Alkaline Hydrolysis: The Future of British Death-Styles

This research traces funerary change in a rapidly changing social world and principally concerns the introduction of alkaline hydrolysis (AH) as a new funerary custom in the United Kingdom (UK). It is the first full study of AH in the British context, completed in early 2023, on the cusp of AH’s introduction for the first time in the UK. Framed by the global climate crisis, the thesis considers the historical, sociocultural, and worldview context of contemporary Britain in order to assess how British death-styles may soon shift to become more sustainable in line with sustainable lifestyles. The thesis traces funerary change over the last three centuries in the UK, considers how funerary activities fit within the environmental discourse, and assesses how British worldviews influence choice of funeral. Presenting findings from currently unique fieldwork in the USA, the research examines how AH may be offered as a funerary option in the contemporary British context. By considering the levels of British popular awareness of funerary innovations, including practices associated with funerary ‘waste’ and the availability of different funerary options, the research proposes how better public education of funerary innovations may occur. Ultimately, the thesis argues that life- and death-styles are increasingly aligning in the contemporary British context, framed by contemporary environmental concern and the influence of personal worldview. The research argues that contemporary British funerary choices are dictated by a diverse range of considerations and thus religious worldviews can no longer be described as overarchingly having the most permeating influence on British funerary choices. As such, as an environmental alternative to contemporary burial and cremation practices, the research argues that AH is likely to be adopted in the UK as an environmental and economical form of body disposal, primarily by those who currently choose cremation for non-religious reasons

Dying to Go Green: The Introduction of Resomation in the United Kingdom

In an age where concern for the environment is paramount, individuals are continuously looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint—does this now extend to in one’s own death? How can one reduce the environmental impact of their own death? This paper considers various methods of disposing the human body after death, with a particular focus on the environmental impact that the different disposal techniques have. The practices of ‘traditional’ burial, cremation, ‘natural’ burial, and ‘resomation’ will be discussed, with focus on the prospective introduction of the funerary innovation of the alkaline hydrolysis of human corpses, trademarked as ‘Resomation’, in the United Kingdom. The paper situates this process within the history of innovative corpse disposal in the UK in order to consider how this innovation may function within the UK funeral industry in the future, with reference made to possible religious perspectives on the process

Transformação para um modelo de aconselhamento empoderador: vozes dos consultores e professores

This article describes the process of transforming an educational organization that offers consultancies to support inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). It reports the perspectives of the consultants who helped create and implement the changes, as well as the teachers who received orientation. A traditional model of consultation was transformed into an empowered model, which aimed to build teacher capacity and encourage innovation. Results of the study suggest that changes in educational practice led to an improvement in the treatment of children and youth with ASD, and both participants and consultants were empowered.Este artículo describe el proceso de transformación de una organización educativa que ofrece consultoría para la inclusión de alumnos con trastornos del espectro autista. Relata las perspectivas de los consultores que han ayudado a crear e implementar los cambios y de los maestros que recibieron las directrices. Un modelo tradicional de consultoría se convirtió en un modelo de empoderamiento y pretende promover la capacidad del profesor y fomentar las innovaciones. Los resultados de este estudio sugieren que los cambios en la práctica pedagógica condujeron a una mejora en la atención del niño/joven con autismo y que se fortalecieron los participantes y los consultores.Este artigo descreve o processo de transformação de uma organização educacional que oferece consultoria para a inclusão de estudantes com transtornos do espectro do autismo. Ele relata as perspectivas dos consultores que contribuíram para criar e implementar as mudanças e as dos professores que receberam as orientações. Um modelo tradicional de consultoria transformou-se em um modelo empoderador e teve como objetivo promover a capacidade do professor e encorajar inovações. Resultados deste estudo sugerem que mudanças na prática pedagógica conduziram a uma melhoria no atendimento da criança/jovem com autismo e que tanto os participantes quanto os consultores tornaram-se empoderados

Role of sand as substrate and dietary component for juvenile sea cucumber Holothuria scabra

The sea cucumber Holothuria scabra, or sandfish, is a commercially valuable aquaculture species; however viable intensive tank-based aquaculture techniques have not yet been developed. This study aimed to assess the role of sand as a substrate and/or dietary component in the intensive tank culture of sandfish in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) in South Africa. A control experiment was conducted to confirm the reported positive effect of sand as a substrate on sandfish growth and a sand-in-diet experiment was conducted to determine if the incorporation of sand into formulated diets could improve sandfish growth in bare tanks. In the control experiment, the mean growth rate of juvenile sandfish in the bare tanks was significantly lower than that of the juveniles reared in tanks with a sand substrate (-0.12 +/- 0.16 g day(-1) SE and 0.03 +/- 0.01 g day(-1) respectively; F-(1,F-2)=1.91, p0.05). Results confirmed the reported positive effect on sandfish growth when sand is provided as a substrate, however sand in diets did not promote growth in the same way, indicating that the inclusion of sand in formulated diets is unlikely to compensate for the lack of sand as a substrate. Future research should therefore aim to identify the optimum parameters of sand substrate and develop tank holding systems capable of maintaining favourable substrate conditions for intensive sandfish culture

The effect of resource quality on the growth of Holothuria scabra during aquaculture waste bioremediation

Reducing dependency on environmentally unsustainable formulated feeds, most of which include limited reserves of fishmeal as a protein source, is a priority for the aquaculture industry, particularly for intensive culture systems. One approach is to increase nitrogen reuse within the system by feeding nitrogen-rich aquaculture effluent to deposit feeders, thereby closing the aquaculture nitrogen-loop. This study, for the first time and on a laboratory-scale, has reared juveniles of the sea cucumber Holothuria scabra at high densities solely on particulate organic waste from a commercial-scale land-based abalone recirculating aquaculture system. Furthermore, growth rates and biomass yields were increased significantly by adjusting the effluent C:N from 5:1 to 20:1 by adding exogenous organic carbon sources (glucose, starch and cellulose), so fuelling accelerated heterotrophic bacterial production within the redox-stratified tank sediment. Sea cucumber juveniles reared solely on effluent had a biomass density of 711 g m−2 after four months whereas animals reared on starch-amended effluent (the best performing treatment) had a final density of 1011 g m−2. Further optimisation of this approach could increase biomass yields and pave the way for the commercial cultivation of deposit feeding animals on waste streams, thus contributing to more environmentally sustainable aquaculture. Here, the nitrogen that originated from fishmeal is not lost through the discharge of aquaculture effluent; rather, it is immobilised into single cell biomass that is up-cycled into high-value secondary biomass. We demonstrate that sea cucumbers can be produced at high density through the manipulation of the C:N ratio of aquaculture effluent

Women seafarers’ health and welfare survey

Background: This is a collaborative study from the International Maritime Health Association, International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network, International Transport Workers’ Federation and the Seafarers Hospital Society. The aim of the study was to look at the health and welfare needs of women seafarers and how organisations can best make or campaign for improvements to the health information and services available to women seafarers. Materials and methods: A pilot study was conducted in July 2014 and following review of the data and revision of the questionnaire the study was launched in December 2014, running until the middle of March 2015. Results collected from the survey are also supported by qualitative data obtained from two focus groups run during February and March. Results: 595 responses were received from a range of nationalities, ages and positions on board ships. The findings suggest that joint/back pain, stress/depression/anxiety and headache seem to be the most common symptoms reported by women seafarers and that 55% felt that they are related to their work. 48% state that they have problems with seeking medical care and offer suggestions to improve this. Routine wellness checks, nutrition and information on joint and back pain are the main areas that women seafarers stated health screening/services/information would be most useful to improve their health and wellbeing. They suggested this could best be received directly from health professionals, or alternatively by reading leaflets or from online websites/an app. Significantly 37% of women seafarers also stated that they do not have access to sanitary bins within the toilet and 18% say that sexual harassment is an issue. Conclusions: The responses received highlight a small number of areas where relatively simple and low-cost interventions might improve the health and welfare of women seafarers. Specifically these include the production and appropriate, distribution of gender — specific information on back pain, mental health and nutrition in addition to gynaecological complaints, to all women seafarers; the introduction of means for disposing of sanitary waste for all female crew on all ships and the improved availability of female specific products e.g. sanitary products in port shops and welfare centres worldwide. Additional work is needed to investigate these areas more fully and to look at the issue of confidence in medically trained staff, medical confidentiality and sexual harassment. Any further work and interventions will require the support of all of the main stakeholders and we plan a briefing meeting to publicise the findings to date and to identify support for further work in this area

Coping with joint pain in haemophilia

Some Rolling Stones fans might think that joint bleeds in haemophilia are now more a case of ‘Its all over now’ than ‘Let it bleed’, for just as Mick Jagger’s song writing skills have changed since the 1960s and 70s, so has haemophilia care - treatment has improved dramatically over the last 30 years. Prophylactic clotting factor concentrates are now commonly used to prevent bleeding episodes among patients with severe haemophilia. Many patients, however, and especially those aged over 40, still live with chronic pain caused by arthritic complications of repeated bleeds into joints, leading to disability and reduced quality of life, and this aspect of the condition has not been widely recognised by health psychologists. Haemophilia patients' experiences of pain were the subject of a recent health psychology work placement and are the focus of an ongoing research project, collaborations with the UK Haemophilia Society, and this article summarises some aspects of that work.The Haemophilia Society UK and the London Metropolitan Institute of Health Policy and Research

Redox stratification drives enhanced growth in a deposit-feeding invertebrate: Implications for aquaculture bioremediation

Effective and affordable treatment of waste solids is a key sustainability challenge for the aquaculture industry. Here, we investigated the potential for a deposit-feeding sea cucumber, Holothuria scabra, to provide a remediation service whilst concurrently yielding a high-value secondary product in a land-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). The effect of sediment depth, particle size and redox regime were examined in relation to changes in the behaviour, growth and biochemical composition of juvenile sea cucumbers cultured for 81 d in manipulated sediment systems, describing either fully oxic or stratified (oxic-anoxic) redox regimes. The redox regime was the principal factor affecting growth, biochemical composition and behaviour, while substrate depth and particle size did not significantly affect growth rate or biomass production. Animals cultured under fully oxic conditions exhibited negative growth and had higher lipid and carbohydrate contents, potentially due to compensatory feeding in response to higher micro - phyto benthic production. In contrast, animals in the stratified treatments spent more time feeding, generated faster growth and produced significantly higher biomass yields (626.89 ± 35.44 g m-2 versus 449.22 ± 14.24 g m-2; mean ± SE). Further, unlike in oxic treatments, growth in the stratified treatments did not reach maximum biomass carrying capacity, indicating that stratified sediment is more suitable for culturing sea cucumbers. However, the stratified sediments may exhibit reduced bioremediation ability relative to the oxic sediment, signifying a trade-off between remediation efficiency and exploitable biomass yiel

Interventions to reduce suicides at suicide hotspots: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: 'Suicide hotspots' include tall structures (for example, bridges and cliffs), railway tracks, and isolated locations (for example, rural car parks) which offer direct means for suicide or seclusion that prevents intervention. METHODS: We searched Medline for studies that could inform the following question: 'What interventions are available to reduce suicides at hotspots, and are they effective?' RESULTS: There are four main approaches: (a) restricting access to means (through installation of physical barriers); (b) encouraging help-seeking (by placement of signs and telephones); (c) increasing the likelihood of intervention by a third party (through surveillance and staff training); and (d) encouraging responsible media reporting of suicide (through guidelines for journalists). There is relatively strong evidence that reducing access to means can avert suicides at hotspots without substitution effects. The evidence is weaker for the other approaches, although they show promise. CONCLUSIONS: More well-designed intervention studies are needed to strengthen this evidence base.Australian Government Department of Health and AgeingUK National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for the Southwest Peninsul