Faculty of Science and Engineering
http://hdl.handle.net/2436/1324
2024-03-28T05:35:11Z
-
Measuring the impact of incorporating case study presentations into applied biomedical science placement workshops for trainee biomedical scientists
http://hdl.handle.net/2436/625426
Measuring the impact of incorporating case study presentations into applied biomedical science placement workshops for trainee biomedical scientists
Bashir, Amreen; Dudley, Kathryn; Rana, Karan S.; Wilkins, Kayleigh; Pallett, Ross
Introduction: Successfully completing the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) registration portfolio is essential to becoming a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered Biomedical Scientist. In the West Midlands, a unique collaboration between four universities (Aston, Wolverhampton, Coventry, and Keele) and local NHS Trusts supports student placements and portfolio development. The universities support Training Officers in delivering components of the registration portfolio through the delivery of eight combined placement workshops. These have been designed to align to the IBMS registration portfolio and help students meet the HCPC Standards of Proficiency. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a redesigned workshop where students generated and presented medical case studies to peers, academics, and training leads.
Materials and Methods: The three phases of the case study intervention included a pre-intervention survey, academic-led sessions focussing on medical case presentations and delivery of the presentation followed by a post-intervention survey.
Results: Analysing survey responses pre- and post-intervention, students demonstrated enhanced confidence in their understanding of clinical conditions (p<0.0001), connecting lab findings to diseases, and in delivering a case presentation to their peers (p<0.001). Students reported an increased confidence in structuring case presentations and their critical thinking ability (p<0.0001). All students agreed engaging with the case study workshop improved their ability to communicate knowledge of scientific concepts orally. Thematic analysis revealed that the case presentation deepened students' understanding of multidisciplinary teams. 98% of respondents agreed patient communication should be integrated into Biomedical Sciences courses and 85% would like to see case study presentations embedded into the curriculum.
Discussion: Combined placement workshops are an integral part of the Applied Biomedical Science placement journey. Case study presentations are clearly a valuable teaching and learning tool to nurture and develop key transferable skills and competencies in conjunction with Biomedical Science expertise. The collaborative approach in the West Midlands effectively prepares graduates with essential pathology knowledge, skills, and a completed IBMS registration portfolio. This study highlights a successful framework for a collaborative partnership with local NHS trusts that has allowed the completion of numerous pathology placements and could be adopted by other universities delivering accredited Biomedical Science courses.
© 2024 The Authors. Published by Frontiers Media. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3389/bjbs.2024.12017
2024-02-20T00:00:00Z
-
Parenting through place-of-care disruptions: a qualitative study of parents' experiences of neonatal care
http://hdl.handle.net/2436/625416
Parenting through place-of-care disruptions: a qualitative study of parents' experiences of neonatal care
Cupit, Caroline; Paton, Alexis; Boyle, Elaine; Pillay, Thillagavathie; Anderson, Josie; Armstrong, Natalie
Introduction: Neonatal care is complex, involving multiple people and technologies within a community of care. When preterm babies are cared for far from home and/or transferred between units, the whole community of care (and particularly parent participation) is disrupted. Although previous studies have captured subjective experiences of parents, there has been little research exploring the material practices undertaken by parents as a consequence of place-of-care decisions, or the social organisation of those practices. Methods: As part of a wider study exploring optimal place-of-care, semistructured interviews were conducted between July 2018 and October 2019 with 48 parents (36 families) with one or more preterm babies (born at 27–31 weeks gestation) cared for in a neonatal unit in the last 12 months. Findings: We highlight parents' labour-intensive and stressful work to: (1) parent in the neonatal care community (an oversight role that goes beyond contemporary notions of ‘involvement’); (2) create continuity amid place-of-care disruptions; and (3) adapt to the managerial logics of neonatal care settings. Our analysis focuses on the work generated by managerial systems that organise place-of-care decision-making and other efficiency-focused practices. Parents are absorbed into negotiating institutional systems and diverted from routine parenting activities. Conclusion: Those involved in the organisation and management of neonatal care should take account of how managerial systems impact parents' workload, ability to participate in their baby's community of care and, ultimately, on the wellbeing and development of babies and their families. Patient or Public Contribution: The OPTI-PREM study embedded parents' experiences of neonatal care into the research, through a discrete workstream that employed qualitative methodology to capture parents' experiences—as reported in this paper. The OPTI-PREM project was also supported by a Bliss volunteer parent panel, which was involved in designing and overseeing the research. Bliss ‘champion[s] the right for every baby born premature or sick to receive the best care by supporting families, campaigning for change and supporting professionals and enabling life-changing research’ (https://www.bliss.org.uk/about-us/about-bliss). A representative of Bliss is a co-author of this manuscript, and a parent representative (named in the Acknowledgements) provided feedback during its preparation.
© 2024 The Authors. Published by Wiley. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13933
2023-12-18T00:00:00Z
-
Acoustic metamaterials for sound absorption and insulation in buildings
http://hdl.handle.net/2436/625415
Acoustic metamaterials for sound absorption and insulation in buildings
Arjunan, Arun; Baroutaji, Ahmad; Robinson, John; Vance, Aaron; Arafat, Abul
Despite the emergence of acoustic metamaterials with superior sound absorption and transmission loss, their adoption for building sound insulation has been limited. Sound insulation design in buildings is still informed by the acoustic performance of conventional materials, where the mass law contradicts light weighting when it comes to acoustic design. In any case buildings close to noisy environments such as motorways, railway lines and airports still suffer from significant low frequency noise pollution. Although the limited working bandwidth of acoustic metamaterials is a major issue limiting its application, combining meta-units that interact at various frequencies alongside multi-layer conventional solutions can deliver superior sound insulation in buildings. The review put forwards acoustic metamaterials, specifically emphasising superior sound absorption and transmission/insertion loss as critical properties for effective building sound insulation. The paper reveals a variety of acoustic metamaterials that can be adopted to compliment conventional sound insulation approaches for acoustically efficient building design. The performance of these metamaterials is then explained through their characteristic negative mass density, bulk modulus or repeating or locally resonating microstructure. The review is also extended to air transparent acoustic metamaterials that can be used for sound insulation of building ventilation. Lastly the prospects and challenges regarding the adoption of acoustic metamaterials in building insulation are also discussed. Overall, tuneable, and multifunctional acoustic metamaterials when thoughtfully integrated to building sound insulation can lead to significant acoustic comfort, space-saving and light-weighting.
© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111250
2024-01-31T00:00:00Z
-
Changes in secondary metabolite production in response to salt stress in Alcea rosea L.
http://hdl.handle.net/2436/625413
Changes in secondary metabolite production in response to salt stress in Alcea rosea L.
Sadeghi, Arezoo; Razmjoo, Jamshid; Karimmojeni, Hassan; Baldwin, Timothy; Mastinu, Andrea
The effect of three levels of salinity on physio-biochemical traits in 10 Alcea rosea (hollyhock) varieties were evaluated. It was observed that salt stress increased both the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) in some varieties and decreased them in others. The greatest increases in both TPC and TFC were recorded in the Saman variety (104% and 62%, respectively) when cultivated under severe salt stress, indicating that this is the most salt-tolerant variety amongst those tested. The most abundant phenolic compound recorded was ellagic acid, and the phenolic compounds that showed the greatest increases in concentration due to salt stress were p-coumaric acid (87% in the Isfahan variety) and chlorogenic acid (142% in the Mahallat variety). Salt stress was also shown to decrease the production of diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) in all varieties. The highest concentration of DPPH (133%) was recorded in the Shiraz 1 variety, grown under conditions of severe salt stress. Salt stress also increased the mucilage content present in the petals, leaves, and seeds of some of the selected varieties. These data suggest that the selection of salt-tolerant varieties of hollyhock for direct cultivation or for use in future breeding programs is feasible.
© 2024 The Authors. Published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10020139
2024-01-31T00:00:00Z