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Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is often mooted as a promising and sustainable processing methodology for conversion of biomass into usable products, including bio-oils, which have the potential to alleviate humanitys reliance on fossil fuels. To date, the majority of HTL development work with novel biomasses has been undertaken at laboratory scale in batch processes and the results extrapolated to theoretical continuous flow processes required for industrial uptake. Here, we assess the use of a novel continuous flow HTL system, applying it to Sargassum (seaweed) material and generating a bio-oil which is assessed against typical crude oil fractions.

Social Networking Sites (SNS) user behavior has been discussed in association with SNS user personality characteristics, such as narcissism. However, gender and cultural influences on the relations...

Background Bacteraemia data are often used as a general measure of resistance prevalence but may poorly represent other infection types. We compared resistance prevalence between bloodstream infection (BSI) and lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) isolates collected by the BSAC Resistance Surveillance Programme. Methods BSI isolates (n = 8912) were collected during 2014–18 inclusive and LRTI isolates (n = 6280) between October 2013 to September 2018 from participating laboratories in the UK and Ireland, to a fixed annual quota per species group. LRTI isolates, but not BSI, were selected by onset: community for Streptococcus pneumoniae; hospital for Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacterales. MICs were determined centrally by agar dilution; statistical modelling adjusted for ICU location and possible clustering by collection centre. Results Resistance was more prevalent among the LRTI isolates, even after adjusting for a larger proportion of ICU patients. LRTI P. aeruginosa and S. pneumoniae were more often resistant than BSI isolates for most antibiotics, and the proportion of MRSA was higher in LRTI. For S. pneumoniae, the observation reflected different serotype distributions in LRTI and BSI. Relationships between LRTI and resistance were less marked for Enterobacterales, but LRTI E. coli were more often resistant to β-lactams, particularly penicillin/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations, and LRTI K. pneumoniae to piperacillin/tazobactam. For E. cloacae there was a weak association between LRTI, production of AmpC enzymes and cephalosporin resistance. Conclusions Estimates of resistance prevalence based upon bloodstream isolates underestimate the extent of the problem in respiratory isolates, particularly for P. aeruginosa, S. pneumoniae, S. aureus and, less so, for Enterobacterales.

This analysis investigates two differential PowerPoint slide designs—presentation and teleprompter—for multimedia learning. Eye tracking measures assessed differences in fixations. Participants demonstrated greater fixation counts for teleprompter slides, measures of aesthetic liking evidenced that slides incorporating imagery resulted in more pleasurable learning experiences, and visually-based slides influenced more reflective learning and greater activation of information processing. The results offer practical advice for instructors wishing to increase the slide design effectiveness for improved multimedia learning.

Treatment of ventriculitis caused by enterococci can be challenging, and antibiotic options are limited. We describe a case of device-related ventriculitis caused by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium , refractory to initial antibiotics. Our management approach included intrathecal daptomycin. There were no attributable adverse events, and the patient remained infection-free following ventriculo-peritoneal shunt insertion and cessation of antibiotics.

This study explores the relationship between public speaking anxiety (PSA) and Imaginary Interactions (IIs). Participants ( N = 17) were recruited from the multi-section departmental introductory public speaking course. Virtual reality (VR) as a potential form of II treatment for PSA blurs the reality between imagined and actual interactions. This study utilized a sequential explanatory approach to examine inferential and descriptive findings. The inferential investigation employed a four-stage design requiring participants to complete pre-test PSA and post-test assessments before and after VR simulations, exploring II functions and attributions. The follow-up descriptive analysis expanded and generated new understanding for the complexities of II through participants’ experiences using directed content analysis. Utilizing VR as an extension of IIs highlighted the rehearsal function, and variations in attributions for discrepancy and specificity between VR realism and artificial simulated perceptions. The implications suggest that VR provides students in public speaking environments a treatment mechanism that minimizes the cognitive strain to imagine the scene and setting of the situation, while simultaneously providing assistance in PSA reduction.

This meta-analysis compared the educational impact of the method of notetaking in the college classroom – hand written or using electronic device. The findings involved 14 studies combining 3,075 p...

Chapter 4 outlines trends in recorded homelessness in the three countries between about 2008 and 2018. The chapter first explores in some detail how homelessness is measured in each of the three countries as the three countries use a variety of methodologies to measure homelessness and it is important that the strengths and limitations of these different approaches are understood, particularly in relation to their comparability. Having explored the full range of data on homelessness in each country, we then focus on those living rough, in emergency accommodation and in accommodation for the homeless, and data on these forms of homelessness are presented for the three countries.

Most research focusing on the challenges that international teaching assistants (ITAs) encounter in U.S. classrooms employs a linguistic perspective. The present study furthers that research by examining other challenges unique to ITAs, through the lens of an intercultural competence framework. Through individual interviews with 15 ITAs, the study highlights the challenges related to competencies in knowledge and skills faced by ITAs in U.S. classrooms. Findings reveal that knowledge about the U.S. education system, expectations of the classroom culture, and assumptions about student–instructor relationships pose the greatest difficulties. Additionally, the ability of an ITA to demonstrate communication skills remains a significant challenge, including the negative perception of speaking with a foreign accent and selecting effective word choices to accurately represent content. The study findings present practical implications for training ITAs for their pedagogical duties at U.S. colleges.

This exploratory study investigates virtual environments (VEs) as a treatment intervention for the fear of public speaking (FoPS). Prior preliminary studies indicate fear reduction following VE simulations with few investigations examining participants’ perspectives. Participants (N = 17) recruited from a public speaking course participated in a virtual reality 360° digital recording simulation that carbon copied the physical reality of their classroom and audience. Before and after immersion, participants completed open-ended responses about the simulation, pre- and post-public speaking fears, and VE public speaking experience. Using thematic analysis on the open-ended responses, researchers coded the responses to understand the communicative performance experience surrounding their VE public speaking simulation. Negative-valence emotions occurred for both presentations; however, participants expressed value in experiencing and overcoming the negative feelings. Based on the anecdotal (or clinical) findings, participants reported experiencing fears similar to those experienced in physical reality as well as emotional and behavioral interventions when engaged in the VE. Additionally, a one-year follow-up (N = 6) provided a reflective process for participants to recall their VE experience and implications beyond the physical simulation. These open-ended responses offered implications surrounding emotional reaction, real audiences, and the speechmaking process. The findings suggest mitigation of audience-related fears by the presence of the virtual audience with participants reoriented to focus on execution of speech delivery. This exploratory qualitative investigation builds toward a future of optimal strategies for using instructional technologies to improve public speaking competency.

ObjectivesTo understand the impact on prescribing behaviour of an antimicrobial therapy guidelines smartphone app, in widespread use in hospitals in the UK.MethodsTwenty-eight doctors and five nurse prescribers from four purposively selected hospitals in the UK participated in behavioural theory-informed semi-structured interviews about their experiences of using the MicroGuide™ smartphone app. Data were analysed using a thematic content analysis.ResultsFive themes emerged from the interview data: convenience and accessibility; validation of prescribing decisions; trust in app content; promotion of antimicrobial stewardship; and limitations and concerns. Participants appreciated the perceived convenience, accessibility and timesaving attributes of the app, potentially contributing to more prompt treatment of patients with time-critical illness. The interviewees also reported finding it reassuring to use the app to support decision-making and to validate existing knowledge. They trusted the app content authored by local experts and considered it to be evidence-based and up-to-date. This was believed to result in fewer telephone calls to the microbiology department for advice. Participants recognized the value of the app for supporting the goals of antimicrobial stewardship by promoting the responsible and proportionate use of antimicrobials. Finally, a number of limitations of the app were reported, including the risk of de-skilling trainees, cultural problems with using smartphones in clinical environments and software technical problems.ConclusionsThe MicroGuide app was valued as a means of addressing an unmet need for updated, concise, trustworthy specialist information in an accessible format at the bedside to support safe and effective antimicrobial prescribing.

Ghosting describes a popular contemporary dating disengagement strategy that abruptly ends communication using technological medium(s). For the target of ghosting, the non-initiator, the action usu...

Addressing student public speaking anxiety (PSA) through an introductory speaking course is a fundamental pedagogical touchpoint. The current study replicates and extends PSA research by seeking to...

This article discusses the basic assumptions and practices for meta-analysis as well as describing options and innovations for implementing this tool. Meta-analysis represents a family of techniques with different assumptions and procedures. I discuss some of the ongoing debates and limitations of the methods that continue to receive attention. In an era of “evidence-based” applications and educational material, meta-analysis (in all the forms) represents the best way to reduce Type II error and identify Type I error. Use of the technique provides facilitates the formulation and evaluation theoretical arguments as well as identifying the means to optimally generate future research efforts. The process of meta-analysis takes the scientist back to the future by reminding the community of the original premises that guided the formation of the statistical process.

The current study solicits individuals’ artistic depictions and written definitions of family and provides comparisons to existing conceptualizations of family in communication research. Attendees ...

This study examined how group members with differential levels (highest, middle, and lowest) of ability contributed to argumentative communication while facilitating a cooperative learning ...

The purpose of this study is to examine relational dissolution using the technique of ghosting. This qualitative study explores the emerging adults’ dissolution strategies leading up to and through...

Chapter 7 draws together some of the lessons that can be learned from the experiences of three small European countries in responding to homelessness. It is clear that responses to homelessness are embedded and enmeshed in the political and administrative culture of the individual countries, particularly the role of the state, both centrally and locally, in the provision of housing, welfare, and social services. Homelessness cannot be responded to as a separate issue from this broader context, and this is particularly the case in Finland and Ireland, where the roles of the state and market are understood very differently.

This chapter provides a critique of shelter-based responses to homelessness, and the emergence of housing led solutions to homelessness. The chapter documents this shift to a nuanced and evidence-based understanding of homelessness, whereby a new and effective toolkit for ending homelessness had become available, changing the context in which policy was being developed, leading to the adoption of strategic plans to end homelessness.

Chapter 2 provides a detailed analysis of the emergence and content of the homeless strategies in Denmark, Finland and Ireland. While all three countries had various homelessness policy statements and strategies prior to 2008, in all three cases, their 2008/09 strategies were the most ambitious, aiming to end long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough. This chapter reviews the sequence of events that led to the radical shift in policy that aimed to end homelessness and the assumptions about the causes of homelessness in each strategy.

The impacts of welfare policies and political choices are explored in this chapter. Comprehensive and generous welfare systems that encompass housing, health and other social services, as well as income supports, provide important buffers that lessen the likelihood that people will experience homelessness. The evidence from social democratic welfare regimes such as Denmark is that those who do experience homelessness despite such developed welfare systems tend to have a higher rate of psychosocial difficulties compared to the general population, and this is also likely to be the case in Finland. It was traditionally the case in Ireland, but has become less so in recent years.

Chapter 3 provides a detailed description of the strategies to end homelessness. The strategies of the three countries were published within a relatively short period of each other. The Finnish strategy was launched in February 2008, while the Irish national homeless strategy, was launched in August 2008 and the Danish strategy in October 2009. The chapter argues that the three strategies can each be seen to have distinct phases of announcement and implementation. In the case of the Finnish strategies, these build upon each other through a series of achievements and refined objectives, while in the Irish case, the strategies change considerably in format and scope, reflecting the broader economic and political crisis that engulfed the country, with the Danish strategy and succeeding programmes falling in between the other two cases.