially avoidable. Health Call Digital Care Homes is an app-based technology that aims to streamline residents’ care by recording their observations such as vital parameters electronically. Observations are triaged by remote clinical staff. This study assessed the effectiveness of the Health Call technology to reduce unplanned secondary care usage and associated costs.MethodsA retrospective analysis of health outcomes and economic impact based on an intervention. The study involved 118 care homes across the North East of UK from 2018 to 2021. Routinely collected NHS secondary care data from County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust was linked with data from the Health Call app. Three outcomes were modelled monthly using Generalised Linear Mixed Models: counts of emergency attendances, emergency admissions and length of stay of emergency admissions. A similar approach was taken for costs. The impact of Health Call was tested on each outcome using the models.FindingsData from 8,702 residents were used in the analysis. Results show Health Call reduces the number of emergency attendances by 11% [6–15%], emergency admissions by 25% [20–39%] and length of stay by 11% [3–18%] (with an additional month-by-month decrease of 28% [24–34%]). The cost analysis found a cost reduction of £57 per resident in 2018, increasing to £113 in 2021.InterpretationThe introduction of a digital technology, such as Health Call, could significantly reduce contacts with and costs resulting from unplanned secondary care usage by care home residents

Technique for the calibration of hydrophones in the frequency range 10 to 600 kHz using a heterodyne interferometer and an acoustically compliant membrane

A technique for the calibration of hydrophones using an optical method is presented. In the method, a measurement is made of the acoustic particle velocity in the field of a transducer by use of a thin plastic pellicle that is used to reflect the optical beam of a laser vibrometer, the pellicle being acoustically transparent at the frequency of interest. The hydrophone under test is then substituted for the pellicle, and the hydrophone response to the known acoustic field is measured. A commercially available laser vibrometer is used to undertake the calibrations, and results are presented over a frequency range from 10 to 600 kHz. A comparison is made with the method of three-transducer spherical-wave reciprocity, with agreement of better than 0.5 dB over the majority of the frequency range. The pellicle used is in the form of a narrow strip of thin Mylar©, and a discussion is given of the effect of the properties of the pellicle on the measurement results. The initial results presented here show that the method has the potential to form the basis of a primary standard method, with the calibration traceable to standards of length measurement through the wavelength of the laser light