Quantifying the domestic building fabric 'performance gap'

In the UK, there is mounting evidence that the measured in situ performance of the building fabric in new build dwellings can be greater than that predicted, resulting in a significant building fabric ‘performance gap’. This paper presents the coheating test results from 25 new build dwellings built to Part L1A 2006 or better. Whilst the total number of dwellings reported here is small, the results suggest that a substantial ‘performance gap’ can exist between the predicted and measured performance of the building fabric, with the measured whole building U-value being just over 1.6 times greater than that predicted. This is likely to have significant implications in terms of the energy use and CO2 emissions attributable to these dwellings in-use

Your space or mine? : Mapping self in time

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Nudging down theft from insecure vehicles. A pilot study

This report presents the preliminary findings of a pilot study to reduce thefts from cars committed against insecure vehicles, using the behavioural insights or ‘nudge approach’. The recipients of the ‘nudges’ were potential victims of theft from insecure vehicles living in high rate areas for this crime, where a bespoke leaflet campaign was developed to nudge vehicle owners into thinking more carefully when leaving their vehicles unattended, particularly when left on their driveways overnight. Although somewhat tentative at this stage, the preliminary findings indicate that the percentage of thefts committed against insecure vehicles in the two treatment areas was reduced significantly when compared with the two control group areas where no nudge interventions were introduced. This demonstrates that if appropriate nudges (grounded in psychological theory) are coupled with and delivered by appropriate messengers, the prosocial behavioural change can be encouraged which can lead to a reduction in criminal behaviour and opportunities for crim

From venture idea to venture formation:The role of sensemaking, sensegiving and sense receiving

This article explores the sensemaking processes entrepreneurs use when transitioning between venture ideas and venture formation. Adopting a sensemaking/sensegiving approach and utilising an interpretivist methodology, we use sensemaking to analyse the entrepreneurial journey of four diverse entrepreneurs. In so doing, we make three contributions: first, we locate the early stages of the entrepreneurial context as a primary site where sensemaking occurs as entrepreneurs deal with the differences between expectations and reality. Second, we show how sensemaking occurs when entrepreneurs build a causal map of the problem they wish to address and how social exchanges are crucial as entrepreneurs then refine that idea with other sensegivers. Finally, we extend scholarly understanding through explaining the ways in which sensemaking, sensegiving and sense receiving contribute to the entrepreneurs' decision to act and create a new venture

Development of a brief multidisciplinary education programme for patients with osteoarthritis

Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent progressive musculoskeletal disorder, leading to pain and disability. Patient information and education are considered core elements in treatment guidelines for OA; however, there is to our knowledge no evidence-based recommendation on the best approach, content or length on educational programmes in OA. Objective: to develop a brief, patient oriented disease specific multidisciplinary education programme (MEP) to enhance self-management in patients with OA. Method Twelve persons (80% female mean age 59 years) diagnosed with hand, hip or knee OA participated in focus group interviews. In the first focus group, six participants were interviewed about their educational needs, attitudes and expectations for the MEP. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thereafter condensed. Based on results from focus group interviews, current research evidence, clinical knowledge and patients' experience, a multidisciplinary OA team (dietist, nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist, physical therapist and rheumatologist) and a patient representative developed a pilot-MEP after having attended a work-shop in health pedagogics. Finally, the pilot-MEP was evaluated by a second focus group consisting of four members from the first focus group and six other experienced patients, before final adjustments were made. Results The focus group interviews revealed four important themes: what is OA, treatment options, barriers and coping strategies in performing daily activities, and how to live with osteoarthritis. Identified gaps between patient expectations and experience with the pilot-programme were discussed and adapted into a final MEP. The final MEP was developed as a 3.5 hour educational programme provided in groups of 6-9 patients. All members from the multidisciplinary team are involved in the education programme, including a facilitator who during the provision of the programme ensures that the individual questions are addressed. As part of an ongoing process, a patient representative regularly attends the MEP and gives feedback concerning content and perceived value. Conclusion A MEP has been developed to enhance self-management in patients with OA attending a multidisciplinary OA outpatient clinic. The effectiveness of the MEP followed by individual consultations with members of the multidisciplinary team is currently evaluated in a randomised controlled trial with respect to patient satisfaction and functioning

Formulation, characterisation and flexographic printing of novel Boger fluids to assess the effects of ink elasticity on print uniformity

Model elastic inks were formulated, rheologically characterised in shear and extension, and printed via flexography to assess the impact of ink elasticity on print uniformity. Flexography is a roll-to-roll printing process with great potential in the mass production of printed electronics for which understanding layer uniformity and the influence of rheology is of critical importance. A new set of flexo-printable Boger fluids was formulated by blending polyvinyl alcohol and high molecular weight polyacrylamide to provide inks of varying elasticity. During print trials, the phenomenon of viscous fingering was observed in all prints, with those of the Newtonian ink exhibiting a continuous striping in the printing direction. Increasing elasticity significantly influenced this continuity, disrupting it and leading to a quantifiable decrease in the overall relative size of the printed finger features. As such, ink elasticity was seen to have a profound effect on flexographic printing uniformity, showing the rheological tuning of inks may be a route to obtaining specific printed features

Barriers to the provision of smoking cessation assistance:A qualitative study among Romanian family physicians

BACKGROUND: Smoking cessation is the most effective intervention to prevent and slow down the progression of several respiratory and other diseases and improve patient outcomes. Romania has legislation and a national tobacco control programme in line with the World Health Organization Framework for Tobacco Control. However, few smokers are advised to quit by their family physicians (FPs). AIM: To identify and explore the perceived barriers that prevent Romanian FPs from engaging in smoking cessation with patients. METHODS: A qualitative study was undertaken. A total of 41 FPs were recruited purposively from Bucharest and rural areas within 600 km of the city. Ten FPs took part in a focus group and 31 participated in semistructured interviews. Analysis was descriptive, inductive and themed, according to the barriers experienced. RESULTS: Five main barriers were identified: limited perceived role for FPs; lack of time during consultations; past experience and presence of disincentives; patients' inability to afford medication; and lack of training in smoking cessation skills. Overarching these specific barriers were key themes of a medical and societal hierarchy, which undermined the FP role, stretched resources and constrained care. CONCLUSIONS: Many of the barriers described by the Romanian FPs reflected universally recognised challenges to the provision of smoking cessation advice. The context of a relatively hierarchical health-care system and limitations of time and resources exacerbated many of the problems and created new barriers that will need to be addressed if Romania is to achieve the aims of its National Programme Against Tobacco Consumption

A meta-analytic review of stand-alone interventions to improve body image

Objective Numerous stand-alone interventions to improve body image have been developed. The present review used meta-analysis to estimate the effectiveness of such interventions, and to identify the specific change techniques that lead to improvement in body image. Methods The inclusion criteria were that (a) the intervention was stand-alone (i.e., solely focused on improving body image), (b) a control group was used, (c) participants were randomly assigned to conditions, and (d) at least one pretest and one posttest measure of body image was taken. Effect sizes were meta-analysed and moderator analyses were conducted. A taxonomy of 48 change techniques used in interventions targeted at body image was developed; all interventions were coded using this taxonomy. Results The literature search identified 62 tests of interventions (N = 3,846). Interventions produced a small-to-medium improvement in body image (d+ = 0.38), a small-to-medium reduction in beauty ideal internalisation (d+ = -0.37), and a large reduction in social comparison tendencies (d+ = -0.72). However, the effect size for body image was inflated by bias both within and across studies, and was reliable but of small magnitude once corrections for bias were applied. Effect sizes for the other outcomes were no longer reliable once corrections for bias were applied. Several features of the sample, intervention, and methodology moderated intervention effects. Twelve change techniques were associated with improvements in body image, and three techniques were contra-indicated. Conclusions The findings show that interventions engender only small improvements in body image, and underline the need for large-scale, high-quality trials in this area. The review identifies effective techniques that could be deployed in future interventions

Transcriptome-based polygenic score links depression-related corticolimbic gene expression changes to sex-specific brain morphology and depression risk

Studies in post-mortem human brain tissue have associated major depressive disorder (MDD) with cortical transcriptomic changes, whose potential in vivo impact remains unexplored. To address this translational gap, we recently developed a transcriptome-based polygenic risk score (T-PRS) based on common functional variants capturing ‘depression-like’ shifts in cortical gene expression. Here, we used a non-clinical sample of young adults (n = 482, Duke Neurogenetics Study: 53% women; aged 19.8 ± 1.2 years) to map T-PRS onto brain morphology measures, including Freesurfer-derived subcortical volume, cortical thickness, surface area, and local gyrification index, as well as broad MDD risk, indexed by self-reported family history of depression. We conducted side-by-side comparisons with a PRS independently derived from a Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) MDD GWAS (PGC-PRS), and sought to link T-PRS with diagnosis and symptom severity directly in PGC-MDD participants (n = 29,340, 59% women; 12,923 MDD cases, 16,417 controls). T-PRS was associated with smaller amygdala volume in women (t = −3.478, p = 0.001) and lower prefrontal gyrification across sexes. In men, T-PRS was associated with hypergyrification in temporal and occipital regions. Prefrontal hypogyrification mediated a male-specific indirect link between T-PRS and familial depression (b = 0.005, p = 0.029). PGC-PRS was similarly associated with lower amygdala volume and cortical gyrification; however, both effects were male-specific and hypogyrification emerged in distinct parietal and temporo-occipital regions, unassociated with familial depression. In PGC-MDD, T-PRS did not predict diagnosis (OR = 1.007, 95% CI = [0.997–1.018]) but correlated with symptom severity in men (rho = 0.175, p = 7.957 × 10−4) in one cohort (N = 762, 48% men). Depression-like shifts in cortical gene expression have sex-specific effects on brain morphology and may contribute to broad depression vulnerability in men