Exploring the Impacts of the Adopted Carbon Capture Approach to the Scottish Chemical Industry and the Wider Scottish Economy

The UK Climate Change Committee identifies carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) as essential to achieve net zero by 2050 and the UK Government is providing support to the rollout of CCUS in four of UK’s industrial clusters. However, carbon capture can be introduced in industries either post-combustion (post-production more generally) or pre-combustion with a substitution towards low or zero carbon fuels. Each approach has its own capital and energy requirements and therefore impacts the adopting industries in different ways. In this brief we discuss how the Scottish chemical industries, and by extension the wider Scottish economy, may be affected by the introduction of pre- or post-combustion carbon capture. We also discuss the implications of a UK-wide adoption of carbon capture in chemical industries versus unilateral actions by the Scottish chemical sector, while we explore the potential effects of government subsidies aiming to ease some of the price pressures associated with the introduction of carbon capture

Assessing park qualities of public parks in Cairo, Egypt

Purpose: This article presents an evaluation tool that is designed to assess 12 spatial and managerial qualities of public parks. The tool is applied in evaluating public parks in Cairo to reveal common management practice issues. Design/methodology/approach: Features and factors of the qualities were defined and evaluated. The tool was then tested by conducting an evaluation of 48 public parks in Cairo and consulting local experts regarding the assessment criteria. These contributed to enhancing the tool, making it more comprehensive and contextualised to Cairo. Findings: Application of the tool confirms that the tool has the capacity to provide a comprehensive evaluation of a variety of features and can detect key differences between evaluated parks. Analysis highlights that parks in Cairo are not maintained at optimum level and many exhibit serious deterioration that can have negative influences beyond the boundaries of the parks themselves. The majority of these parks also share problems of heavy commercialisation, wasted potentials, fragmentation and separation of uses. Originality/value: The evaluation tool provides a new and alternative perspective for the evaluation of the built environment. The tool considers the relationships between the different factors of evaluation, rather than reducing the factors to simple checklists. Managers and other practitioners can use the tool to evaluate existing parks or when designing proposals to achieve better standards in the qualities

Library based walking groups in Scotland : exploring benefits, challenges, and opportunities

Public libraries support a range of health and wellbeing activities, however little research has been done into the provision of library adult walking groups. This paper reports on a unique study exploring how widely adult walking groups are provided through Scottish public libraries, as well as library staff perceptions of the benefits, challenges and opportunities of these services. A rich qualitative research approach was used, involving Freedom of Information requests to the 32 Scottish local authority regions, an online questionnaire with 106 complete responses, and 8 follow-up interviews with Scottish public library staff, with and without walking group experience. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes from collected data. Results show that adult walking groups are not widely provided through Scottish public libraries. However, respondents identified benefits for user groups, including but not limited to: improvements to participants’ health and social wellbeing; and increased engagement with library services. A range of opportunities for public libraries were highlighted, including staff interest, partnership working and a current focus on health and wellbeing. Challenges encompass resource restrictions, variations in partnership working and lack of effective networking. This original study provides valuable insights into the provision of public library walking groups in Scotland. It suggests that many factors can potentially influence the success of this library health and wellbeing service, with a range of different possible approaches. Results indicate that successful provision of a public library walking group may require close partnership working; adequate networking and information-sharing between public library staff; as well as sufficient resources; and staff interest. This exploratory study provides transferable insights and a basis for future research

Developing an emotion-focused therapy model for fear of cancer recurrence : a case‐level task analysis

Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) involves anxiety about the possible return or progression of the disease. It is common among people surviving cancer, covering a range of adaptive and maladaptive responses including clinical presentations of FCR, for which different psychological interventions have been developed, most within the cognitive‐behavioural paradigm. Recently, emotion‐focused therapy (EFT) has been proposed as an alternative and has been the subject of research focusing on the cancer population and cancer‐related issues, including FCR. In this study, we looked closely at a successful case from a larger exploratory study, carrying out a discovery‐phase task analysis aimed at identifying the main components of EFT–FCR. We found that this approach generally followed the usual structure of an EFT intervention, with four distinct phases. However, we identified some specific secondary processes (e.g., hypervigilance and catastrophising) and clarified the nature of the core pain in this presentation as existential (e.g., fear of dying)

Relationship and attachment to digital health technology during cancer treatment

Objective The aim of this study is to explore the relationship that people with cancer and their family caregivers develop with symptom management technology during chemotherapy. Data Sources A longitudinal and multi-perspective interpretative phenomenological approach was adopted. Data were collected using one-to-one in-depth interviews with people with colorectal cancer using supportive digital health symptom management technology (n=3) and their family caregivers (n=4) at two time points during chemotherapy treatment. Data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis and followed COREQ guidelines. Conclusion People with cancer and their family caregivers can develop emotional bonds with supportive symptom management technology during cancer treatment. Digital health technology can be experienced as a person guiding them during their cancer treatment. Participants felt vulnerable after the technology was returned to the research team. Participants recognized that it was not the technology that successfully facilitated them through their initial chemotherapy cycles; rather, the technology helped them learn to manage their symptoms and promoted their self-efficacy, as well as how to emotionally respond. Implications for Nursing Practice: The relationship and psychological bonds people with cancer and their family caregivers develop with technology during treatment may be critically important for oncology nurses to be aware of should digital health be prescribed within the outpatient model of cancer care. This study indicates that technology may not be needed for a full treatment experience, as digital health can promote confidence and self-efficacy regarding symptom management and prepare people with cancer to be independent after the digital health technology is returned to the research team. However, further research is needed regarding individual preferences for digital health provision

Using SHAP values and machine learning to understand trends in the transient stability limit

Machine learning (ML) for transient stability assessment has gained traction due to the significant increase in computational requirements as renewables connect to power systems. To achieve a high degree of accuracy; black-box ML models are often required – inhibiting interpretation of predictions and consequently reducing confidence in the use of such methods. This paper proposes the use of SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) – a unifying interpretability framework based on Shapley values from cooperative game theory – to provide insights into ML models that are trained to predict critical clearing time (CCT). We use SHAP to obtain explanations of location-specific ML models trained to predict CCT at each busbar on the network. This can provide unique insights into power system variables influencing the entire stability boundary under increasing system complexity and uncertainty. Subsequently, the covariance between a variable of interest and the corresponding SHAP values from each location-specific ML model – can reveal how a change in that variable impacts the stability boundary throughout the network. Such insights can inform planning and/or operational decisions. The case study provided demonstrates the method using a highly accurate opaque ML algorithm in the IEEE 39-bus test network with Type IV wind generation

Solution structure of the N-terminal extension domain of a Schistosoma japonicum asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase

Several secreted proteins from helminths (parasitic worms) have been shown to have immunomodulatory activities. Asparaginyl-tRNA synthetases are abundantly secreted in the filarial nematode Brugia malayi (BmAsnRS) and the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma japonicum (SjAsnRS), indicating a possible immune function. The suggestion is supported by BmAsnRS alleviating disease symptoms in a T-cell transfer mouse model of colitis. This immunomodulatory function is potentially related to an N-terminal extension domain present in eukaryotic AsnRS proteins but few structure/function studies have been done on this domain. Here we have determined the three-dimensional solution structure of the N-terminal extension domain of SjAsnRS. A protein containing the 114 N-terminal amino acids of SjAsnRS was recombinantly expressed with isotopic labelling to allow structure determination using 3D NMR spectroscopy, and analysis of dynamics using NMR relaxation experiments. Structural comparisons of the N-terminal extension domain of SjAsnRS with filarial and human homologues highlight a high degree of variability in the β-hairpin region of these eukaryotic N-AsnRS proteins, but similarities in the disorder of the C-terminal regions. Limitations in PrDOS-based intrinsically disordered region (IDR) model predictions were also evident in this comparison. Empirical structural data such as that presented in our study for N-SjAsnRS will enhance the prediction of sequence-homology based structure modelling and prediction of IDRs in the future

Vaccination, asymptomatics and public health information in COVID-19

The dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic is greatly influenced by vaccine quality, as well as by vaccination rates and the behaviour of infected individuals, both of which reflect public health policies. We develop a model for the dynamics of relevant cohorts within a fixed population, taking extreme care to model the reduced social contact of infected individuals in a rigorous self-consistent manner. The basic reproduction number R 0 is then derived in terms of the parameters of the model. Analysis of R 0 reveals two interesting possibilities, both of which are plausible based on known characteristics of COVID-19. Firstly, if the population in general moderates social contact, while infected individuals who display clinical symptoms tend not to isolate, then increased vaccination can drive the epidemic towards a disease-free equilibrium (DFE). However, if the reverse is true, then increased vaccination can destabilise the DFE and yield an endemic state. This surprising result is due to the fact that the vaccines are leaky, and can lead to an increase in asymptomatic individuals who unknowingly spread the disease. Therefore, this work shows that public policy regarding the monitoring and release of health data should be combined judiciously with modeling-informed vaccination policy to control COVID-19

Polynomial time and dependent types

We combine dependent types with linear type systems that soundly and completely capture polynomial time computation. We explore two systems for capturing polynomial time: one system that disallows construction of iterable data, and one, based on the LFPL system of Martin Hofmann, that controls construction via a payment method. Both of these are extended to full dependent types via Quantitative Type Theory, allowing for arbitrary computation in types alongside guaranteed polynomial time computation in terms. We prove the soundness of the systems using a realisability technique due to Dal Lago and Hofmann. Our long-term goal is to combine the extensional reasoning of type theory with intensional reasoning about the resources intrinsically consumed by programs. This paper is a step along this path, which we hope will lead both to practical systems for reasoning about programs’ resource usage, and to theoretical use as a form of synthetic computational complexity theory

Institutional Rights Retention Policy (IRRP) at Strathclyde : An Introduction

Slides delivered at the 25 Jan 2024 introductory talk on the brand new Strathclyde Institutional Rights Retention Policy (IRRP) within the LIR Staff Training Week 2024. The Strathclyde IRRP was approved by Senate on 15 Nov 2023 and kicked-in as of 1 Jan 2024. The policy applies to manuscripts submitted by Strathclyde academics on or after 1st January 2024. This policy aims to make immediate Open Access possible in cases where the Green Open Access route is applied. The presentation explains the rationale and the origins for rights retention policies, which were first introduced in the UK by cOAlition S-member funders like the Wellcome Trust (1 Jan 2021) and the UK Research and Innovation (1 Apr 2022). Some hints are provided on how the Strathclyde IRRP will actually be implemented and on the kind of input that will be needed from academics in order for the implementation to work smoothly