Cross-border venture capitalists are less patient with under-performers

They're less attached to local entrepreneurs, write David Devigne, Sophie Manigart and Mike Wrigh

Episode 11: Susannah Howe, DC Director

This episode features an interview with Susannah Howe, the Design Clinic Director at Smith College. The interviewers are recent graduates Harriet Wright and Sophie Yates from the Zipline-DC2122 team

“School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance

Difficulties with school attendance have been linked to poorer academic attainment, as well as later unemployment and reduced emotional wellbeing. This is a particularly pertinent area of research following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also an area of interest for the UK government, with the Department for Education (DfE, 2022) having recently published guidance on supporting school attendance. Research highlights the benefits of early identification and intervention for these needs, as well as the importance of gaining pupil voice. However, there has been limited research focussing on primary school aged children and young people (CYP)’s views, despite the literature suggesting that barriers to school attendance do begin in primary school. Therefore, the aim of the present research was to explore the perceptions of primary school aged CYP who are beginning to experience barriers to school attendance. The two research questions focussed on the perceptions of young people on their barriers to school attendance and the factors they perceive to support their school attendance. The research utilised semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data from a sample of six key stage 2 pupils who were at the early stages of experiencing barriers to school attendance. The data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis which generated three themes in relation to barriers: negative school experiences, school as a safe space, and psychological and physiological needs. Three themes regarding supportive factors were also identified, which were the importance of relationships, reasonable adjustments and inclusion of pupil voice in planning for support. Support was found for previous literature and the findings can be understood in terms of Bronfenbrenner and Ceci’s (1994) bioecological model, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943) and the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Implications for schools and educational psychologists (EPs) include taking a holistic and interactionist approach to reducing barriers to school attendance

Green Chemistry for Stainless Steel Corrosion Resistance: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Citric Acid versus Nitric Acid Passivation

Corrosion is a significant problem in many industries, and when using stainless steel, passivation is undertaken to improve corrosion resistance. Traditionally, nitric acid is used within the passivation step, however, this has some detrimental environmental and human health impacts during its production and use. Reducing this impact is critical, and because of its toxicity, associated occupational risk and special disposal requirements, end-users of passivated stainless steels are exploring alternative passivation methods. However, it is also critical to understand the impact of any alternatives. Sustainable processing and manufacture embodies many elements, including; waste reduction, resource efficiency measures, energy reduction and the application of ‘green’ or renewable chemicals. In order to ensure the most effective system is utilised the impact, or potential impact of the system must be measured and options compared. The comparative environmental credentials of bio-based chemicals can be assessed using tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).This paper is the first paper to evaluate the environmental impact of passivation using nitric and citric acid. It uses attributional Life Cycle Assessment (ALCA) to assess the environmental benefits and dis-benefits of using citric acid - produced biologically via fermentation, to replace nitric acid, whilst keeping the same level of corrosion resistance. The work is anticipatory in nature as the process is not yet undertaken on a commercial basis. The results therefore feed into future manufacturing and design. Citric and nitric acids were compared using three different solutions: 4% and 10% citric acid solutions, and a 10% nitric acid solution (the conventional case). The results show that a scenario using a 4% citric acid solution is environmentally preferable to nitric acid across all impact categories assessed. However, a 10% citric acid solution used on low chromium and nickel steel was only environmentally preferable for 50% of the environmental impact categories assessed due to increased electrical energy demand for that scenario.<br/

Measurement of lattice rotations and internal stresses in over one hundred individual grains during a stress-induced martensitic transformation

To better understand the properties of polycrystals at a microscopic scale during cyclic mechanical loading we have measured the relationship between grain orientations, their positions inside the sample and their internal stresses. In this work, in-situ 3DXRD technique was performed on over hundred grains during the stress-induced martensitic transformation in a Cu-Al-Be shape memory alloy. Information about the position, orientation, and stress field was obtained for each austenitic grain. These results have been used to develop a procedure that allows automatic processing for a large number of grains, matching them during loading and leads to a quantitative stress field. A strong heterogeneity of stress state between the grains at the surface and in the volume is evident

Green Chemistry for Stainless Steel Corrosion Resistance: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Citric Acid versus Nitric Acid Passivation

Corrosion is a significant problem in many industries, and when using stainless steel, passivation is undertaken to improve corrosion resistance. Traditionally, nitric acid is used within the passivation step, however, this has some detrimental environmental and human health impacts during its production and use. Reducing this impact is critical, and because of its toxicity, associated occupational risk and special disposal requirements, end-users of passivated stainless steels are exploring alternative passivation methods. However, it is also critical to understand the impact of any alternatives. Sustainable processing and manufacture embodies many elements, including; waste reduction, resource efficiency measures, energy reduction and the application of ‘green’ or renewable chemicals. In order to ensure the most effective system is utilised the impact, or potential impact of the system must be measured and options compared. The comparative environmental credentials of bio-based chemicals can be assessed using tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).This paper is the first paper to evaluate the environmental impact of passivation using nitric and citric acid. It uses attributional Life Cycle Assessment (ALCA) to assess the environmental benefits and dis-benefits of using citric acid - produced biologically via fermentation, to replace nitric acid, whilst keeping the same level of corrosion resistance. The work is anticipatory in nature as the process is not yet undertaken on a commercial basis. The results therefore feed into future manufacturing and design. Citric and nitric acids were compared using three different solutions: 4% and 10% citric acid solutions, and a 10% nitric acid solution (the conventional case). The results show that a scenario using a 4% citric acid solution is environmentally preferable to nitric acid across all impact categories assessed. However, a 10% citric acid solution used on low chromium and nickel steel was only environmentally preferable for 50% of the environmental impact categories assessed due to increased electrical energy demand for that scenario.<br/

What factors are associated with positive effects of dog ownership in families with children with autism spectrum disorder? The development of the Lincoln Autism Pet Dog Impact Scale

Scientific literature exploring the value of assistance dogs to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is rapidly emerging. However, there is comparably less literature reporting the effects of pet (as opposed to assistance) dogs to these children. In particular, there are no known validated scales which assess how children may alter their behaviours in the presence of the dog, to evaluate the efficacy of pet dogs to these families. Additionally, given the highly individualised nature of ASD it is likely that some children and families gain more benefits from dog ownership than others, yet no research has reported the effect of individual differences. This pilot study reports the development of a 28-item scale based on the perceived impact of a pet dog on a child with autism by parents (Lincoln Autism Pet Dog Impact Scale, LAPDIS). The scale is comprised of three mathematically derived factors: Adaptability, Social Skills and Conflict Management. We assessed how individual differences (aspects) may be associated with scores on these three factors. Family Aspects and Dog Aspects were not significantly associated with ratings on the three factors, but Child Aspects (including: contact with horses, child age, disability level and language abilities) were related to impact of the dog on all factors. Training Aspects were related to scores on Social Skills (formal training with children with ASD and dogs and attendance at PAWS workshops run by Dogs for Good). These results suggest that individual differences associated with the child and the training approach may be important considerations for a positive impact from dog ownership on families with children with ASD. Differences in family features and the dog may not be so important, but may be worthy of further investigations given the early stage of development in this field

Choosing and using methodological search filters : searchers' views

© 2014 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2014 Health Libraries Group.Peer reviewedPostprin

Global assessment of exposure to faecal contamination through drinking water based on a systematic review

Objectives: To estimate exposure to faecal contamination through drinking water as indicated by levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli) or thermotolerant coliform (TTC) in water sources. Methods: We estimated coverage of different types of drinking water source based on household surveys and censuses using multilevel modelling. Coverage data were combined with water quality studies that assessed E. coli or TTC including those identified by a systematic review (n = 345). Predictive models for the presence and level of contamination of drinking water sources were developed using random effects logistic regression and selected covariates. We assessed sensitivity of estimated exposure to study quality, indicator bacteria and separately considered nationally randomised surveys. Results: We estimate that 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking water which suffers from faecal contamination, of these 1.1 billion drink water that is of at least 'moderate' risk (>10 E. coli or TTC per 100 ml). Data from nationally randomised studies suggest that 10% of improved sources may be 'high' risk, containing at least 100 E. coli or TTC per 100 ml. Drinking water is found to be more often contaminated in rural areas (41%, CI: 31%-51%) than in urban areas (12%, CI: 8-18%), and contamination is most prevalent in Africa (53%, CI: 42%-63%) and South-East Asia (35%, CI: 24%-45%). Estimates were not sensitive to the exclusion of low quality studies or restriction to studies reporting E. coli. Conclusions: Microbial contamination is widespread and affects all water source types, including piped supplies. Global burden of disease estimates may have substantially understated the disease burden associated with inadequate water services

“School is awful, horrible and like a prison.” A reflexive thematic analysis of primary school pupils’ perceptions of the factors which influence their school attendance

Difficulties with school attendance have been linked to poorer academic attainment, as well as later unemployment and reduced emotional wellbeing. This is a particularly pertinent area of research following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also an area of interest for the UK government, with the Department for Education (DfE, 2022) having recently published guidance on supporting school attendance. Research highlights the benefits of early identification and intervention for these needs, as well as the importance of gaining pupil voice. However, there has been limited research focussing on primary school aged children and young people (CYP)’s views, despite the literature suggesting that barriers to school attendance do begin in primary school. Therefore, the aim of the present research was to explore the perceptions of primary school aged CYP who are beginning to experience barriers to school attendance. The two research questions focussed on the perceptions of young people on their barriers to school attendance and the factors they perceive to support their school attendance. The research utilised semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data from a sample of six key stage 2 pupils who were at the early stages of experiencing barriers to school attendance. The data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis which generated three themes in relation to barriers: negative school experiences, school as a safe space, and psychological and physiological needs. Three themes regarding supportive factors were also identified, which were the importance of relationships, reasonable adjustments and inclusion of pupil voice in planning for support. Support was found for previous literature and the findings can be understood in terms of Bronfenbrenner and Ceci’s (1994) bioecological model, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943) and the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Implications for schools and educational psychologists (EPs) include taking a holistic and interactionist approach to reducing barriers to school attendance