Co-deployment of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage in the UK: Growth or gridlock?

This study critically evaluates a BECCS-Hub within the North-West Industrial Carbon Capture cluster using advanced digital twin modelling via the Carbon Navigation System and detailed biomass mapping. It investigates five distinct BECCS supply chains at the Protos site, each reflecting novel configurations that closely align with real-life upcoming BECCS projects within the cluster. This research highlights significant carbon performance and scalability variations, crucial for aligning with evolving BECCS business models. A key finding is the essential role of biomass security and adaptability in uncertain future biomass availability and heightened intra-BECCS competition. The study reveals potential gridlock scenarios where intense competition for biomass could severely limit the scalability and efficiency of BECCS operations, especially under high competition scenarios. These gridlocks could significantly hinder strategic BECCS deployments by constraining resource availability and complicating logistics, thus impacting the pursuit of the UK's Net-Zero goals. The findings underscore the need for diverse and adaptable deployment strategies that account for biomass availability, technological feasibility, and local infrastructure—factors pivotal to achieving scalable and efficient BECCS operations. Advocating a nuanced, integrated approach to managing biomass competition and optimise resource use, the paper calls for proactive strategic planning and adaptability in BECCS deployment. By leveraging modelling innovations, the study aligns BECCS operations with the UK's stringent Net-Zero objectives and specific business models for BECCS. Such an approach will enhance the sustainable and efficient deployment of BECCS technologies in a competitive and rapidly evolving energy landscape

Qualitative study of the acceptability and feasibility of acceptance and commitment therapy for adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome

BACKGROUND: Paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is disabling and relatively common. Although evidenced-based treatments are available, at least 15% of children remain symptomatic after one year of treatment. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an alternative therapy option; however, little is known about whether it is an acceptable treatment approach. Our aim was to find out if adolescents who remain symptomatic with CFS/ME after 12 months of treatment would find ACT acceptable, to inform a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of ACT. METHODS: We recruited adolescents (diagnosed with CFS/ME; not recovered after one year of treatment; aged 11–17 years), their parent/carer and healthcare professionals (HCPs) from one specialist UK paediatric CFS/ME service. We conducted semi-structured interviews to explore barriers to recovery; views on current treatments; acceptability of ACT; and feasibility of an effectiveness RCT. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns in data. RESULTS: Twelve adolescents, eleven parents and seven HCPs were interviewed. All participants thought ACT was acceptable. Participants identified reasons why ACT might be efficacious: pragmatism, acceptance and compassion are valued in chronic illness; values-focussed treatment provides motivation and direction; psychological and physical needs are addressed; normalising difficulties is a useful life-skill. Some adolescents preferred ACT to cognitive behavioural therapy as it encouraged accepting (rather than challenging) thoughts. Most adolescents would consent to an RCT of ACT but a barrier to recruitment was reluctance to randomisation. All HCPs deemed ACT feasible to deliver. Some were concerned patients might confuse ‘acceptance’ with ‘giving up’ and called for clear explanations. All participants thought the timing of ACT should be individualised. CONCLUSIONS: All adolescents with CFS/ME, parents and HCPs thought ACT was acceptable, and most adolescents were willing to try ACT. An RCT needs to solve issues around randomisation and timing of the intervention

Tracking Assaultâ injured, Drugâ using Youth in Longitudinal Research: Followâ up Methods

ObjectivesViolence is one of the leading causes of death among youth ages 14 to 24. Hospitalâ and emergency department (ED)â based violence prevention programs are increasingly becoming a critical part of public health efforts; however, evaluation of prevention efforts is needed to create evidenceâ based best practices. Retention of study participants is key to evaluations, although little literature exists regarding optimizing followâ up methods for violently injured youth. This study aims to describe the methods for retention in youth violence studies and the characteristics of hardâ toâ reach participants.MethodsThe Flint Youth Injury (FYI) Study is a prospective study following a cohort of assaultâ injured, drugâ using youth recruited in an urban ED, and a comparison population of drugâ using youth seeking medical or nonâ violenceâ related injury care. Validated survey instruments were administered at baseline and four followâ up time points (6, 12, 18, and 24 months). Followâ up contacts used a variety of strategies and all attempts were coded by type and level of success. Regression analysis was used to predict contact difficulty and followâ up interview completion at 24 months.ResultsA total of 599 patients (ages 14â 24) were recruited from the ED (mean ± SD age = 20.1 ± 2.4 years, 41.2% female, 58.2% African American), with followâ up rates at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of 85.3%, 83.7% 84.2%, and 85.3%, respectively. Participant contact efforts ranged from two to 53 times per followâ up time frame to complete a followâ up appointment, and more than 20% of appointments were completed off site at community locations (e.g., participantsâ homes, jail/prison). Participants who were younger (p < 0.05) and female (p < 0.01) were more likely to complete their 24â month followâ up interview. Participants who sought care in the ED for assault injury (p < 0.05) and had a substance use disorder (p < 0.01) at baseline required fewer contact attempts to complete their 24â month followâ up, while participants reporting a fight within the immediate 3 months before their 24â month followâ up (p < 0.01) required more intensive contact efforts.ConclusionsThe FYI study demonstrated that achieving high followâ up rates for a difficultâ toâ track, violentlyâ injured ED population is feasible through the use of established contact strategies and a variety of interview locations. Results have implications for followâ up strategies planned as part of other violence prevention studies.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146571/1/acem13495_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146571/2/acem13495.pd

Why Should ACT Work When CBT Has Failed? a Study Assessing Acceptability and Feasibility of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Paediatric Patients With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME)

AIMS: Paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) effects 0.5–3.28% of children. NICE guidance recommends Activity Management, Graded Exercise Therapy or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for fatigue (CBT-f). Approximately 15% of patients do not achieve full recovery within one year with current treatments. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an effective treatment in many chronic illnesses. There are no studies investigating ACT for paediatric CFS/ME. This feasability study aimed to assess if ACT is a feasible and acceptable alternative treatment when current treatment has not led to recovery. METHODS: This feasability cohort study aimed to enrol a minimum of 12 participants aged 11–18 yearswith CFS/ME attending the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust Specialist Paediatric CFS/ME Service, who were still symptomatic after 12 months or 12 sessions of standard treatment and were offered six to 12 sessions of ACT. Retention and recruitment data were analysed. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires before, during and after treatment. A selection of participants and their parents were interviewed about their experience of the study. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: 19 participants (95% of those approached) were recruited. Only 4 participants of this hard-to-reach group did not complete treatment. In almost all sessions participants reported that they felt ‘totally’ listened to in post session questionnaires (31/33 sessions). Preliminary interviews (n = 12) indicate acceptability of ACT, with all young people and their parents stating that they thought ACT should be offered to this population. Participants particularly commented that the absence of thought challenging (used in CBT-f) was a positive element of ACT. Participant's openness to try new approaches and altruistic desire to be in a study was noted. CONCLUSION: Recruitment data indicate that it is feasible to recruit and retain 11–18-year-olds with CFS/ME to a study offering ACT. Interviews with participants and parents were broadly positive suggesting ACT is an acceptable treatment in this population. Results indicated that it is both feasible and acceptable to offer ACT to 11–18-year-olds with CFS/ME using this protocol, supporting the prospect of an RCT in this area

Investigating the New Landscapes of Welfare: Housing Policy, Politics and the Emerging Research Agenda

As debates about housing form an increasingly important arena of political controversy, much has been written about the new fissures that have appeared as governments not only struggle to reduce public expenditure deficits but also attempt to address problems such as affordability and homelessness. It is widely anticipated that new conflicts will be played out in the private rental market as access to homeownership becomes unrealistic and the supply of social housing diminishes. However, what other tensions might surface; that hitherto have not been subject to the critical gaze of housing research? In this paper, we provide some thoughts on the nascent policy issues as well as the ideological schisms that are likely to develop in coming years, offering suggestions as to how the focus of housing policy research might be reoriented towards a “politics” framework to capture and better understand the conflicts that are likely to arise

The effect of biomass ashes and potassium salts on MEA degradation for BECCS

This study investigates the comparative impact of inherently different biomass and coal ashes on the laboratory and pilot scale degradation of 30 wt% aqueous monoethanolamine (MEA), relevant to post-combustion CO2 capture. Thermal and oxidative degradation experiments were carried out at 135 °C and 40 °C respectively with CO2 loading (0.5 molCO2/molMEA), with and without the presence of ash. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data is provided for the major MEA degradation compounds such as N-(2-hydroxyethyl)formamide (HEF) and N-(2-hydroxyethyl)imidazole (HEI) along with the characterisation of a new MEA oxidative degradation product, N-(2-hydroxyethyl)imidazole-N-oxide (HEINO) which had been previously misassigned. Degradation products were quantified using 1H NMR and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to assess the impact of potassium and various ashes from combustion (olive, white wood and two types of coal ash) on the rates of amine degradation. Woody biomass fly ashes were found to reduce the presence of the oxidative degradation products. Both types of coal fly ash and the olive biomass ash were found to enhance the formation the newly identified degradation product, HEINO. Solvent samples taken from a pilot scale facility support these laboratory findings

The effects of an additive on the release of potassium in biomass combustion

This study focuses on the effects of an aluminosilicate additive on the fate of potassium during biomass combustion. Such additives have shown some success in mitigating slagging and fouling problems in boilers and furnaces, and the mobility of potassium in combustion systems is one of the key factors dictating ash behaviour. To investigate this, a flame emission spectroscopy technique was used to evaluate the differences in the gas-phase potassium release profiles during the combustion of 5 mm diameter pellets of different biomass suspended in a methane-air flame. The biomass pellets were evaluated with various mixes of an aluminosilicate based additive (5, 15 and 25 wt%). Potassium emission detection, coupled with high speed video of the combustion process, indicated that potassium evolves over the three stages of volatile combustion (a sharp peak in the emission profile), char combustion (a broader peak) and “ash cooking” (a very broad peak over an extended period, long after the end of combustion). In the absence of additive, the three biomass studied (softwood, wheat straw, olive residue) behaved quite differently in terms of potassium release profiles. When the results are normalized for the amount of potassium in the fuel, it is clear that a large fraction of potassium enters the gas phase during the volatile and char combustion of the softwood. Olive residue, releases a lower fraction of potassium during the volatile and char combustion stages, indicating that more potassium is fixed in the ash. In contrast, wheat straw shows a release of potassium during combustion, and then, after a period of “ash cooking”, a substantial gradual release with continued exposure to hot combustion gases. The difference in the emission profiles can be interpreted in terms of the K:Cl ratios and the K:(Si+Al) ratios: high chlorine and/or low (Si+Al) facilitates the release of KCl or KOH to the gas phase, while high (Si+Al) helps to fix K in the solid phase. The addition of the aluminosilicate additive shows a clear reduction in the potassium released from all the biomass pellets, particularly during the char-oxidation and “ash cooking” stages, and the level of additive required is related to the amount of K in the biomass. The potassium emission experiments were complemented by laboratory-scale preparation of ash at different temperatures, and detection of residual potassium in the ash using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). These results validated the findings and quantified the higher fractions of potassium retained within the ash when additives are used. For the wood ash 70-100% of K is retained in the ash in the presence of additive; for the wheat straw, this figure is 60-80% and for the olive pellets it is 70-100%

"There's nothing”: unemployment, attitudes to work and punitive welfare reform in post-crash Salford

This article explores attitudes and barriers to work and the impact of punitive welfare reform in the city of Salford (Greater Manchester). Contextualising our discussion in relation to the contemporary landscape of inequality and social class in the UK, we draw attention to the trends towards the expansion of low paid work, precarity and stigmatisation, and highlight the need for more qualitative, geographically sensitive, studies of how these phenomena are being played out. Describing the economic context of the City of Salford and the current state of its labour market, we then present the findings from qualitative interviews with a sample of low income, mostly working-class participants, who describe their orientations towards employment, perceptions of the labour market, barriers to employment and interactions with punitive welfare reform. Ultimately, we conclude by noting that both strategies of neoliberal statecraft aimed at the reduction of the charitable state described by Wacquant are at play in Salford and that their result is a discouragement from claiming welfare and a recommodification of labour

Analysis of interactions between ribosomal proteins and RNA structural motifs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One important goal of structural bioinformatics is to recognize and predict the interactions between protein binding sites and RNA. Recently, a comprehensive analysis of ribosomal proteins and their interactions with rRNA has been done. Interesting results emerged from the comparison of r-proteins within the small subunit in <it>T. thermophilus </it>and <it>E. coli</it>, supporting the idea of a core made by both RNA and proteins, conserved by evolution. Recent work showed also that ribosomal RNA is modularly composed. Motifs are generally single-stranded sequences of consecutive nucleotides (ssRNA) with characteristic folding. The role of these motifs in protein-RNA interactions has been so far only sparsely investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This work explores the role of RNA structural motifs in the interaction of proteins with ribosomal RNA (rRNA). We analyze composition, local geometries and conformation of interface regions involving motifs such as tetraloops, kink turns and single extruded nucleotides. We construct an interaction map of protein binding sites that allows us to identify the common types of shared 3-D physicochemical binding patterns for tetraloops. Furthermore, we investigate the protein binding pockets that accommodate single extruded nucleotides either involved in kink-turns or in arbitrary RNA strands. This analysis reveals a new structural motif, called <it>tripod</it>.</p> <p>It corresponds to small pockets consisting of three aminoacids arranged at the vertices of an almost equilateral triangle. We developed a search procedure for the recognition of tripods, based on an empirical tripod fingerprint.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A comparative analysis with the overall RNA surface and interfaces shows that contact surfaces involving RNA motifs have distinctive features that may be useful for the recognition and prediction of interactions.</p

Binding to SMN2 pre-mRNA-protein complex elicits specificity for small molecule splicing modifiers

Small molecule splicing modifiers have been previously described that target the general splicing machinery and thus have low specificity for individual genes. Several potent molecules correcting the splicing deficit of the SMN2 (survival of motor neuron 2) gene have been identified and these molecules are moving towards a potential therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Here by using a combination of RNA splicing, transcription, and protein chemistry techniques, we show that these molecules directly bind to two distinct sites of the SMN2 pre-mRNA, thereby stabilizing a yet unidentified ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex that is critical to the specificity of these small molecules for SMN2 over other genes. In addition to the therapeutic potential of these molecules for treatment of SMA, our work has wide-ranging implications in understanding how small molecules can interact with specific quaternary RNA structures