Bradford Scholars
https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:443
The DSpace digital repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material.2024-03-27T23:09:35ZApplication of Hansen Solubility Parameters and Thermomechanical Techniques to the Prediction of Miscibility of Amorphous Solid Dispersion. Investigating the role of cohesive energy and free volume to predict phase separation kinetics in hot-melt extruded amorphous solid dispersion using dynamic mechanical analyser, shear rheometer and solubility parameters data
http://hdl.handle.net/10454/19855
Hot-melt extruded solid dispersion technique is increasingly employed to improve
the solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs. The technique relies on the enhanced
solubility of the amorphous form of the drug compared to its crystalline counterpart. These
systems however are thermodynamically unstable. This means that the drug crystallises
with time. Therefore, efforts to measure the stability of these systems over the life span
of the product are crucial.
This study focused on investigating the use of Hansen Solubility Parameters to
quantify polymer-drug interaction and to predict the stability of solid dispersions. This was
achieved through a systematic review of hot-melt extruded solid dispersion literature. The
study also investigated the use of a combined mechanical and rheological model to characterise the physicochemical and release behaviour of three solid dispersion
immediately after preparation and after storage for one month at 40oC or three months at
room temperature.
Results revealed that the total solubility parameter |ΔбT| was able to predict the
stability of the systems for more than 4 months using a cut-off point of 3 MPa-1 with a
negative predictive value of 0.9. This was followed by ΔбD with a cut-off point of 1.5 MPa-
1. Moreover, Dynamic Mechanical Analyser and shear rheometry data were shown to be
more sensitive than Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Powder X-Ray Diffraction,
Scanning Electron Microscope and Fourier Transform Infrared in detecting crystallisation
and the interaction between the drug and the polymer. The Dynamic Mechanical Analyser data were consistent with the dissolution behaviour of the samples when comparing the
freshly prepared samples with those after storage. The results highlight the need for a
unified characterisation approach and the necessity of verifying the homogeneity of
mixing during the extrusion process.
2022-01-01T00:00:00ZFood Waste Reduction through Food Sharing Initiatives: The lived Experiences of Restaurants and Food Bank Employees in Riyadh
http://hdl.handle.net/10454/19853
Today’s world is characterised by considerable inconsistency. In some parts of the world people are living in starvation and malnutrition, while in some other parts of the same world, about 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year. We do not know enough about what contributes to food waste. However, there seems to be an emergent pattern of behaviour around sharing food. This hermeneutic phenomenological research will explore how food sharing might reduce food waste in a cultural and community-based society like Saudi Arabia through the lived experiences of restaurants and food bank employees.
Research data were collected through a face-to-face semi-structured interview method from 15 participants from selected restaurants and food bank in Riyadh. Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as the theoretical lens, a conceptual framework was proposed to elicit underlying behavioural and cultural factors impeding food waste reduction and the inefficiency of food sharing. Using Paul Colaizzi’s approach, the collected interview data were reviewed, analysed, and seventeen themes were elicited for further discussion.
The findings suggest that culture through an affluent way of life and the show-off lifestyle of hosts continue to contribute to more food wastage. The strictly business nature of restaurants operation leads to edible food fit for human consumption ending up in the garbage. The revised conceptual framework provides insight into the factors hindering food waste reduction and food sharing. With supporting regulations and policies, food leftovers can either be distributed to people in need or put to an alternative use.
2023-01-01T00:00:00ZStudy of the Continuous Intention to use Artificial Intelligence Based Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) During Concurrent Diffusion. The Influence Diffusion of Innovation Factors Has as Determinants of Continuous Intention to Use Ai-Based IoMT
http://hdl.handle.net/10454/19852
This research was about the continuous intention of healthcare professionals to use
internet of medical things (IoMT) embedded with artificial intelligence (AI). IoMT and AI
are evolving innovations and diffusing at the same time. It was not known in what way the
two complex technologies diffusing concurrently could influence continuous intention to
use IoMT. In addition, behavioural aspects namely motivation and training to use IoMT
have been argued to intervene in the relationship between an AI based IoMT and
continuous intention to use IoMT. Diffusion of Innovation theory was applied to explain
the relationship between diffusion factors that aid the diffusion of AI based IoMT and
continuous intention to use IoMT. The five factors relative advantage, compatibility,
complexity, observability and trialability were chosen as determinants of continuous
intention to use IoMT using DoI theory. Self-determination theory and theory of planned
behaviour were used to introduce the interventions in the relationship between diffusion
factors and continuous intention to use IoMT. UTAUT was used to explain the influence
of the moderators artificial intelligence awareness, novelty seeking behaviour and age of healthcare professionals. The central issue investigated was the determinants of
continuous intention of healthcare professionals to use IoMT with behavioural attributes
of motivation and training conceived as mediators of the relationship between diffusion
factors and continuous intention to use IoMT in the presence of moderators.
Quantitative research methodology was used to test the research model developed to
understand the relationship between the five diffusion of innovation theory factors and
continuous intention to use IoMT when AI based IoMT is still diffusing. The concurrent
diffusion of two new technologies was investigated using a research model that was
developed for studying the healthcare professionals and their intention. The research was conducted in Bahrain in the healthcare sector. A sample of 354 healthcare professionals
participated in the research. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data
and test the hypothesis.
The research showed that healthcare professionals will continue to use concurrently
diffusing technologies depending on the relative advantage, complexity and compatibility
of the innovations that diffuse. In addition, the results show that healthcare professionals
will be motivated by the compatibility of AI-based IoMT if they have to continuously use
IoMT. Furthermore, training enables both the organization and the healthcare
professionals to overcome dilemma in case they have to continue to use an innovation
during its diffusion or when new innovation surface in the market. Finally, artificial
intelligence awareness is able to moderate the relationship between relative advantage,
complexity and training to use IoMT. Thus, this research contributes to the discipline of
behavioural intention of healthcare professionals in determining the influence of an
artificial intelligence based IoMT on continuous intention to use IoMT when artificial
intelligence embedded in IoMT diffuses concurrently with IoMT. Where IoMT diffusion factors can be used as a determine of continuous intention to use IoMT, artificial intelligence could be understood as a moderator of the relationship between diffusion factors and training to use IoMT, thus demonstrating the combined diffusion of the two technologies diffusing concurrently.
2022-01-01T00:00:00ZSelf-Congruity Theory: An Investigation of the Pro-Environmental Tourist Behaviours. An Application and Extension of Self-Congruity Theory of the Eco-Tourism Destinations in Pakistan and UK
http://hdl.handle.net/10454/19851
Pro-environmental behaviour has gained significant importance in tourism due to over-consumption and climate awareness. To address this issue, this study explores the role of self-congruity in aiding tourists to adopt pro-environmental behaviours. The study broadens the investigation around the self-congruity theory by incorporating three antecedents, i.e., need for uniqueness, materialistic values, and brand experience. Within the positivist paradigm, the study utilised the quantitative methodology; a survey was conducted in Hunza valley in Pakistan and the lake district in the UK. A total of 707 responses were collected from two eco-tourist destinations. Then, a set of hypotheses was tested using structural equational modelling. The results of the Pakistan study depicted that ideal self-congruity impacted Pakistani tourists pro-environmental behaviour. Results evidenced significant relationships of two dimensions of materialistic values, i.e., the centrality of acquisitions and pursuit of happiness, and two dimensions of need for uniqueness, i.e., creative choice counter conformity and unpopular choice counter, lastly, one dimension of brand experience, i.e., sensory brand experience, impacted the pro-environmental behaviours indirectly through ideal self-congruity. The results of the UK study depicted that actual self-congruity affected pro-environmental behaviours. The results portrayed that one dimension of materialistic values, i.e., the pursuit of happiness; one dimension of need for uniqueness, i.e., creative choice counter conformity and Lasty three dimension of brand experience, i.e., affective, behavioural and intellectual experience impacted the pro-environmental behaviour indirectly through the mediation of actual self-congruity. The study contributed theoretically by considering the multi-dimensional nature of self-congruity antecedents and their effects on pro-environment behaviour.
2023-01-01T00:00:00ZHistoric settlement on Unst, Shetland. An holistic study of abandoned settlements on Unst, Shetland utilising historical archaeology and prospection approaches
http://hdl.handle.net/10454/19847
A holistic study of abandoned house sites on the island of Unst was conducted to address the extent to which perceptions of historic settlement on Shetland are supportable. These perceptions cast long lived nucleated settlement as the normative traditional form of historic settlement, and dispersed settlements as short-lived exceptions to this norm. Historic settlement, in these perceptions are argued to be static, which is not borne out in archaeological evidence.
Issues associated with historic Shetland settlement models were identified to parallel traditional views of Scottish highland rural settlement, which cast the highland society as ahistoric and unchanging. Historical, archaeological and geographic evidence for settlement on Unst were used to assess the geographical distribution of historic settlement on the island. Two detailed case studies integrated archaeological prospection techniques with the historical, archaeological and landscape contexts to form new narratives for the field remains around two abandoned house sites. Assessment of the historical settlement of Unst highlighted a much greater degree of variation between the different evidence strands for the perceptions to truly represent the island’s historical settlement. Similarly, findings from the case studies highlighted a much greater degree of alterations to the field systems and enclosures associated with the settlements than would be anticipated. Alternative narratives with several phases were hypothesised for field remains of each case study.
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z