Anxiety, Avatars, and Ink Spots: Paranoia and Emotions

Paranoia ◽  
2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Freeman ◽  
Jason Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Recent Experiment ◽  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Complex Interaction ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Simple Explanation ◽  
King's College ◽  
Tough Question ◽  
Threatening Situation ◽  
The Uk

What causes paranoia? That’s a tough question to answer, and for at least a couple of reasons. For one thing, there’s no simple explanation. Paranoia, like so many psychological experiences, is the result of a complex interaction of numerous factors—as we’ll see over the course of the next three chapters. But there’s a bigger, more fundamental problem. How can we accurately and scientifically observe paranoid thinking? Paranoid thoughts don’t pop into our heads out of the blue. They’re generally our attempt to make sense of something we’ve experienced—perhaps a colleague ignored us at lunch or someone looked at us oddly on the bus. We can ask people about their paranoid thoughts, but how do we get at the truth of the situation? How do we even know for sure whether their thoughts are genuinely paranoid? Perhaps the colleague ignored us because our existing paranoia makes us reluctant to socialize. Or perhaps our fears are a legitimate response to a threatening situation. Maybe the guy on the bus really was looking for trouble. Any rigorous, scientific study of paranoia would need to expose a statistically significant number of people to exactly the same experience to see which of them reacted in a paranoid way. Once you had these data, you could start probing to see whether there was anything distinctive about the paranoid group. But how on earth can we arrange for hundreds of people to experience exactly the same everyday event in laboratory conditions? It’s impossible, right? Actually, there is a way, and it’s one we used in a groundbreaking recent experiment. That way is virtual reality. In the summer of 2006, we sent a leaflet to all households local to King’s College London. The leaflet announced a study of virtual reality at the college and invited people to participate. In the end we recruited 100 men and 100women of varying ages from 18 to 77, and from very diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The mix, in fact, was pretty representative of the UK as a whole. We didn’t tell the volunteers that we were researching into paranoia until we’d completed the experiment.

Warum scheiterte der Dritte Weg der Sozialdemokratie?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Fößel
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
Complex Interaction ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Party Change ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Policy Failures

This study explores the internal, external and policy-related causes of the failure of the Third Way of social democracy in Germany and the UK. For this purpose, it embeds the modernisation processes of the SPD und Labour Party in the theory of party change and analyses them from a comparative perspective. The main argument of the analyses is that the programmatic, political and strategic rejection of the Third Way stems, in both cases, from complex interaction between lack of acceptance within the party, conceptual policy failures and a decrease in electoral competitiveness as a result of economic policy and welfare reform.

Predicting the effect of rotation design on N, P, K balances on organic farms using the NDICEA model

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 471-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence G. Smith ◽  
Davide Tarsitano ◽  
Cairistiona F. E. Topp ◽  
Stephanie K. Jones ◽  
Catherine L. Gerrard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yields ◽  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Small Error ◽  
Crop Rotations ◽  
Soil Types ◽  
Soil N ◽  
Climatic Environment ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThe dynamic model Nitrogen Dynamics in Crop rotations in Ecological Agriculture (NDICEA) was used to assess the nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) balance of long-term organic cropping trials and typical organic crop rotations on a range of soil types and rainfall zones in the UK. The measurements of soil N taken at each of the organic trial sites were also used to assess the performance of NDICEA. The modeled outputs compared well to recorded soil N levels, with relatively small error margins. NDICEA therefore seems to be a useful tool for UK organic farmers. The modeling of typical organic rotations has shown that positive N balances can be achieved, although negative N balances can occur under high rainfall conditions and on lighter soil types as a result of leaching. The analysis and modeling also showed that some organic cropping systems rely on imported sources of P and K to maintain an adequate balance and large deficits of both nutrients are apparent in stockless systems. Although the K deficits could be addressed through the buffering capacity of minerals, the amount available for crop uptake will depend on the type and amount of minerals present, current cropping and fertilization practices and the climatic environment. A P deficit represents a more fundamental problem for the maintenance of crop yields and the organic sector currently relies on mined sources of P which represents a fundamental conflict with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements organic principles.

A practical guide to e-journal and e-book supply – a UK perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Kluzek
Keyword(s):  
Journal Articles ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Document Delivery ◽  
King's College ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Library Professionals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on current interlending and document delivery of e-books and e-journals in the UK and analyse the challenges encountered in such practices, using the experiences at King's College London as an example. Design/methodology/approach – The author uses a case study approach. Findings – Most UK libraries and higher education institutions negotiate the usage terms for their e-resources through Jisc's NESLI2 model license agreement. While the terms of this agreement work relatively well for document delivery of e-journal articles, allowing for secure electronic document transmission under prescribed circumstances, the interlending of e-books remains problematic. Research limitations/implications – The paper provides insight into how UK document supply services can better use electronic holdings to offset the costs of requesting. It discusses the dilemma of e-books and potential solutions. Practical implications – This will enable UK library professionals to better use e-resources in a legally compliant way for the purpose of document delivery. It will explain to non-UK library professionals how supplying from e-resources works in the UK. Originality/value – The paper provides insight into how UK document supply services can better use electronic holdings to offset the costs of requesting. It discusses the dilemma of e-books and potential solutions.

scholarly journals Special issue editorial - Construction 4.0: Established and emerging digital technologies within the construction industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 758-762
Author(s):  
Nashwan Dawood ◽  
Farzad Pour Rahimian
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Building Information Modelling ◽  
Engineering Construction ◽  
Architectural Engineering ◽  
Digital Twins ◽  
Building Information ◽  
The Uk

This special issue of ITCON brought together ten papers on Construction 4.0 related topics. These papers are drawn from papers presented at the 20th International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality (CONVR 2021) held at Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3JN, the UK, in October 2020. CONVR is one of the world-leading conferences in the areas of Virtual Reality, augmented reality and building information modelling. Each year, more than 100 participants from all around the globe meet to discuss and exchange the latest developments and applications of virtual technologies in the architectural, engineering, construction and operation industry (AECO). The conference is also known for having a unique blend of participants from both academia and industry. The overarching theme for CONVR2020 was "Enabling the development and implementation of Digital Twins."

scholarly journals Virtual Reality? Investment Consultants’ Claims About Their Own Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Cookson ◽  
Tim Jenkinson ◽  
Howard Jones ◽  
Jose Vicente Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Fund Manager ◽  
The Uk

Investment consultants market their services by claiming their fund manager recommendations add significant value. Using nonpublic data sourced from investment consultants and the UK regulator, we find no such evidence, but identify several practices that explain their exaggerated claims: comparisons to benchmarks instead of peers, inclusion of simulated and backfilled returns, use of investment horizons that allow losers to be forgotten, and unexplained exclusions of products from the analysis. Consultants do not fully disclose their methodology to investors, who therefore cannot verify or reliably compare their performance. This paper was accepted by Haoxiang Zhu, finance.

scholarly journals Beyond HRM’s Performance Management: Towards Strategic Workforce Resilience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Mendy
Keyword(s):  
Performance Management ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Organisational Performance ◽  
Work Systems ◽  
Implementation Gap ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Performance Problem ◽  
The Uk

HRM professionals’ reliance on using teamwork, organisational planning and managerially- controlled appraisal measures within the framework of High Performance Organisation (HPO) and High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) has outlived its useful applicability and sustainability in today’s SME crisis-ridden environment. This chapter highlights the gap between the HRM discipline, whose measures to resolve the organisational performance problem have instead resulted in a deepening of the performance crisis in resource-constrained SMEs and an urgent need to address such a fundamental problem through the creation, development and sustenance of more innovative measures. A critique of HPO and HPWS’s structural and systemic approach to solve the effective organisational performance implementation gap led to an additional discovery, which is how to solve the performance problem competently and sustainably such that SMEs have a more strategically viable future. The study’s interpretivism paradigm backed up by a survey of 85 management and staff respondents in a longitudinal study spanning 7 years in the UK highlighted 6 important themes. These were combined to develop a new ‘Strategic Workforce Resilience Management Model’ as a way to solve the SME performance quagmire. This fills the performance implementation and strategic sustainability gaps and introduces resilience characteristics into the way HRM professionals should be managing the performance problem. The limitations, the implications and future research areas are discussed.

scholarly journals 893 Consenting for Appendicectomy

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_6) ◽  
Author(s):  
N Mohamed ◽  
K Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Hernia Repair ◽  
Diagnostic Laparoscopy ◽  
Consent Process ◽  
Patient Relationship ◽  
Normal Appendix ◽  
College Hospital ◽  
Consent Forms ◽  
King's College ◽  
Audit Cycle ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Appendicitis denotes to the inflammation of the appendix with over 50,000 cases in the UK per year. The treatment of choice is appendicectomy and this is one of the most common operations in the UK. There are nil NICE or King’s College Hospital (KCH) guidance available on consenting for appendicectomy. Thus, guidance from Guy’s and St Thomas’ and Whittingham Health was used as reference and the consent forms at KCH were analysed for all appendicectomies over 2 months. A retrospective observational audit (Cycle 1) was conducted between Dec 2018 – Jan 2019 consisting of 34 patients. It assessed whether common complications were documented clearly and any possible complications. This audit identified that consenting for diagnostic laparoscopy/appendicectomy did not cover many serious complications and was overall inadequate. One of the most common and serious complications was ileus/SBO (occurred in 9%) and was not consented for in 88% of patients. 12% of patients had a normal appendix and this was not consented in 100% of these patients. Later, posters and teaching sessions were created to optimise the consent process for appendicectomy. This was re-audited (Cycle 2) again between June 2019 – July 2019 with 49 patients to identify whether a positive change was identified. It identified that an 12% increase in consenting for ileus/SBO, 10% increase in conversion to open and 47% of individuals started consenting for hernia repair. This work is vital as inadequate consenting can destroy doctor-patient relationship and result in litigation and we encourage clear consenting guideline for appendicectomies across trusts.

scholarly journals HoloMentor: A Novel Mixed Reality Surgical Anatomy Curriculum for Robot-assisted Radical Prostatectomy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoe-Athena Papalois ◽  
Abdullatif Aydın ◽  
Azhar Khan ◽  
Evangelos Mazaris ◽  
Anand Sivaprakash Rathnasamy Muthusamy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Technical Skills ◽  
Surgical Anatomy ◽  
Imperial College ◽  
Subject Matter Experts ◽  
Surgical Decision ◽  
King's College ◽  
Surgical Decision Making

ABSTRACT Objectives: The disruption to surgical training and medical education caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for realistic, reliable, and engaging educational opportunities available outside of the operating theatre and accessible for trainees of all levels. This paper presents the design and development of a virtual reality curriculum which simulates the surgical mentorship experience outside of the operating theatre, with a focus on surgical anatomy and surgical decision making. Method: This was a multi-institutional study between London’s King’s College and Imperial College. The index procedure selected for the module was robotic radical prostatectomy. For each stage of the surgical procedure, subject-matter experts (N=3) at King’s College London, identified: (1) the critical surgical-decision making points, (2) critical anatomical landmarks and (3) tips and techniques for overcoming intraoperative challenges. Content validity was determined by an independent panel of subject-matter experts (N=8) at Imperial College, London using Fleiss’ Kappa statistic. The experts’ teaching points were combined with operative footage and illustrative animations and projected onto a virtual reality headset. The module was piloted to Surgical Science students (N=15). Quantitative analysis compared participants' confidence regarding their anatomical knowledge before and after taking the module. Qualitative data was gathered from students regarding their views on using the virtual reality model. Results: Multi-rater agreement between experts was above the 70.0% threshold for all steps of the procedure. 73% of pilot study participants ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that they achieved a better understanding of surgical anatomy and the rationale behind each procedural step. This was reflected in an increase in the median knowledge score after trialing the curriculum (p<0.001). 100% of subject-matter experts and 93.3% of participants ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that virtual mentorship would be useful for future surgical training. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that virtual surgical mentorship could be a feasible and cost-effective alternative to traditional training methods with the potential to improve technical skills, such as operative proficiency and non-technical skills such as decision-making and situational judgement.  

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