International Group Work for Sustainable Chemistry

As part of a transnational degree programme, students in the UK and China were linked together to carry out group work. This was enabled by having two versions of our FHEQ Level 4 Sustainable Chemistry module; in person for UK students, and by distance learning for Chinese students. Groups were instructed to discuss issues relating to the UN Sustainable Development Goals in their respective countries and report back individually. Students who found the assignment interesting were more likely to indicate they would keep in touch, while those students who had fewer interactions or found the assessment guidelines unclear found the assignment less interesting and were less likely to wish to remain in touch. This kind of assignment is an example of what can be done with links to other institutions around the world

Modelling foam drainage

Foaming occurs in many distillation and absorption processes. In this paper, two basic building blocks that are needed to model foam drainage and hence foam stability are discussed. The first concerns the flow of liquid from the lamellae to the Plateau borders and the second describes the drainage flows that occur within the borders. The mathematical modelling involves a balance between gravity, diffusion, viscous forces, and varying surface tension effects with or without the presence of monolayers of surfactant. In some cases, mass transfer through the gas-liquid interface also causes foam stabilisation, and must be included. Our model allows us to clarify which mechanisms are most likely to dominate in both the lamellae and Plateau borders and hence to determine their evolution. The model provides a theoretical framework for the prediction of foam drainage and collapse rates. The analysis shows that significant foam stability can arise from small surface tension variations

Supporting Older People’s Moves Between Different Care Settings: A Scoping Review

Context: Moves between care settings in later life present significant challenges for older people. Social care practitioners play a significant role in supporting these moves, but sometimes lack the skills, confidence and resources to meet the needs of older people and their carers. Objectives: To identify and synthesise unmet move-related needs of older people, the approaches used by social care practitioners, and ways to improve move-related practice. Methods: We searched 7 electronic databases and grey literature from 25 websites, screening 8535 records published between 2010 and 2021. Findings: Thematic synthesis of 39 documents focussed on two themes: (1) challenges and unmet needs of older people and their carers, particularly during the planning, decision-making and moving in stages; and (2) insights from good practice schemes and ways to improve move-related social care practice. These include applying a person-centred approach, involving older people and their carers in planning and decision-making, adopting proactive approaches, exploring alternatives to care homes, promoting effective communication and information sharing, and ensuring continuity of care and cross-sector coordination throughout moves. Limitations: The chosen inclusion criteria resulted in the omission of potentially interesting insights regarding short-term intermediate care and post-move long-term settlement in new settings. Implications: The review highlights the critical need for comprehensive support and guidance during older people’s moves between care settings. It emphasises the importance of practice-oriented information and evidence-based approaches to support older people, their carers, and social care practitioners throughout these transitions

The effect of surfactants on expanding free surfaces

This paper develops a systematic theory for the flow observed in the so-called ``overflowing cylinder'' experiment. The basic phenomenon to be explained is the order of magnitude increase in the surface velocity of a slowly overflowing beaker of water that is caused by the addition of a small amount of soluble surfactant. We perform analyses of (i) an inviscid bulk flow in which diffusion is negligible, (ii) a hydrodynamic boundary layer in which viscous effects become important, (iii) a diffusive boundary layer where diffusion is significant, and by matching these together arrive at a coupled problem for the liquid velocity and surfactant concentration. Our model predicts a relation between surface velocity and surface concentration which is in good agreement with experiment. However a degeneracy in the boundary conditions leaves one free parameter which must be taken from experimental data. We suggest an investigation that may resolve this indeterminacy

Ba4Ru3O10.2(OH)1.8 : a new member of the layered hexagonal perovskite family crystallised from water

A new barium ruthenium oxyhydroxide Ba4Ru3O10.2(OH)1.8 crystallises under hydrothermal conditions at 200 °C: powder neutron diffraction data show it adopts an 8H hexagonal perovskite structure with a new stacking sequence, while high resolution electron microscopy reveals regions of ordered layers of vacant Ru sites, and magnetometry shows antiferromagnetism with TN = 200(5) K

Energy-water-food nexus in the Spanish greenhouse tomato production

The nexus energy–water–food of the tomato greenhouse production in the Almeria region (Spain) has been studied following a Process Systems Analysis Method connecting the ecosystem services to the market demands with a holistic view based on Life Cycle Assessment. The management of the agri-food subsystem, the industrial subsystem and the urban subsystem plays an important role in the nexus of the E–W–F system, where transport and information technologies connect the three subsystems to the global markets. The local case study of the tomato production in Almeria (Spain) has been developed as an example of the food production under cropland restrictions, semiarid land. After study of the economic and social sustainability in time, the evolution of the ecosystem services supply is the main restriction of the system, where after the land use change in the region, water and energy supply play the mean role with a trade-off between the water quality degradation and the economic cost of the energy for water desalination. Water footprint, Carbon footprint and Chemicals footprint are useful indicators to the environmental sustainability assessment of local alternatives in the E–W–F system under study. As it is shown in the conclusions, the holistic view based on the process analysis method and the life cycle assessment methodology and indicators is an useful tool for decision support

Human Salmonella Typhi exposure generates differential multifunctional cross‐reactive T‐cell memory responses against Salmonella Paratyphi and invasive nontyphoidal Salmonella

Objective There are no vaccines for most of the major invasive Salmonella strains causing severe infection in humans. We evaluated the specificity of adaptive T memory cell responses generated after Salmonella Typhi exposure in humans against other major invasive Salmonella strains sharing capacity for dissemination. Methods T memory cells from eleven volunteers who underwent controlled oral challenge with wt S. Typhi were characterised by flow cytometry for cross‐reactive cellular cytokine/chemokine effector responses or evidence of degranulation upon stimulation with autologous B‐lymphoblastoid cells infected with either S. Typhi, Salmonella Paratyphi A (PA), S. Paratyphi B (PB) or an invasive nontyphoidal Salmonella strain of the S. Typhimurium serovar (iNTSTy). Results Blood T‐cell effector memory (TEM) responses after exposure to S. Typhi in humans evolve late, peaking weeks after infection in most volunteers. Induced multifunctional CD4+ Th1 and CD8+ TEM cells elicited after S. Typhi challenge were cross‐reactive with PA, PB and iNTSTy. The magnitude of multifunctional CD4+ TEM cell responses to S. Typhi correlated with induction of cross‐reactive multifunctional CD8+ TEM cells against PA, PB and iNTSTy. Highly multifunctional subsets and T central memory and T effector memory cells that re‐express CD45 (TEMRA) demonstrated less heterologous T‐cell cross‐reactivity, and multifunctional Th17 elicited after S. Typhi challenge was not cross‐reactive against other invasive Salmonella. Conclusion Gaps in cross‐reactive immune effector functions in human T‐cell memory compartments were highly dependent on invasive Salmonella strain, underscoring the importance of strain‐dependent vaccination in the design of T‐cell‐based vaccines for invasive Salmonella

The acceptability and feasibility of using the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) to inform practice in care homes

Background: The Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) measures social care related quality of life (SCRQoL) and can be used to measure outcomes and demonstrate impact across different social care settings. This exploratory study built on previous work by collecting new inter-rater reliability data on the mixed-methods version of the toolkit and exploring how it might be used to inform practice in four case study homes. Method: We worked with two care home providers to agree an in-depth study collecting SCRQoL data in four case-study homes. Data was collected about residents’ age, ethnicity, cognitive impairment, ability to perform activities of daily living and SCRQoL in the four homes. Feedback sessions with staff and managers were held in the homes two weeks after baseline and follow-up data collected three months later. Interviews with managers explored their views of the feedback and recorded any changes that had been made because of it. Results: Participant recruitment was challenging, despite working in partnership with the homes. Resident response rates ranged from 23 to 54 % with 58 residents from four care homes taking part in the research. 53 % lacked capacity to consent. Inter-rater reliability for the ASCOT ratings of SCRQoL were good at time one (IRR = 0.72) and excellent at time two (IRR = 0.76). During the study, residents’ ability to perform activities of daily living declined significantly (z = -2.67, p < .01), as did their expected needs in the absence of services (z = -2.41, p < .05). Despite these rapid declines in functionings, residents’ current SCRQoL declined slightly but not significantly (Z = -1.49, p = .14). Staff responded positively to the feedback given and managers reported implementing changes in practice because of it. Conclusion: This exploratory study faced many challenges in the recruitment of residents, many of whom were cognitively impaired. Nevertheless, without a mixed-methods approach many of the residents living in the care homes would have been excluded from the research altogether or had their views represented only by a representative or proxy. The value of the mixed-methods toolkit and its potential for use by providers is discussed