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A comparison of well-being of carers of people with dementia and their ability to manage before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the IDEAL study
Get PDFYesSocial restriction measures imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom impacted on
carers of people with dementia, limiting access to support services and increasing perceived burden of caring. Few studies
have compared data collected both during and before the pandemic to examine the effect of these changes.
To explore whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected the well-being of carers of people with dementia living in
the community, and their ability to cope with their caring responsibilities.
Methods: Analysis was conducted on two groups of carers who were enrolled in the IDEAL programme; the ‘pre-pandemic
group’ (n = 312), assessed at two time points prior to the pandemic, and the ‘pandemic group’, assessed prior to and several
months into the pandemic (n = 156). For the pre-pandemic group, carers were matched 2:1 to carers in the pandemic group
on certain characteristics. Differences in change over time between the two groups on self-reported well-being, quality of
life, coping, perceived competence, and role captivity, were investigated using mixed effect modelling.
Results: Compared to the pre-pandemic group, those in the pandemic group appeared to cope better and had more stable
self-rated competency and role captivity. They did not differ in terms of well-being or quality of life.
Conclusion: Despite reports of negative impacts on carers early in the pandemic, the findings suggest the pandemic had little
negative longer-term impact on carers of people with dementia, and in fact they appeared to have a more positive attitude
towards coping several months into the pandemic.We acknowledge the support of NIHR Dementias and Neurodegeneration Specialty (DeNDRoN) and Health and Care Research Wales with IDEAL cohort recruitment and data collection. We gratefully acknowledge the local principal investigators and researchers involved in participant recruitment and assessment within these networks. We are grateful to the IDEAL study participants for their participation in the IDEAL and INCLUDE studies, to the wider group of IDEAL programme researchers, and to members of the ALWAYs group and the Project Advisory Group for their support. ‘Identifying and mitigating the individual and dyadic impact of COVID19 and life under physical distancing on people with dementia and carers (INCLUDE)’ was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through grant ES/V004964/1. Investigators: L. Clare, C. Victor, F.E. Matthews, C. Quinn, A. Hillman, A. Burns, L. Allan, R. Litherland, A. Martyr, R. Collins, & C. Pentecost. ESRC is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). ‘Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life: living well with dementia. The IDEAL study’ was funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through grant ES/L001853/2. Investigators: L. Clare, I.R. Jones, C. Victor, J.V. Hindle, R.W. Jones, M. Knapp, M. Kopelman, R. Litherland, A. Martyr, F.E. Matthews, R.G. Morris, S.M. Nelis, J.A. Pickett, C. Quinn, J. Rusted, J. Thom. ‘Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life: a longitudinal perspective on living well with dementia. The IDEAL-2 study’ is funded by Alzheimer’s Society, grant number 348, AS-PR2-16-001. Investigators: L. Clare, I.R. Jones, C. Victor, C. Ballard, A. Hillman, J.V. Hindle, J. Hughes, R.W. Jones, M. Knapp, R. Litherland, A. Martyr, F.E. Matthews, R.G. Morris, S.M. Nelis, C. Quinn, J. Rusted. L. Clare and L. Allan acknowledge support from the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration SouthWest Peninsula. This report is independent research supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the ESRC, UKRI, NIHR, the Department of Health and Social Care, the National Health Service, or Alzheimer’s Society. The support of ESRC, NIHR and Alzheimer’s Society is gratefully acknowledged. Authors’ disclosures available online (https:// www.j-alz.com/manuscript-disclosures/22-0221r1)
A sustainable integration approach of chlor-alkali industries for the production of PVC and clean fuel hydrogen: prospects and Bangladesh perspectives
Get PDFYesThe chlor-alkali industries produce caustic soda (NaOH), chlorine (Cl2
), and hydrogen
(H2
) as primary products. In 2021, the global chlor-alkali market was valued at 63.2 billion. The article evaluates the global aspects of chlor-alkali industries and prospects for Bangladesh. The current production capacity of NaOH from the chlor-alkali industries in Bangladesh is around 282,150 metric tons/year (MT/y). The by-products, chlorine (Cl2) of 250,470 MT/y and hydrogen (H2) of 7055 MT/y, are produced domestically. The local demand of Cl2 is 68,779 MT/y. However, there are no systematic utilizations of the residual Cl2 and vented H2, which threatens the sustainability of the chlor-alkali industries. The article prefigures that a 150,000 MT/y PVC plant can utilize 45.2 % of residual Cl2 of chlor-alkali plants, which would be an economical and environmental milestone for Bangladesh. The residual Cl2 can earn revenue of 908 million USD/y, which can be utilized to import ethylene. For the sustainable utilization of vented H2, production of H2O2, fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) and H2 fuel-cell-based power plant are the feasible solutions. Thus, for the long-term growth of the chlor-alkali industry in Bangladesh and other developing countries, systematic utilization of Cl2 and H2 is the only feasible solution.BUET Chemical Engineering Forum (BCEF), 001-2020
From agro-waste to encapsulated carbon catalyst for improving stability of naphtha desulfurization
Get PDFYesThe deactivation of the oxidative desulfurization (ODS) catalysts is a challenge and is a major concern in industrial catalytic processes. In this work, an activated carbon (AC) was prepared from agricultural waste and modified to withstand the ODS activity loss over time. The AC was impregnated with manganese and coated with aluminum oxide to prolong the activity lifetime. The catalysts were characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and transition electron microscope (TEM). The BET surface areas of the examined AC materials were 814.48 m2/g, 784.76 m2/g, and 755.03 m2/g for the AC, Mn/AC, and coated Mn/AC catalysts, respectively with a dominance of microporous pore size. The TGA showed that the coating layer retards the degradation of the active metal and suppresses phase transitions. XRD showed no change in the structure of the catalyst with a coating layer, and from the TEM analysis, the coating layer thickness was 3.6 nm. The kinetics of the ODS catalysts were investigated. It was shown that the ODS reaction follows the first-order kinetics and is not influenced by the coating layer. The activity decay was also investigated. It is found that the activation energy of the deactivation reaction over the coated catalyst was higher than the uncoated catalyst
Eight-Element Antenna Array with Improved Radiation Performances for 5G Hand-Portable Devices
Get PDFYesThis study aims to introduce a new phased array design with improved radiation properties for future cellular networks. The procedure of the array design is simple and has been accomplished on a low-cost substrate material while offering several interesting features with high performance. Its schematic involves eight air-filled slot-loop metal-ring elements with a 1 × 8 linear arrangement at the top edge of the 5G smartphone mainboard. Considering the entire board area, the proposed antenna
elements occupy an extremely small area. The antenna elements cover the range of 21-23.5 GHz sub-mm-wave 5G bands. Due to the air-filled function in the configurations of the elements, low-loss and high-performance radiation properties are observed. In addition, the fundamental characteristics of the introduced array are insensitive to various types of substrates. Moreover, its radiation properties have been compared with conventional arrays and better results have been observed. The proposed array appears with a simple design, a low complexity profile, and its attractive broad impedance bandwidth, end-fire radiation mode, wide beam steering, high radiation coverage, and stable characteristics meet the needs of 5G applications in future cellular communications. Additionally, the
smartphone array design offers sufficient efficiency when it comes to the appearance and integration of the user's components. Thus, it could be used in 5G hand-portable devices
Design of new nano-catalysts and digital basket reactor for oxidative desulfurization of fuel: experiments and modelling
Get PDFYesThis study was focused on developing a new catalyst using metal oxide (10 %Mn) over Nano- activated Carbon (Nano-AC) particles and designing a new reactor (digital basket reactor, DBR) for the sulfur removal from kerosene oil via oxidative desulfurization (ODS). The new homemade Nano-catalyst was prepared by utilizing impregnation process and was characterized by SEM, EDX, BET, and FTIR techniques. The performance of ODS process under moderate operating conditions was significantly enhanced by the application of the new catalyst and the new reactor. The results showed that 94 % of the sulfur could be achieved at oxidation temperature of 80 ºC, oxidation time of 35 min and agitation rate of 750 rpm. The reactivity of catalyst was examined after four consecutive ODS cycles under the optimal experimental parameters and the used catalyst showed excellent stability based on oxidation efficiency. The spent catalyst was treated by methanol, ethanol and iso-octane solvents for regenerated it, and the result proved that iso-octane carried out the maximum regeneration performance. An optimization method depending on minimizing the sum of the squared error among the experimental and model predicted data of ODS technology was employed to evaluate the optimal kinetic model parameters of the reaction system. The ODS process model was able to predict the results obtained experimentally for a wide range of conditions very well by absolute average errors<5 %
The kihara potential function parameters of methane, ethane, propane, and i-butane: The effects on clathrate hydrate structure determination
Get PDFYesGas hydrates, or clathrate hydrates, are solid crystalline compounds, which are formed by combination of water and gas and/or some volatile liquid molecules. Prediction of hydrate stability/dissociation/equilibrium conditions of natural gases is important in separation processes, gas storage, and in preventing blockage of gas transmission pipelines. In this study, initially, the different sets of the Kihara Potential Function Parameters, KPFP, reported in the literature were used to predict the experimental hydrate dissociation conditions of methane, ethane, propane and i-butane and mixtures of these four compounds. In most cases, however, based on these sets of KPFP, the hydrate structure cannot be predicted correctly. Consequently due to incorrect estimation of the hydrate structure, especially for natural gas mixture, the predicted hydrate dissociation conditions are found inaccurate. For overcoming this fault and by using a genetic algorithm, a new set of KPFP were optimized based on the new definition of the objective function considering hydrate structure. The results show good agreement with experimental data, both in the prediction of hydrate dissociation conditions and hydrate structure
Financing for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the era of COVID-19 and beyond
Get PDFYesThe economic and social impact of covid-19 pandemic both on developing and developed countries has been significant. In addition to the impact of the pandemic, the current Ukraine war has also led to severe supply chain disruptions leading to a sharp increase in food and commodity prices globally. Due to a combination of external shocks and the impact of the pandemic global economic growth is expected to slow down from 6.1% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022 and further to 2.7% in 2023 (IMF 2022). The above factors have led to a sharp increase in government expenditure constraining both developed and developing countries' fiscal capacity. This has further implications for the achievement of SDGs especially for low-income countries. The challenge for developing countries in the current scenario is to mobilise adequate resources both from domestic and international sources, not just for the achievement of SDGs as such, but also to sustain the livelihoods, health, and welfare of people. This special issue aims to examine some of these issues in the context of developing countries
The dark satanic mills: Evaluating patterns of health in England during the Industrial Revolution
Get PDFYesObjective: this research seeks to investigate the impact the Industrial Revolution had on the population of England.
Materials: Pre-existing skeletal data from 1154 pre-Industrial (1066–1700AD) and 4157 industrial (1700–1905) skeletons from 21 cemeteries (N = 5411).
Methods: Context number, sex, age-at-death, stature and presence/absence of selected pathological conditions were collated. The data were compared using chi square, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, t-tests and logistic regression (α = 0.01).
Results: There was a statistically significant increase in cribra orbitalia, periosteal reactions, rib lesions, fractures, rickets, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, enamel hypoplasia, dental caries and periapical lesions in the industrial period. Osteomyelitis decreased from the pre-industrial to industrial period.
Conclusion: Our results confirm the Industrial Revolution had a significant negative impact on human health, however the prevalence of TB, treponemal disease, maxillary sinusitis, osteomalacia, scurvy, gout and DISH did not change, suggesting these diseases were not impacted by the change in environmental conditions.
Significance: This is the largest study of health in the Industrial Revolution that includes non-adults and adults and considers age-at-death alongside disease status to date. This data supports the hypothesis that the Rise of Industry was associated with a significant decline in general health, but not an increase in all pathologies.
Limitations: This meta-analysis relies upon previously gathered data and diagnosis from a large number of researchers. Incomplete skeletons were often excluded from analyses. Few rural cemeteries were available for inclusion.
Suggestions for further research: Data from unpublished and ongoing excavations should be investigated. Comparison with historical data is encouraged.Funded by the Royal Society (IES\R1\180138
Sustainable Transitions in Social Housing in England. The Development of a Theoretical Framework
Get PDFSocial housing can play a large role for both the UK and global agenda to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Political and industry efforts to promote sustainability in social housing in England are sparse, despite a plethora of existing research. One reason for this might be the lack of integration of different actors and elements in social housing. This study aims to fill this gap by developing a theoretical framework that can help different actor groups involved in social housing in England identify connections and transition to sustainability. The framework is developed and validated using a mixed methods iterative approach, including a Delphi study to begin with. Results are validated using interviews and document search and analysed by using discourse analysis. Results indicate that the social housing system consists of six actor groups who all have different interpretations of sustainability. External pressures on the system consist mainly of central government policies. Niche innovations have not broken through to the system yet.
Powerful actors consist of the construction and finance industry, who influence central government in terms of policy making. Power is closely aligned with financialisation of housing. Comparing results to research on transition pathways for sustainability, no such transitions can be observed in the social housing system. This study represents a first attempt to develop a theoretical framework where social housing is conceptualised as a system, investigating its key change processes. Recommendations are defined for key stakeholder groups regarding the relevance of the framework to investigate pathways for a transition to sustainable housing
CellsDeepNet: A Novel Deep Learning-Based Web Application for the Automated Morphometric Analysis of Corneal Endothelial Cells
Get PDFYesThe quantification of corneal endothelial cell (CEC) morphology using manual and semi-automatic software enables an objective assessment of corneal endothelial pathology. However, the procedure is tedious, subjective, and not widely applied in clinical practice. We have developed the CellsDeepNet system to automatically segment and analyse the CEC morphology. The CellsDeepNet system uses Contrast-Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) to improve the contrast of the CEC images and reduce the effects of non-uniform image illumination, 2D Double-Density Dual-Tree Complex Wavelet Transform (2DDD-TCWT) to reduce noise, Butterworth Bandpass filter to enhance the CEC edges, and moving average filter to adjust for brightness level. An improved version of U-Net was used to detect the boundaries of the CECs, regardless of the CEC size. CEC morphology was measured as mean cell density (MCD, cell/mm2), mean cell area (MCA, µm2), mean cell perimeter (MCP, µm), polymegathism (coefficient of CEC size variation), and pleomorphism (percentage of hexagonality coefficient). The CellsDeepNet system correlated highly significantly with the manual estimations for MCD (r = 0.94), MCA (r = 0.99), MCP (r = 0.99), polymegathism (r = 0.92), and pleomorphism (r = 0.86), with