The benefit sanction: a correctional device or a weapon of disgust?

The benefit sanction is a dominant activation policy in Britain’s ‘welfare-to-work’ regime. While policymakers believe in their necessity to correct behaviour, research shows benefit sanctions cause additional harm to Britain’s marginalised groups. Drawing upon a small-scale qualitative study, this article first navigates new territory, mapping the ways stigma emerges from the state – channelled through the benefit sanction – and manifests in the lives of sanctioned claimants. Acknowledging wider evidence, the sanction is then argued to have failed as a correctional device. Rather, taking into account Britain’s current politico-economic climate, the sanction appears as a weapon used to incite negative emotion in an attempt to police the boundaries of the labour market, while frequently abandoning some of the UK’s most vulnerable citizens

Living on the edge: precariousness and why it matters for health

The post-war period in Europe, between the late 1940s and the 1970s, was characterised by an expansion of the role of by the state, protecting its citizens from risks of unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity. This security began to erode in the 1980s as a result of privatisation and deregulation. The withdrawal of the state further accelerated after the 2008 financial crisis, as countries began pursuing deep austerity. The result has been a rise in what has been termed ‘precariousness’. Here we review the development of the concept of precariousness and related phenomena of vulnerability and resilience, before reviewing evidence of growing precariousness in European countries. It describes a series of studies of the impact on precariousness on health in domains of employment, housing, and food, as well as natural experiments of policies that either alleviate or worsen these impacts. It concludes with a warning, drawn from the history of the 1930s, of the political consequences of increasing precariousness in Europe and North America

Contextualising the pervasive impact of macroeconomic austerity on prison health in England: A qualitative study among international policymakers

Background: Prisons offer the state the opportunity to gain access to a population that is at particularly high risk of ill-health. Despite the supportive legal and policy structures surrounding prison rehabilitation, the oppressive nature of the austerity policy in England threatens its advanced improvement.Methods: Using grounded theory methodology, this is the first interdisciplinary qualitative study to explore the impact of macroeconomic austerity on prison health in England from the perspective of 29 international prison policymakers.Results: The far-reaching impact of austerity in England has established a regressive political system that shapes the societal attitude towards social issues, which has exacerbated the existing poor health of the prisoners. Austerity has undermined the notion of social collectivism, imposed a culture of acceptance among prison bureaucrats and the wider community, and normalised the devastating impacts of prison instability. These developments are evidenced by the increasing levels of suicide, violence, radicalisation and prison gangs among prisoners, as well as the imposition of long working hours and the high levels of absenteeism among prison staff.Conclusions: This study underscores an important and yet unarticulated phenomenon that despite being the fifth largest economy in the world, England’s poorest, marginalised and excluded population continues to bear the brunt of austerity. Reducing the prison population, using international obligations as minimum standards to protect prisoners’ right to health and providing greater resources would create a more positive and inclusive system, in line with England’s international and domestic commitments to the humane treatment of all people

A qualitative investigation of lived experiences of long-term health condition management with people who are food insecure.

Background: As more people are living with one or more chronic health conditions, supporting patients to become activated, self-managers of their conditions has become a key health policy focus both in the UK and internationally. There is also growing evidence in the UK that those with long term health conditions have an increased risk of being food insecure. While international evidence indicates that food insecurity adversely affects individual's health condition management capability, little is known about how those so affected manage their condition(s) in this context. An investigation of lived experience of health condition management was undertaken with food insecure people living in north east Scotland. The study aimed to explore the challenges facing food insecure people in terms of, i. their self-care condition management practices, and ii. disclosing and discussing the experience of managing their condition with a health care professional, and iii. Notions of the support they might wish to receive from them. Methods: Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with individuals attending a food bank and food pantry in north east Scotland. Interview audio recordings were fully transcribed and thematically analysed. Results: Individuals reporting multiple physical and mental health conditions, took part in the study. Four main themes were identified i.e.: 1. food practices, trade-offs and compromises, that relate to economic constraints and lack of choice; 2. illness experiences and food as they relate to physical and mental ill-health; 3. (in) visibility of participants' economic vulnerability within health care consultations; and 4. perceptions and expectations of the health care system. Conclusions: This study, the first of its kind in the UK, indicated that participants' health condition management aspirations were undermined by the experience of food insecurity, and that their health care consultations in were, on the whole, devoid of discussions of those challenges. As such, the study indicated practical and ethical implications for health care policy, practice and research associated with the risk of intervention-generated health inequalities that were suggested by this study. Better understanding is needed about the impact of household food insecurity on existing ill health, wellbeing and health care use across the UK

Incorporation of uranium into hematite during crystallization from ferrihydrite

Ferrihydrite was exposed to U(VI)-containing cement leachate (pH 10.5) and aged to induce crystallization of hematite. A combination of chemical extractions, TEM, and XAS techniques provided the first evidence that adsorbed U(VI) (≈3000 ppm) was incorporated into hematite during ferrihydrite aggregation and the early stages of crystallization, with continued uptake occurring during hematite ripening. Analysis of EXAFS and XANES data indicated that the U(VI) was incorporated into a distorted, octahedrally coordinated site replacing Fe(III). Fitting of the EXAFS showed the uranyl bonds lengthened from 1.81 to 1.87 Å, in contrast to previous studies that have suggested that the uranyl bond is lost altogether upon incorporation into hematite the results of this study both provide a new mechanistic understanding of uranium incorporation into hematite and define the nature of the bonding environment of uranium within the mineral structure. Immobilization of U(VI) by incorporation into hematite has clear and important implications for limiting uranium migration in natural and engineered environments. © 2014 American Chemical Society

Association of food security status with overweight and dietary intake: exploration of White British and Pakistani-origin families in the Born in Bradford cohort.

BACKGROUND: Food insecurity has been associated with dietary intake and weight status in UK adults and children although results have been mixed and ethnicity has not been explored. We aimed to compare prevalence and trajectories of weight and dietary intakes among food secure and insecure White British and Pakistani-origin families. METHODS: At 12 months postpartum, mothers in the Born in Bradford cohort completed a questionnaire on food security status and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) assessing their child's intake in the previous month; at 18 months postpartum, mothers completed a short-form FFQ assessing dietary intake in the previous 12 months. Weights and heights of mothers and infants were assessed at 12-, 24-, and 36-months postpartum, with an additional measurement of children taken at 4-5 years. Associations between food security status and dietary intakes were assessed using Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney for continuous variables and χ2 or Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables. Quantile and logistic regression were used to determine dietary intakes adjusting for mother's age. Linear mixed effects models were used to assess longitudinal changes in body mass index (BMI) in mothers and BMI z-scores in children. RESULTS: At 12 months postpartum, White British mothers reported more food insecurity than Pakistani-origin mothers (11% vs 7%; p < 0.01) and more food insecure mothers were overweight. Between 12 and 36 months postpartum, BMI increased more among food insecure Pakistani-origin mothers (β = 0.77 units, [95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.40, 1.10]) than food secure (β = 0.44 units, 95% CI: 0.33, 0.55). This was also found in Pakistani-origin children (BMI z-score: food insecure β = 0.40 units, 95% CI: 0.22, 0.59; food secure β = 0.25 units, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.29). No significant increases in BMI were observed for food secure or insecure White British mothers while BMI z-score increased by 0.17 (95% CI: 0.13, 0.21) for food secure White British children. Food insecure mothers and children had dietary intakes of poorer quality, with fewer vegetables and higher consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks. CONCLUSIONS: Food security status is associated with body weight and dietary intakes differentially by ethnicity. These are important considerations for developing targeted interventions

Aqueous hydroxylation mediated synthesis of crystalline calcium uranate particles

Metal uranates(VI) are solubility limiting U(VI) phases under high pH conditions and may act as suitable long-term wasteforms. The precipitation and thermal phase development mechanisms of calcium uranate particles formed via aqueous hydroxylation reactions are studied in order to address the lack of aqueous synthesis methods currently available. Hydrous Ca-deficient uranate particles formed from aqueous solutions saturated in U(VI) oligomers were found to thermally decompose via several weight-loss steps between 100 and 800 °C. Crystalline calcium uranate (Ca2U3O11) is initially formed at 700 °C via dehydration and dehydroxylation-olation reactions under redox-neutral conditions. This initial phase decomposes to biphasic CaUO4-UO2 particles at 800 °C via a reductive pathway

Coffee and tea consumption in relation to inflammation and basal glucose metabolism in a multi-ethnic Asian population: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Higher coffee consumption has been associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in cohort studies, but the physiological pathways through which coffee affects glucose metabolism are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between habitual coffee and tea consumption and glucose metabolism in a multi-ethnic Asian population and possible mediation by inflammation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We cross-sectionally examined the association between coffee, green tea, black tea and Oolong tea consumption and glycemic (fasting plasma glucose, HOMA-IR, HOMA-beta, plasma HbA1c) and inflammatory (plasma adiponectin and C-reactive protein) markers in a multi-ethnic Asian population (N = 4139).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After adjusting for multiple confounders, we observed inverse associations between coffee and HOMA-IR (percent difference: - 8.8% for ≥ 3 cups/day versus rarely or never; <it>P_trend</it>= 0.007), but no significant associations between coffee and inflammatory markers. Tea consumption was not associated with glycemic markers, but green tea was inversely associated with plasma C-reactive protein concentrations (percent difference: - 12.2% for ≥ 1 cup/day versus < 1 cup/week; <it>P_trend</it>= 0.042).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data provide additional evidence for a beneficial effect of habitual caffeinated coffee consumption on insulin sensitivity, and suggest that this effect is unlikely to be mediated by anti-inflammatory mechanisms.</p

Introduction—Food Security and Food Waste Reduction: A Social Innovation Approach to Current Social, Environmental, and Political Concerns

This chapter presents the research rationale underpinning the book. It addresses the intertwining challenges of food security and surplus food management, discussing recent data and literature. It also presents how social innovation is conceptualized in the book as the theoretical framework to analyse partnerships between business and non-profit organisations in managing food surplus. The methodology of the research is also detailed, along with the book structure