34028 research outputs found
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Coelectrolysis of PET and CO<sub>2</sub> Using an Electrochemically Restructured Co-MOF-74 Anode and a Polymeric Co-Phthalocyanine Cathode
No full textMitigating carbon emissions and plastic waste is a pressing societal challenge due to the disruptive environmental impact of incremental accumulation. A promising strategy to address both issues is co-electrolysis of CO2 and PET-plastic waste to high-value commodity chemicals. Here, we report electrocatalytic upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic to formate and terephthalic acid using a cobalt-based metal-organic framework (Co-MOF-74). The electrocatalyst underwent oxidative restructuring to cobalt oxyhydroxide under operating conditions and exhibited near-unity faradaic efficiency (FE) for ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) to formate during short-term electrolysis. Notably, EGOR required 0.23 V lower potential compared to the conventional oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at a current density of 100 mA cm–2. When coupled with a CO2 reducing cathode, a maximum combined FE of 156% was achieved for formate (anode) and syngas (cathode) at a cell voltage (Ecell) of 1.6 V. Upon integration of the EGOR electrode in a CO2-fed flow cell, the coupled system required Ecell of ~2.3 V to operate at 75 mA cm−2. This work presents a promising integrated approach that offers a compelling solution for mitigating environmental pollution by enabling the electrochemical reforming of CO2 and plastic waste into valuable chemicals under cost-effective and energy-efficient conditions.</p
Hybrid physics-based machine learning method for detecting microscale surface defects in additive manufacturing using light scattering
No full textLaser beam powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) is a widely adopted metal additive manufacturing (AM) technique in which a high-power laser selectively melts and fuses metal powders layer by layer. Despite significant technological advances, PBF-LB still suffers from limited process robustness and repeatability, often resulting in surface imperfections that degrade part quality. While macroscale defects such as recoater-induced damage or macrocracks are relatively easy to identify, microscale imperfections, including balling, spattering and surface porosity, remain difficult to detect in real time, yet can critically affect internal part integrity. Conventional inspection methods struggle to capture these fine-scale defects, highlighting the need for advanced, non-destructive approaches for in-situ defect detection. This work evaluates the performance of pretrained, unsupervised machine learning (ML) models for detecting and characterising microscale surface imperfections on PBF-LB surfaces using light scattering. The pretrained ML algorithms include an autoencoder and an anomaly detection model (Isolation Forest) trained on physics-based simulations of scattering patterns from an AM surface. The models are applied directly to experimental scattering patterns from AM surfaces with varying topographies and materials, allowing assessment of model generalisation. This approach shows how variations in surface topography influence scattering behaviour and defect detectability. By analysing parts fabricated under different PBF-LB processing parameters, the study evaluates the applicability of the trained ML model for assessing the quality of additively manufactured surfaces with varying topography characteristics.</p
Mobile Arts for Peace (MAP): Youth Advisory Board (YAB) Journey 2024
No full textThe Youth Advisory Board (YAB) members of Nepal, Rwanda, Kyrgyzstan, and Indonesia reflected on their journey in various MAP projects. They engaged with policymakers, cultural artists, their peers, and other adults. The video shows how creating various kinds of art forms and using them in advocacy and reflexive work make these young people embody MAP ideals of intergenerational dialogue, psychosocial support, collaboration, skills-building, and self-growth. These young people are showing their influence on local communities, schools, youth policies, and the international community. Credit to: YAB and Adult Allies Indonesia, YAB and Adult Allies Nepal, YAB and Adult Allies Kyrgyzstan, YAB and Adult Allies Nepal, YAB and Adult Allies Rwanda, the University of Lincoln, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Northampton.</p
Identification of evidence gaps and future research needs in food safety
No full textEstablishing research priorities to support evidence-based regulatory goals requires cross disciplinary collective expert input. This paper reviews the application of expert elicitation to identify and prioritize research questions in food safety regulation, which approach offers regulators and research funders a rapid, reliable, and cost-effective method for assessing evidence gaps in an expanding scientific landscape. While similar methodologies have been applied in ecology and other fields, this is, to our knowledge, the first use in food safety research. Recommendations are provided to strengthen the process.A facilitated workshop shortlisted 51 questions, grouped into 12 themes, from a long list of 262 submissions, which spanned broad topics, including understanding the origins of emerging hazards and their health impacts. Environmental and sustainability themes address unintended consequences of decarbonization, food waste reduction, and risks from recycled plastics and food byproducts. Dietary change raises questions on emerging allergens, nutritional adequacy of alternative proteins, low fibre intake, and microbiome-related health impacts. Technology-driven changes, such as new production systems, kitchen devices, and secondary food economies, intersect with these dietary shifts. Scientific advances provide opportunities to improve understanding of the dietary exposome through better intake data. Exposure to dietary chemicals occurs alongside complex mixtures of other agents, requiring structured approaches to risk assessment. The evolving science of chemical mixtures and rapid innovation in food systems underscore the need for robust, prioritized research compatible with good regulatory practice.</p
In Perfect Light (En parfaite lumiére)
No full textThis book chapter engages with the vestige and personal effects of recently passed philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, a former collaborator. It specifically engages with an ambiguous passage in his final notebook, which pertains to one of his last books, 'The Fragile Skin of the World'. In 2022 I was enabled a close reading of the notebook and environment at Nancy's former Strasbourg home, at the invitation of his wife, Helene Nancy. The chapter addresses crossed out, draft passages from the final notebook and associated 'atmospheres of the everyday' which accompanied Nancy's elegant writing space for so many years.It is to be published in 2026 in a book titled Nancynéma (a word play on Nancy's name and cinema) by UGA press in French. It is also worthy of mention that the chapter preceeding my contribution to this book is written by UK scholar Carrie Giunta on one of the films I made with Nancy, 'Outlandish: Strange Foreign Bodies' in 2009.</p
Central and Eastern European Women Academics in the UK: Making Britain Home
No full textCentral and Eastern European Women Academics in the UK: Making Britain Home brings together creative, reflexive and conceptually-rich contributions from 30 women academics of Central and Eastern European heritage who have established careers in UK higher education.Through essays, poetry, soundscapes and visual storytelling, the volume explores their migration trajectories and academic working lives, and the ways in which they negotiate identities and construct spaces of belonging within their communities and workplaces. The book situates these widely resonant and universal narratives within the socio-political and economic transformations of post-2004 Britain, including the 2008 financial crisis, the 2016 EU referendum, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing marketisation of higher education. It critically examines the evolving nature of academic labour and the challenges faced by migrant academics in navigating these shifting landscapes.Central and Eastern European Women Academics in the UK: Making Britain Home is key reading for academics in the UK, Europe and beyond who are navigating the challenging landscape of higher education, as well as scholars in sociology researching migration, identity and belonging.</p
Questionnaire and Qualitative Approaches to Assessing Cognition in Forensic Populations
No full textBook chapter by Lister, V. P. M. (2026) titled Questionnaire and Qualitative Approaches to Assessing Cognition in Forensic Populations. Published in Offence‑related Cognition: Theory, Assessment and Intervention (2nd edition), edited by T. A. Gannon and T. Ward, Wiley.</p
A New Approach to Non-consensual Oral Penetration
No full textThe Sexual Offences Act 2003 extended the definition of rape to include oral penetration for the first time. This appears to be inconsistent with common understandings of sex and rape, and I submit that this mismatch between ordinary and statutory conceptions of rape undermines the principle of fair labelling and the aims of criminal justice, and likely contributes to attrition. I call for a new offence of non-consensual oral penetration – retaining the maximum life sentence but avoiding the word ‘rape’ – for assaults of this kind. I propose that this change would improve results for victims and perpetrators, and better reflect public perceptions. Categorising a sex offence as something other than rape may also make it easier to reach a conviction, but I argue that gender justice is not served by working towards increased convictions, which is neither a likely nor, perhaps, desirable outcome of feminist law reform.</p
Intact sleep-dependent memory consolidation of auditory statistical learning among young adults with ADHD
No full textBackground: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder commonly linked to deficits in executive function. However, some theoretical frameworks propose that ADHD may also involve disruptions in cognitive mechanisms central to statistical learning, such as predictive processing and implicit learning. Moreover, abnormal sleep electroencephalography in ADHD raises the possibility of altered sleep-dependent memory consolidation of statistical learning.Aim: Here we examined how individuals with ADHD acquire and consolidate statistical regularities in auditory input, with specific focus on the role of sleep in memory consolidation. Participants were passively exposed to sequences of tones organized according to probabilistic rules of varying complexity and subsequently tested on their recognition of novel tone sequences that conformed to the learned statistical structure. Immediate and delayed recall tests were conducted, with a subset of participants completing the delayed test after a 12-hour interval that included nocturnal sleep, whereas others were tested following a 12-hour interval of daytime wake. This design afforded examining how sleep influences the generation of long-lasting knowledge in ADHD.Results: Statistical learning performance significantly deteriorated following an interval of daytime wake but remained stable after a night of sleep, indicating that sleep has a protective effect on memory consolidation of statistical regularities. Importantly, participants with ADHD were capable of learning and consolidating statistical structures at the same level as controls.Conclusions: These findings indicate that not all forms of learning and not all sleep-dependent mechanisms are affected in ADHD, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between different learning and memory processes in this population.</p