Family member’s help-seeking behaviour for their relative who uses substances: a cross-sectional national study in Brazil

The affected family members (AFM) of relatives with substance use problems (RSU) play an important role in supporting their relatives to enter substance use treatment. This study investigated the help-seeking behaviours for their relatives by AFM in Brazil, including the characteristics of those who sought help and the risk factors for delaying it. A secondary analysis from a national cross-sectional study of 3030 AFM was performed. Participants were recruited from a range of services focused on AFM across each of the five Brazilian regions (North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast, South). While 92.7% sought help, 66.0% delayed for an average of 37.2 (SD 70.71) months. Help seeking was associated with higher socioeconomic status and being from the Southeastern region. Barriers included the relative refusing help (31.5%) and the belief that help was not needed (20.6%). Longer delays were associated with female AFM, residents in the Central-West region, non-parents, older RSU, alcohol use, and withdrawal coping strategies. The findings show disparities in help-seeking behaviour across socioeconomic groups, regions, and substance types, highlighting the need for better healthcare workforce distribution and targeted interventions to educate AFMs on the importance of engagement with healthcare services.</p

Development of hybrid composite using simple lab-scale vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) technique

This paper aims to develop and demonstrate a simple lab-scale vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) technique to fabricate a hybrid natural fibre-reinforced composite with reinforcement from fibres and particulate forms. A study was conducted to investigate the effect of different filler sizes on the mechanical properties of the natural hybrid reinforced composite and showcase the effectiveness of the hybrid composite fabrication using the VARTM technique. The primary phase of the composites was epoxy resin, with reinforcement of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibres and oil palm kernel shell (OPS) particulates embedded into the resin as the secondary phase of the composites. The results indicate that incorporating smaller-sized Oil Palm Shell (OPS) particulates (≤75 µm) enhances the compressive properties of the hybrid composite. In contrast, larger particulates (150–300 µm) did not pass through intra-fibre spacing due to permeability issues, resulting in weaker bonding and reduced compressive strength.</p

Promoting renewables in the construction industry through policy: the Australian context

The construction industry, with its significant energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, poses both challenges and opportunities for advancing sustainability. This chapter explores the literature on policies promoting the adoption of renewable energy in the construction sector, with a focus on the Australian context. By systematically reviewing policies and their impacts, the study identifies the key drivers and barriers to the integration of renewables in construction practices. The results highlight that effective policy measures, such as feed-in tariffs and renewable energy targets, have the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions and promote the use of clean energy sources. The results also revealed that while Australia has abundant renewable resources, policy and technological advancements are crucial for their optimal utilization. These findings underscore the importance of robust policy frameworks to foster a transition to a low-carbon construction industry, thereby contributing to global sustainability goals.</p

Isolation forest-based anomaly detection through generation offers and optimal dispatch data

Firms in the electrical marketplace expect each other to engage in Fair and Free Trade. Identifying anomalies in the electricity marketplace ensures that pricing procedures are reliable and secure. This paper aims to assess the isolation forest method in the machine learning paradigm for detecting anomalies from data simulated in the AMES software. The major limitation of traditional anomaly detection approaches is that statistical and rule-based approaches are less effective in working with big data in the context of the high dimensionality of the modern power market. The paper analyzes the bidding trend of five generation firms (Genco's) within 52 days. The isolation Forest method highlights the presence of abnormalities in Genco parameters (Genco dispatch &amp; reported supply offers) of power market data using Python coding under the Jupyter environment. Anomaly results are validated by making the cyber attack scenarios of gencos from the most common anomalous days in both parameters. Novel contributions of this paper are: 1) Filling the gap in the literature regarding anomaly detection in power markets targeting specific power generating companies' coefficients. 2) Using an accurate and concise Isolation Forest Model of machine learning with AMES software, presenting a clear state of bids &amp; offers, the power market operator, and anomalous detection. 3) Simultaneous anomaly detection in Genco dispatch and Genco supply offers. This paper enhances the anomaly detection process and indicates the utilization of advanced machine learning methodologies for monitoring the power markets comprehensively.</p

The reliability of the discomfort survey component within the Discomfort Survey and Postural Assessment (DiSPA) tool, applied on construction workers

There is a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among road construction workers with attendant consequences. Although several tools have been developed in the past to assess MSD risk factors for MSD prevention, the Discomfort Survey and Postural Assessment Tool (DiSPA) has been designed to accommodate more MSD risk factors, combine discomfort survey with postural assessment and assess the entire body. The reliability of the Postural Assessment component of DiSPA has been tested previously in a pilot test. This paper aims to present and discuss the pilot study results of the reliability test for the Discomfort Survey component of DiSPA. Features of the Discomfort Survey include a body map with a body segment graph, risk matrix and a rating table. A test-retest test is conducted to check the reliability of the Discomfort Survey section of the DiSPA tool. 10 construction workers from different trades are assessed using the discomfort survey arm of DiSPA. The results show good reliability of the tool. Insights and findings from the study are presented. The reliability test disagreements and agreements are discussed for further improvement of the tool

Women who use drugs in open drug scenes: a brief report from Brazil

Background: Despite the increasing recognition of gender’s role in drug use, research gaps remain in understanding the women who use drugs (WWUD). This study examines WWUD in Brazil’s open drug scenes (ODS) by: (i) comparing their sociodemographic characteristics, ODS involvement, and healthcare utilisation with men and (ii) exploring their parental status, pregnancy experiences, and contraception. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of the 2021–2022 Survey of Drug Use Scenes in Capitals (LECUCA) in São Paulo, Fortaleza, and Brasília. Data from 489 individuals recruited at ODSwere analysed. Results: Women (25.37% of the sample) were younger than men, less likely to have paid employment, and more often parents of dependent children but did not receive welfare benefits more frequently. Women were nearly twice as likely to live at ODS most days and had longer involvement (≥5 years) than men. These women faced higher rates of sexually transmitted infections, suicide attempts, and trauma including childhood abuse, domestic and physical violence within ODS. On average, they reported 3.9 pregnancies, with stillbirths occurring at age 18. Only 52.63% had access to pregnancy tests. Conclusion: Women in ODS face compounded social and health vulnerabilities. Addressing these disparities requires gender-specific, trauma-informed, and harm-reduction-focused interventions to improve service utilization and health outcomes for WWUD.</p

Treatment effects in orthopaedic trials are underestimated by applying patient-level PRO thresholds for meaningful differences at the group-level

Orthopaedic trials frequently rely on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) to measure primary end points. Thresholds for clinically meaningful score differences are then used to interpret PRO scores and support result interpretation. At the patient level, thresholds are used to determine if an individual patient has experienced a clinically meaningful improvement or deterioration, which evaluates whether or not they are a treatment responder. At the group level, thresholds are applied to interpret mean score differences between groups (e.g., trial arms) or between time points and determine if a treatment effect is meaningful. While patient-level thresholds are frequently available for commonly used PROs, interpretation of between-group-level differences is far less established. In the absence of well-defined group-level difference thresholds for PRO scores, patient-level thresholds are frequently used to interpret the difference between groups, such as trial arms. However, meaningful difference thresholds at the patient level are typically larger than relevant differences at the group level. As such, this leads to an underestimation of treatment effects reported in orthopaedic trials

A novel flow channel inspired by classical mathematical function: enhancing output performance and low-grade heat recovery efficiency of thermal regeneration ammonia-based flow battery

Thermal Regeneration Ammonia-based Flow Battery (TRAFB) faces significant challenges in enhancing its output performance and low-grade waste heat recovery efficiency due to limitations in mass transfer and an incomplete understanding of the mass transfer mechanism. To address these issues, this study innovatively introduces a novel sinusoidal wave flow channel (SWFC), which is inspired by the classic mathematical function. The impact of the SWFC on TRAFB performance is thoroughly discussed and compared in detail with the conventional straight flow channel (SFC). Most importantly, this work unveils for the first time the distribution mechanism of the three mass transfer modes in TRAFB, which are convection, diffusion, and electrophoretic mass transfer. The main findings reveal that the mass transfer performance of TRAFB is primarily governed by convection and diffusion, with electrophoretic mass transfer playing a minimal role, and there is a threshold of current density beyond which the dominant mass transfer mechanism transitions from convection to diffusion. The unique design of the SWFC, which induces the Venturi effect, significantly enhances the overall mass transfer performance of the TRAFB due to the distinct local acceleration, achieving a remarkable enhancement in flux of up to 118.48 times. By optimizing the amplitude and period, the battery's output performance can be further enhanced, with the maximum peak power achieved by the SWFC with an amplitude of 0.8 mm and a period of 0.5π, which is 95.63 % over the SFC. Notably, the SWFC also excels in improving the thermoelectric conversion efficiency, particularly at high current densities, achieving an enhancement of up to 9.81 times.</p

How not to deliver policies: lessons in undeliverability from the Conservative governments of 2019-2024

This article focusses on why, when and where government policies may become undeliverable. It therefore adds a distinctive dimension to the traditional analysis of policy failure, while also contributing to more solution-orientated analyses of effective policy making. Its central argument is that ‘some policies are born undeliverable, some attain undeliverability and some have undeliverability thrust upon them’ and this is demonstrated through examination of five policy areas (‘levelling-up’, ‘a transport revolution’, ‘build and fund 40 new hospitals’, ‘take back control of borders’ and ‘fix our immigration system’). Using recent National Audit Office reports and parliamentary inquiries, this article offers an evidence-based focus on the twin dimensions of promises and processes as the key explanatory variables in understanding policy undeliverability. For British politics, this argument regarding undeliverability has major implications as Keir Starmer seeks to pilot a new approach to mission-orientated policy making