Vulnerable Users’ Perceptions of Transport Technologies

As the global population continues to grow, age and urbanize, it is vital to provide accessible transport so that neither ageing nor disability constitute barriers to social inclusion. While technology can enhance urban access, there is a need to study the ways by which transport technologies - real-time information, pedestrian navigation, surveillance, and road pricing - could be more effectively adopted by users. The reason for this is that some people, and particularly vulnerable populations, are still likely to reluctantly use (or even avoid using) technologies perceived as 'unknown' and 'complicated'. Based on evidence from British and Swedish case studies on older people's perceptions of the aforementioned transport technologies, as well as on a Swedish case study of visually impaired people's perceptions, this article makes the case that technology is only one tool in a complex socio-technical system, and one which brings challenges. The authors also suggest that although vulnerable populations are not homogeneous when expressing attitudes towards transport technologies, their assessment criteria tend to be 'pro-social' as they usually consider that the societal benefits outweigh the personal benefits. Emphasising aspects linked to the technologies' pro-social potential or relevance to the individual user could increase acceptance

Regulation of pathways of glucose metabolism in kidney Specific linking of pentose phosphate pathway activity with kidney growth in experimental diabetes and unilateral nephrectomy

AbstractThe pentose phosphate pathway operates at an elevated level in rat kidney following induction of diabetes and in the compensatory hypertrophy following unilateral nephrectomy in control and alloxan-diabetic rats, as shown by the yields of 14Co2 from [1-14C]glucose, [6-14C]glucose and 3H2O yields from [2-3H]glucose. The elevated flux through the pentose phosphate pathway is correlated with the increased RNA content and weight of the kidney. The direct utilization of NADPH for reductive synthetic reactions and the potential for indirect utilization via the sorbitol route and the linked transhydrogenase reactions of the glucuronate-xylulose pathway, for NADH and ATP generation, are also discussed

Effect of Molecular Organization on the Properties of Fractionated Lignin-Based Thiol–Ene Thermoset Materials

In this study, the combination of sequential solvent fractionation of technical Kraft lignin was followed by allylation of most OH functionalities to give highly functional thermoset resins. All lignin fractions were highly functionalized on the phenolic (≥95%) and carboxylic acid OH (≥85%) and to a significant extent on the aliphatic OH moieties (between 43 and 75%). The resins were subsequently cross-linked using thiol–ene chemistry. The high amount of allyl functionalities resulted in a high cross-link density. Dynamic mechanical analysis measurements showed that the thioether content, directly related to the allyl content, strongly affects the performance of these thermosets with a glass transition temperature ($T_g$) between 81 and 95 °C and with a storage modulus between 1.9 and 3.8 GPa for all thermosets. The lignin fractions and lignin-based thermosets’ morphology, at the nanoscale, was studied by wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements. Two π–π stacking interactions were observed: sandwich (≈4.1–4.7 Å) and T-shaped (≈5.5–7.2 Å). The introduction of allyl functionalities weakens the T-shaped π–π stacking interactions. A new signal corresponding to a distance of ≈3.5 Å was observed in lignin-based thermosets, which was attributed to a thioether organized structure. At the same time, a lignin superstructure was observed with a distance/size corresponding to 7.9–17.5 Å in all samples

Impact of lignin source on the performance of thermoset resins

A series of different technical hardwood lignin-based resins have been successfully synthesized, characterized, and utilised to produce thiol-ene thermoset polymers. Firstly, technical lignin was fractionated and allylated, whereafter it was crosslinked with a trifunctional thiol. Structural and morphological characteristics of the lignin fractions were studied by $^{1}$H NMR, $^{31}$P NMR, SEC, FTIR, DSC, TGA, and WAXS. The hardwood lignin fractions have a high content of C5-substituted OH groups. The WAXS studies on lignin fractions revealed the presence of two π-π stacking conformations, sandwiched (4.08–4.25 Å) and T-shaped (6.52–6.91 Å). The presence of lignin superstructures with distances/sizes between 10.5 and 12.8 Å was also identified. The curing reaction of the thermosets was investigated by RT-FTIR. Almost all thermosets (excepting one fraction) reached 95% of the thiol conversion in less than 17 h, revealing the enhanced reactivity of the allylated hardwood lignin samples. The mechanical properties of the thermosets were investigated by DMA. The curing performance, as well as the final thermoset properties, have been correlated to variations in chemical composition and morphological differences of lignin fractions. The described results clearly demonstrate that technical hardwood lignins can be utilized for these applications, but also that significant differences compared to softwood lignins have to be considered for material design