Blackpool and The Fylde College

An advisory board meeting was held with five participants living with chronic respiratory conditions or having experienced a severe episode of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, to understand the challenges faced by such individuals and their experiences with lung health. In this podcast, we relate the points discussed during that meeting, providing further reflections from a patient and a physician on awareness, the lived experience of RSV, the risks it poses to adults living with chronic respiratory conditions and healthcare system support in managing lung health. Experiences shared by participants illustrate how RSV and chronic respiratory conditions can impact many aspects of a person’s life, beyond the acute illness, such as feelings of isolation. While many individuals are at risk of severe outcomes from RSV infection, the general population and healthcare practitioners (HCPs) are often unaware of the disease and its potential consequences in adults. Knowing the risk factors for severe RSV and exacerbation of underlying conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and cardiovascular diseases, could support physicians in discussing risks and preventive measures with their patients. This could help align patients’ expectations of HCPs and the healthcare system with the care they receive by providing more guidance on the multifactorial management of their respiratory health. Discussions about the preferred sources of information identified patient groups as the most trustworthy source, followed by HCPs, who can play a key role in helping patients to identify reliable sources of information. Despite involving only a small group of people, the discussion provided valuable insights from participants which can raise awareness about the risks and impact of RSV on people’s lives and empower healthcare professionals to better support their patients in managing their patients’ lung health.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40121-025-01216-0.

The focus of this work is the development of two types of low-cost photoacoustic (PA) CO2 sensors, the first was made from mid-infrared (mid-IR) light emitting diode (LED) and the second was made from micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) hotplate. Both sensors use MEMS microphones for the detection of the generated acoustic signal. These sensors have advantages of low power consumption, small size and low cost. Analyses of results from both sensors show that temperature change (within−20°C–50°C range) affects their signal amplitude and sensitivities. Results also show that the absence of buffer gas in the cell reduces the PA signal amplitude. Furthermore, comparison of results from the sensors indicate that the LED sensor is more sensitive by about one order of magnitude while the hotplate sensor, which is less expensive, has a better noise performance. This is the first time that such comparison is done and it is important because it reveals the advantages and limitations of these sensors. The findings is vital for determining which sensor will be suitable for certain applications, considering the cost.

Mental health has emerged as a critical area of attention in higher education, and educational research over the last 15 years has focused increasingly on emotions and wellbeing at all stages of education (Hill et al., 2021). While definitions of well-being vary, most are premised on “good quality of life” (Nair et al., 2018, p. 69). Within the last few years, we have experienced an intersection of several forces that undermine or threaten good quality of life. These include the uncertainties prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic (Hews et al., 2022, U.S. Surgeon General, n.d.), climate change (Charlson et al., 2021), racism and social injustices (Williams & Etkins, 2021), the cost-of-living crisis (Montacute, 2023), and the lack of motivation and higher incidence of mental health issues associated with growing concerns about job prospects and income (Chowdhury et al., 2022). This fifth iteration of Voices from the Field explores some of the ways in which students-as-partners work can address challenges to the mental health and well-being of students, faculty, and staff. This focus, proposed by members of the IJSaP Editorial Board, both responds to the intersecting realities named above and remains true to the goal of this section of the journal, which is to offer a venue for a wide range of contributors to address important questions around and aspects of students-as-partners work without going through the intensive submission, peer-review, and revision processes. The prompt we included in the call for this iteration of Voices was: “In what ways can students-as-partners work address challenges to the mental health and well-being of students, staff, and faculty posed by the current realities in the wider world (socio-political, environmental, economic, etc.) that affect higher education?”

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to public health in the 21st century. To date little action has been undertaken globally to mitigate the risks of climate change. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesise the qualitative literature on people’s and the health care systems’ lived experiences of climate change with a focus on health and health inequalities. We employed a narrative synthesis approach utilising a chronological perspective to frame the results. Seven electronic databases were searched for eligible studies which included Academic Search Ultimate; CINAHL; Embase; MEDLINE; PsycINFO; PubMed; Scopus; and Web of Science. The primary outcomes were lived experiences of the health/health inequalities effects of climate change. We identified 473 original records and eight papers met the inclusion criteria. Study quality was assessed by the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme for qualitative research. Seven studies focused on extreme weather events related to climate change with six of these looking at flooding and one at heat waves. One study examined perceptions and practice of people working in public health to adapting to climate change. Overall the results show challenges with perceiving and identifying risks of climate change which impact on preparedness for extreme weather events. The social determinants of health such as gender, housing, and community cohesion impact on people’s experience of climate change potentially exacerbating inequalities. Social capital and how widespread the extreme weather event was in the community impact on how people feel after the event and the rebuilding process. Trust in local government was also a key factor in shaping people’s perception of recovery. These findings can be used to help frame the dialogue around climate change mitigation and adaption to reduce the negative health and health inequality impacts.

Abstract Let $\textsf{T}$ be a triangulated category with shift functor $\Sigma \colon \textsf{T} \to \textsf{T}$ . Suppose $(\textsf{A},\textsf{B})$ is a co-t-structure with coheart $\textsf{S} = \Sigma \textsf{A} \cap \textsf{B}$ and extended coheart $\textsf{C} = \Sigma^2 \textsf{A} \cap \textsf{B} = \textsf{S}* \Sigma \textsf{S}$ , which is an extriangulated category. We show that there is a bijection between co-t-structures $(\textsf{A}^{\prime},\textsf{B}^{\prime})$ in $\textsf{T}$ such that $\textsf{A} \subseteq \textsf{A}^{\prime} \subseteq \Sigma \textsf{A}$ and complete cotorsion pairs in the extended coheart $\textsf{C}$ . In the case that $\textsf{T}$ is Hom-finite, $\textbf{k}$ -linear and Krull–Schmidt, we show further that there is a bijection between complete cotorsion pairs in $\textsf{C}$ and functorially finite torsion classes in $\textsf{mod}\, \textsf{S}$ .

Rescue therapies are increasingly used in the setting of endovascular therapy for large-vessel occlusion strokes. Among these, cangrelor, a new P2Y12 inhibitor, offers promising pharmacologic properties to join the reperfusion strategies in acute stroke. We assessed the safety and efficacy profiles of cangrelor combined with endovascular therapy in patients with large-vessel-occlusion stroke. We performed a retrospective patient data analysis in the ongoing prospective multicenter observational Endovascular Treatment in Ischemic Stroke Registry in France from July 2018 to December 2020 and conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis using several data bases. Indications for cangrelor administration were rescue strategy in case of refractory intracranial occlusion with or without intracranial rescue stent placement, and cervical carotid artery stent placement in case of cervical occlusion (tandem occlusion or isolated cervical carotid occlusion). In the clinical registry, 44 patients were included (median initial NIHSS score, 12; prior intravenous thrombolysis, 29.5%). Intracranial stent placement was performed in 54.5% (n = 24/44), and cervical stent placement, in 27.3% (n = 12/44). Adjunctive aspirin and heparin were administered in 75% (n = 33/44) and 40.9% (n = 18/44), respectively. Rates of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage, parenchymal hematoma, and 90-day mortality were 9.5% (n = 4/42), 9.5% (n = 4/42), and 24.4% (n = 10/41). Favorable outcome (90-day mRS, 0-2) was reached in 51.2% (n = 21/41), and successful reperfusion, in 90.9% (n = 40/44). The literature search identified 6 studies involving a total of 171 subjects. In the meta-analysis, including our series data, symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage occurred in 8.6% of patients (95% CI, 5.0%-14.3%) and favorable outcome was reached in 47.6% of patients (95% CI, 27.4%-68.7%). The 90-day mortality rate was 22.6% (95% CI, 13.6%-35.2%). Day 1 artery patency was observed in 89.7% (95% CI, 81.4%-94.6%). Cangrelor offers promising safety and efficacy profiles, especially considering the complex endovascular reperfusion procedures in which it is usually applied. Further large prospective data are required to confirm these findings.

Instead of the conventional use of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) hotplate for metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) or nondispersive infrared (NDIR) gas sensing, it was used for photoacoustic (PA) gas sensing. A low-cost MEMS microphone was used for the development of this MEMS hotplate PA carbon dioxide  sensor. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first time that a MEMS hotplate and a MEMS microphone are combined for use in gas sensing with high modulation frequency. NDIR sensors use much more expensive photodetectors compared to the MEMS microphone used in this work. Low power consumption, small size, and low cost are all desirable qualities of MEMS hotplates and microphones. Micro hotplates are commonly employed in metal oxide sensors and as infrared emitters for gas sensing. The MEMS hotplate and MEMS microphone have the desired characteristics of low power consumption, small size and low cost. The hotplate as a blackbody is a good infrared emitter which is suitable for  detection around the  absorption band. Despite the significant radiation power loss due to high modulation frequency, the remaining/reduced power radiation power was still sufficient to excite  molecules for PA signal generation. Temperature analysis on the sensor showed that PA signal decreases with an increase in temperature, which implies that compensation must be provided for such temperature effects. This work provides alternative optical gas sensing that is comparatively inexpensive compared to the conventional NDIR sensors and by using components that can be easily mass-produced, thereby making a valuable contribution to the fight against air pollution and global warming.

The background of this study is a well-established 21 st century trend, leading education institutions towards diversifying their offer with e-learning. While top engineering institutions worldwide have developed e-learning, many others were still focusing on limited traditional offers until the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 which has brought unprecedented upheaval and drastic change even for small local colleges. The aim of this study is to analyse the dimensions of this change and evaluate the change management processes across engineering departments in local UK colleges that have had to shift their teaching, learning and assessment from face-to-face delivery to an e-environment in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and are considering moving onto e-learning wherever possible. The initial research for this study has been collected across 77 further education colleges in the North West of the UK that also have a higher education offer and that teach engineering at various levels. Key aspects of the move to e-learning as well as the wider context will be presented, followed by a contextualised literature review where examples of challenges from analysed institutions will be presented in relation to key concepts of change management. Some critical aspects of higher education across colleges are considered along with their challenges in the present COVID-19 context. This will be followed by recommendations. The basis for the recommendations is an extended market and change management analysis available in the appendices to this work. SWOT, Porter’s Five Forces as well as stakeholder analyses are complemented by Culture Web and McKinsey’s 7S models which have been used to analyse the current state of operations and present strategic positioning of UK colleges with an engineering further and higher education provision in order to identify which of these may need reinforcement and propose recommendations. Keywords : e-learning, higher education, strategy, colleges, engineering education DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-36-01 Publication date: December 31 st 2020

A recent trend for higher education in the UK sees increased collaboration and partnerships between technical colleges and universities. This represents a significant step in the redesign of the educational landscape that aims to synergise the industry advantages of colleges with the academic strengths of universities. The initial research fort this paper consists in investigations into technical college mergers with universities and university acquisitions of the period 2018-2020, along with an analysis of the advice and guidance circulated by the Association of Colleges (AoC) since April 2016. A case study has then been chosen to illustrate the main features of such merges across higher education. SWOT, PESTLE and Porter’s Five Forces analyses of a merger case study are followed by stakeholder analysis of the Board and Trustees, the companies that are closely or remotely linked to the success of the trust and the links that exist between the various players in this emerging network of educational institutions and organisations. The paper examines published financial statements from Coventry University, analysing the economic and other effects of the mergers. This paper focuses on Better Futures Multi Academy Trust (BFMAT), a collective of sixth form colleges now part of Coventry University Group (CUG). The work examines the Trust institutions and the effects the mergers have had on strategic business development, analysing BFMAT colleges pre- and post- merger, utilising CATWOE and Balanced Scorecard analyses. Some of the benefits noted so far are the increase of the sphere of influence of CUG, a broader recruitment pool, with greater diversity and inclusivity potential, which leads to a better fit with Government policies, market trends and industry demand. Given current data made available by the institutions, the paper presents a range of recommendations for future development and concludes that overall performance is positive, and the alliance represents a good example of a valuable merge. Keywords: strategic business development, education business DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-33-01 Publication date: November 30 th 2020

Batteries will continue to encounter the problem of dendrite formation until a suitable solution is identified to address the problem. Dendrite formation can short circuit batteries cells, reduce their life span, voltages and cause mechanical abrasion to the cells. Batteries electrodes are part of the approaches that can be used to address these problems but depending on the fabrication of these electrodes and dimensions. Before fabricating and incorporating a real anode reactor to a fabricated ZnBr2 cell system, it was necessary to model the behaviour with injected carbon particles in between 254 microns to 354 microns and simulate the geometry in COMSOL to observe their interaction with the electrolyte. This study investigates the performances of a designed anode reactor and to observe within the reactor the effect of having a uniform and non-uniform current density distribution before the fabrication, physically charge and incorporating it to the anode-side of ZnBr2 cell system.