DORA
DORA (De Montfort Open Research Archive) is De Montfort University's research repository. It forms the primary public and institutional record of DMU research outputs. The breadth of research at DMU means that these outputs include articles, conference papers, books, book chapters, and other material available in a digital form. The record for each item contains descriptive information as well as, where possible, a version of the final research output. DORA also provides access to DMU PhD theses. This includes most PhD produced from 2009 onwards.
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Recent Submissions
Fast Coding Mode Decision for Intra Prediction in VVC SCC
(IEEE, 2025-05-29) Wang, Dayong; Liu, Weihong; Zhou, Zeyu; Lu, Xin; Liu, Jinhua; Guo, Hui; Zhu, Ce
Currently, screen content video applications are widely used in our daily lives. As the latest Screen Content Coding (SCC) standard, Versatile Video Coding (VVC) SCC employs a quad-tree plus multi-type tree (QTMT) coding structure and various screen content coding modes (CMs). This design enhances the coding efficiency of VVC SCC but also results in a highly complex coding process, which significantly hinders the broader adoption of screen content video technology. Consequently, improving the coding speed of VVC SCC is highly desirable. In this paper, we propose a fast CM and transform decision algorithm for Intra prediction in VVC SCC. Specifically, we initially use Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to predict content types for all Coding Units (CUs). Subsequently, we predict candidate CMs for CUs based on the CM distributions of different content types. We then select the Sum of Absolute Transformed Difference (SATD) as a feature and use a naive Bayes classifier to skip unlikely Intra mode early. Finally, we terminate Blockbased Differential Pulse-Code Modulation (BDPCM) early and then select the best transform type in Intra mode prediction to improve coding speed. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm improves coding speed by an average of 39.28%, with the BDBR increasing by 0.79%.
CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE LEICESTERSHIRE TOWN OF HINCKLEY: A STUDY OF GOVERNANCE DURING THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
(De Montfort University, 2009-01) KING, ROBERT DAVID
1. The thesis argues that the magnitudes of the wartime changes in Hinckley are considerably less evident than the conventional wisdom epitomized by Marwick and others have previously indicated.
2. This pioneering case study has produced a new and significant contribution to the impact of the First World War by investigating the governance of the provincial town of Hinckley, Leicestershire in relation to its influential citizens.
3. The mechanism by which the town leaders continued to exert their pre-war control during the conflict was through their participation in the role of the District Relief Committee, the DRC.
4. This was not a small-scale local fund raiser, but rather an overarching body which was integrated into both a county and national structure. It was thus able to obtain higher-level beneficial resolutions of local difficulties, as demonstrated by the problems with aniline dyes and local rail transportation.
Exploring the Experiences and Perspectives of Parents from Marginalised and Minority Backgrounds in Leicester City on Traditional British Arts and Cultural Activities, and Their Role in Shaping Children's Artistic and Cultural Participation
(De Montfort University, 2025-02) Sakyi-Nyarko, Ruqy
The literature has shown that early exposure to arts and cultural activities is critical for developing a range of key skills in children, including creativity, critical thinking, and communication. Different art forms—music, drama, dance, and visual arts— contribute uniquely to various aspects of childhood development, from language and analytical skills to empathy and emotional intelligence. However, access to these enriching experiences is uneven, largely due to socioeconomic and cultural factors. Children from well-off families enjoy more arts and cultural opportunities, while those from lower income backgrounds disproportionately face greater barriers. This leads to concerns over equitable representation within the arts and cultural sectors, with some groups being systematically under or over represented. Parental influence, shaped by societal and cultural norms, is notable in directing children's interests towards different areas.
There is a gendered pattern in parental encouragement, with a tendency to steer boys towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and girls towards the arts and creatives, which varies by different cultural contexts. Against this background, the thesis examines how parents' attitudes, conceptions, and experiences regarding traditional arts and cultural activities in the UK, influenced by their minority backgrounds, affect their children's participation in these activities during critical stages of development. The thesis also aims to examine the impact of initiatives like the Talent 25 programme on parents' views of arts and cultural activities. It explores how these changing perspectives affect the involvement of less-engaged parents in their children's participation in such activities
Memoir as Counternarrative: Using creative nonfiction to explore visual impairment and mental illness and challenge dominant models of disability
(De Montfort University, 2024-09) Butterwick, Caroline
This practice research project consists of a disability memoir that draws on the researcher’s lived experience of both visual impairment and mental ill health, and a commentary. It uses creative nonfiction as a counternarrative to write back to negative and persistent rhetorics and models surrounding both of these forms of impairment, while also examining how existing published disability memoirs represent disabled lives. This PhD examines how tropes of inspiration, overcoming or triumph might themselves be harmful narratives that promote dubious binaries of “deserving” and ”undeserving” disabled people. It explores how these narratives often stem from social, cultural and political ideologies around disability, and the role that notions of “austerity” have played in them. The project develops the idea of disability as performative, suggesting that disabled people perform versions of themselves that are dependent on public perceptions and narratives. It uses memoir to interrogate this complex performance, by engaging with ideas of walking and psychogeography experienced from a disability perspective, attending to how disabled people relate to place and how this intersects with notions of performativity and counter narrative. This research demonstrates the significance of disability memoir as an intervention in social and political debates around the dominant narratives that prevail around disability, and emphasises the importance of the nuanced exploration of lived experience as a voice frequently absent from medical and political accounts of disability. The commentary contextualises notions of counternarrative by examining the structure and tropes of relevant memoirs dealing with disability, and explains the decisions made by this author to arrive at their own counternarrative. The commentary offers an account of disability as performative, in dialogue with the work of other disability and memoir theorists, and relates these ideas to the author’s lived experience of, for example, cane use. It further explores the significance of walking, in a disabled context.
The author is keen to state that the shifts in tense that occur within the memoir are part of its approach to attaining a counternarrative, and are not editing or proofing errors. These matters are addressed in the commentary.
The Influence of Institutional Environment on New Venture Performance in Egypt: The Mediating Role of Social ties
(De Montfort University, 2024-10) Allam, Mirna Hassan
Egyptian economy is characterised by an uncertain institutional environment. This environment presents various challenges to new ventures. A dynamic analysis of the extant literature shows that the effectiveness of the institutional environment in contributing to business performance is contingent on the entrepreneur’s social ties. Despite the importance of social ties, limited research has examined how the institutional environment interacts with the strength of entrepreneurs’ social ties to determine the success of new ventures in Egypt. Drawing upon institutional and social network theories, this research, therefore, investigates the impact of the institutional environment on new venture performance. It further examines the mediating role of entrepreneurs’ social ties within this relationship. This research utilises a mixed method approach. The data collection was performed in two sequential phases. The quantitative phase involved cross-sectional questionnaire data from 350 Egyptian entrepreneurs in the ICT industry. The qualitative phase of data collection comprised semi-structured interviews with 16 Egyptian entrepreneurs in the same industry. The quantitative and qualitative data are analysed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and thematic analysis, respectively.
It is found from the quantitative data that social ties partially mediate the relationship between institutional environment – specifically its regulative and normative dimensions and the performance of new ventures. However, the qualitative findings found that social ties foster resilience and stability, helping entrepreneurs navigate Egypt’s challenging institutional environment and enhance performance. This suggests that social ties play a critical role as an institutional mechanism within this challenging context. This research contributes to the body of knowledge in two ways. Firstly, it contributes to the literature on the intricate interplay between the institutional environment and strength of entrepreneurs’ social ties in the performance of new ventures. Secondly, it shows the importance of social interactions as an enabler of innovation. Finally, this research informs practitioners and policymakers on how to support organisations, incubators, funding agencies, capacity-building programs by leveraging and capitalising on social ties for entrepreneurial survival and growth.