To be or not to be: A meaning-making process for migrant Hong Kong social workers in England

This article examines the meaning-making experiences of migrant social workers from Hong Kong in England. Individual interviews were conducted with 22 migrant social workers. Family comes first, regaining confidence from self-doubt and persevering and keep fighting are the meanings they attributed to their resettlement experiences. García-Ramírez et al.’s acculturative integration framework offers insights into how migrant social workers can regain their sense of agency, activate and expand their support networks and mobilise collective resources to overcome systemic barriers. This approach enables them to adapt to their new lives and potentially restart their profession in a new country

Higher Fermions in Supergravity

We show that the generalized geometry formalism provides a new approach to the description of higher-fermion terms in N=1 supergravity in ten dimensions, which does not appeal to supercovariantization or superspace. We find expressions containing only five higher-fermion terms across the action and supersymmetry transformations, working in the second-order formalism

Depression and anxiety in people with kidney disease: understanding symptom variability, patient experience and preferences for mental health support

Depression and anxiety are commonly experienced by people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to evaluate person- and service-level factors associated with depression and anxiety symptoms. We sought to also understand utilisation of mental health treatments and preferences for future psychological support

Numerical investigation of cyclic behaviour in H-shaped stainless-steel beam-columns

This study conducts a numerical investigation into the cyclic performance of H-shaped stainless steel beam-columns under seismic loading. Numerical models were developed and validated using experimental data from H-shaped carbon steel beam-columns subjected to cyclic bending. These models showed high predictive accuracy, with a 7.5 % margin when comparing end moments and rotations. Through the finite element approach and Taguchi method, key parameters were analysed including column length, stiffener spacing, material classification, load ratio, stiffener thickness, and number of local buckling modes. The results highlight austenitic stainless steel's exceptional deformation capacity, with enhanced elongation at fracture and superior post-yield strength compared to carbon steel. With a ductility ratio of 19.09 under a 0.4 load ratio, it surpasses ferritic and duplex stainless steels. This demonstrates superior seismic energy absorption and enhanced energy dissipation through broader hysteresis loops. Duplex stainless steel, with 30.5 % higher yield stress than austenitic grade, exhibited narrower hysteresis loops and earlier local buckling, balancing high cyclic strength with moderate ductility. This makes it ideal for stiffness-critical applications under intense cyclic demands. Ferritic stainless steel, though stronger than carbon steel, showed 50 % lower elongation than austenitic steel, with higher brittleness and inferior energy dissipation compared to duplex steel. The study underscores the role of axial load ratios in governing failure modes and deformations. These findings are pivotal for advancing design codes and enhancing structural resilience in earthquake-prone regions. They emphasize the inclusion of stainless steel in seismic design standards, addressing current limitations due to insufficient research on its cyclic behaviour

Comparing Positive versus Negative Intrinsic Rewards for Predicting Physical Activity Habit Strength and Frequency During a Period of High Stress

The experience of positive intrinsic rewards (enjoyment) from physical activity (PA) is known to promote PA habit formation and maintenance. Negative intrinsic rewards (stress reduction) may also be associated with PA habit, particularly during a major stressor and when individual-level anxiety is higher. Multi-level models tested the following hypotheses using weekly survey data from a convenience sample (snowball sampling) of adults (N = 580; 91% White, 77% Female, mean age = 41 years) over the 8 weeks of the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK: negative intrinsic rewards will be independently and statistically more strongly related to PA habit strength and frequency than positive intrinsic rewards; and, the relationship between negative intrinsic rewards and PA habit strength and frequency will be stronger for those with higher anxiety. Counter to the hypotheses, positive intrinsic rewards were more strongly associated with PA habit strength over time than negative intrinsic rewards (fixed effect = 0.27, p < 0.001 versus fixed effect = -0.05, p = 0.23, respectively), and there was a main effect of anxiety (but no interaction with negative rewards) on PA habit strength (fixed effect = -0.03, p = 0.03). The findings suggest that interventions aimed at increasing and maintaining PA habit strength might best focus on cultivating positive intrinsic rewards (enjoyment) from PA, even in the presence of substantial stressors and individual-level anxiety

Influence of Spinacia oleracea leaf extract concentration on silver nanoparticle formation and evaluation of antimicrobial properties

Plant mediated nanofabrication is a sustainable strategy for generating biocompatible nanomaterials with diverse industrial applications. Despite growing interest, there remain notable gaps in the understanding of the influence of plant extract concentration on the physiochemical properties of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), particularly regarding their size. Conflicting reports suggest an increase in AgNP size with increased extract concentration, and others suggest the opposite. To address this, this study explores the influence of varying Spinacia oleracea (S. oleracea) leaf extract concentrations on the physiochemical properties of AgNPs and their antimicrobial activity against Gram negative (Escherichia coli), Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes) bacteria and Fungi (Candida albicans). Hence, our investigation encompasses persistent infection-causing microorganisms currently plagued with drug resistance issues. This study's findings will enhance understanding of this sustainable nanofabrication approach, highlighting AgNP's potential application as novel antimicrobial agents. Results confirmed spherical nanoranged AgNPs were synthesised, obtaining AgNP-2%, AgNP-3%, AgNP-4%, AgNP-7%, and AgNP-10% v/v S. oleracea leaf extract. Our analysis revealed a consistent trend of size reduction with increasing extract concentration: AgNP-2% (173 nm), AgNP-3% (211 nm), AgNP-4% (148 nm), AgNP-7% (120 nm), and AgNP-10% (109 nm). Regarding antimicrobial activity, the lower concentration AgNPs (AgNP-2% and AgNP-3%) showed no activity, while all the higher concentrations AgNPs displayed full inhibition of all tested microbes. In summary, our research emphasises the significance of plant extract concentration in optimising AgNP synthesis and size reduction. The demonstrated antimicrobial properties suggest promising applications in industries such as environmental (water purification), biomedical (wound healing, drug delivery), and agricultural (pesticides, water remediation)

Protocol on a systematic review of nomenclature and outcomes in children with complex critical illness in Paediatric Critical Care: The basis for consensus definition

Introduction: Paediatric Critical Care (PCC) supports the recovery of children with severe illness. In the UK, there are 30 PCC units with a total of approximately 400 beds. There is constant demand for these beds with a mean five-day length of stay and admissions increasing at a greater rate than age-specific population growth. Prolonged stay patients account for approximately half of all PCC patient bed days. Children with complex critical illness (CCI) need input from multiple different teams alongside support for their family. CCI often become prolonged PCC-stay patients too. Internationally, there is variation in the definition of CCI, this creates service variation and tensions around what resources can be provided including discharge planning, provision, and support. Objective: The face of Paediatric Critical Care, in the UK and internationally has changed over the last ten years with a growing cohort of complex critically ill patients. This systematic review aims to look at current nomenclature, criteria, and outcome measures of priority in this undefined patient population. Methods and materials: Inclusion criteria: All types of studies examining children with complex critical illness (age 18 years old. The final search strategy was developed in Medline and peer-reviewed by a health research librarian not involved in the study. This was translated to other databases as appropriate. Four independent reviewers will screen citations for eligible studies and perform data extraction. Discussion: A systematic review methodology has been used to develop a broad understanding of the literature which will be used to develop further work in this area. Using a rigorous and stepwise approach, the whole spectrum of scientific publications on children with complex critical illness in paediatric intensive care will be reviewed, ensuring this study is as comprehensive as possible. This includes quantitative, qualitative, theoretical, and grey literature. A limitation of this systematic review is the use of many terms to describe children with complex critical illness in the literature resulting in a high number of publications on this topic

A web-based intervention to support the mental well-being of sexual and gender minoritised adolescents: Formative evaluation of Oneself

Background: Sexual and gender minoritised adolescents are at an increased risk of mental health problems. However, few interventions have been specifically designed to support their mental well-being. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate Oneself; a prototype bespoke digital mental well-being intervention co-developed with and for sexual and gender minoritised adolescents. Methods: Think aloud testing of Oneself was conducted with sexual and gender minoritised adolescents. Adult experts appraised Oneself via semi-structured interviews. Additionally, participants completed questionnaires including the System Usability Scale (SUS). Qualitative data were analysed using a general inductive approach. Results: Participants included 11 sexual and gender minoritised adolescents (aged 14-19, mean 16.3 years) and 14 adult experts (78.6% 30 years or older). Usability, satisfaction and wellbeing results indicated that Oneself is a promising intervention. The mean SUS score was 78.8% (n=25), which corresponds to a B+ on the Sauro–Lewis Curved Grading Scale. Six themes were identified across the qualitative data: “Clarity and accessibility” (e.g., refine audio visual content as well as text), “Appeal and depictions” (e.g., enhance the perspectives and representation), “Functionality and development” (e.g., extend the choice and user options), “Safety and privacy” (e.g., harsh world warnings needed for LGBTQ+ youth), “Reaching the end users” (e.g., promoting Oneself in a youth-friendly way) and “Mechanisms of impact” (e.g., sharing lived experience). Conclusion: Oneself could be used to help support the mental well-being of users, but modifications are indicated prior to any further testing and consideration of a roll out

Label-free multiplexed detection of diabetic retinopathy biomarkers using fiber optic biosensors: Towards lab-in-the-tear

Diabetic retinopathy is a common disease in diabetic patients accompanied by such complications as edema, formation of hard exudates, hemorrhages, and eventually vision loss. Detection of the disease at an early stage could increase the effectiveness of therapy and preserve the patient's vision. Measuring the levels of diabetic retinopathy-associated biomarkers using more reliable methods is an alternative and promising way of diagnosis. Optical fiber biosensors have gained rising popularity in providing affordable platforms due to their high-performance capabilities, miniature size, and label-free nature of detection. These properties made them a sensor of choice for developing biosensors for a multiplexed in situ detection of biomarkers in this study. Here, we report an optical fiber-based biosensor that is based on simply fabricated semi-distributed interferometry sensors. After fabrication, sensitive sensors were chosen for further functionalization with two antibodies against biomarkers relevant to diabetic retinopathy to produce biosensors. The detection of the biomarkers was evaluated in artificial tear fluid in static conditions and most importantly in dynamic conditions simulating natural tear flow. This method allowed label-free monitoring of the intensity change with the increasing concentrations of analytes specifically binding on the biosensor surface. Namely, it was possible to detect lipocalin 1 protein with a limit of detection of 5.98 ng/mL and vascular endothelial growth factor down to 26.6 fg/mL. The designed biosensors can become the basis for developing a new method for a clinical diagnosis of eye diseases at early stages of development

The multi-wavelength Tully-Fisher relation in the TNG50 cosmological simulation

Context. The Tully-Fisher relation (TFR) is one of the most important and widely used empirical correlations in extragalactic astronomy. Apart from its importance as a secondary distance indicator, the TFR relation serves as a test for galaxy evolution models, because it connects the baryonic and dark matter components of galaxies. Aims. We aimed at simulating the multi-wavelength TFR relation from UV to mid-infrared (MIR) wavelengths for the TNG50 cosmological simulation at z = 0, and at comparing the results with observational TFR studies. Our goal was to compare the wavelength dependence of the slope and scatter with the observed values, and to search for secondary parameters that reduce the scatter in the TFR. Methods. We selected a large sample of simulated late-type, disc-dominated galaxies from the TNG50 simulation. For each galaxy, we used the SKIRT radiative transfer code to generate realistic synthetic global fluxes in 12 UV to MIR broadbands and synthetic integrated H I line profiles. We used bivariate linear regression to determine the TFR in each band, and we searched for a second TFR parameter by correlating the residuals with different physical parameters. Results. Our TNG50 TFR reproduces the characteristic behaviour of the observed TFR in many studies: the TFR becomes steeper and tighter as we move from UV/optical to infrared wavelengths. The slope changes from ‑7.46 ± 0.14 mag dex‑1 in the NUV band to ‑9.66 ± 0.09 mag dex‑1 in the IRAC [4.5] band. Quantitatively, our slopes are well within the spread of different observational results. The u ‑ r colour or the sSFR can significantly reduce the scatter in the UV and optical bands. Using u ‑ r colour as second parameter, the modified TFR has a roughly constant intrinsic tightness of over the entire UV to MIR range. Conclusions. The combination of the TNG50 cosmological simulation and the SKIRT radiative transfer postprocessing is capable of broadly reproducing the multi-wavelength TFR. A better matched sample selection, the use of different characteristic velocity scales, and more advanced internal dust attenuation correction are steps towards a more stringent comparison of the simulated and observed multi-wavelength TFR