64623 research outputs found
Sort by
Cerium oxide catalysts for oxidative coupling of methane reaction: Effect of lithium, samarium and lanthanum dopants
Get PDFThe work presented herein reports on the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) performance of a series of Li-free and Li-doped CeO2 and CeO2 modified with Sm3+ and La3+ catalysts. The supporting materials (Ce, Sm-Ce and La-Sm-Ce metal oxides) were synthesized using the microwave assisted sol-gel method in order to achieve nanophase complex materials with increased particle surface energy and reactivity. Lithium ions were added, using the wet impregnation technique, in order to further improve the physicochemical characteristics and reinforce the activity and selectivity, in terms of C2H6 and C2H4 production. All materials were characterized using N2 adsorption-desorption, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, CO2-TPD, H2-TPR, SEM and XPS. We showed that the addition of lithium species changed the reaction pathway and drastically enhanced the production of ethylene and ethane, mainly for the promoted catalysts (Li/Sm-Ce and Li/La-Sm-Ce). In particular, the presence and the synergy between the electrophilic oxygen species (peroxide and superoxide), population of oxygen vacancy sites and the surface moderate basic sites determined the reaction pathway and the desirable product distribution
Livelihood Diversification Through Tourism: Identity, Well-Being, and Potential in Rural Coastal Communities
No full textTraditional rural livelihoods are disappearing due to natural resource decline, climate pressure and, also modernization. This study explores livelihood diversification from primary economic activities into tourism employment in rural communities. We examine the developmental role of tourism in areas where traditional activities, in this case fishing, have declined and tourism is growing. This article presents the findings of two case studies: the coastal communities of Padstow (UK) and Paternoster (South Africa). The approach is qualitative and draws on sustainable livelihoods and social well-being notions to examine how affected people “cope with change” with respect to tourism diversification, and individual and community well-being. While the socioeconomic and sociopolitical contexts in the two research sites differ, the findings show that narratives about belonging and identity feature prominently with respect to fishing livelihoods in both cases. Small-scale fishing, perceived as a way of life for fishers, is under threat in both areas, yet there is limited evidence of concerted efforts to plan and manage the potential diversification processes into tourism. Nonetheless, we observe that tourism does provide some opportunities for fishing-dependent communities and outline some avenues for stronger collaboration, particularly by focusing on culinary tourism
Exploring the Interplay Between Pay, Career Barriers and Management Support: An Intersectional Study of Migrant Doctors
Get PDFThe UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is heavily reliant on migrant labour to deliver essential services. While evidence indicates that overseas doctors have less positive career outcomes that may result in pay gaps in comparison to UK-trained counterparts, extant theoretical explanations have been slow to consider the crucial role of workplace practices, and the degree to which pay gaps differ between multiple identity sub-groups. Adopting an intercategorical approach to analyse statistical survey data from 5,753 NHS doctors, we examine how pay gaps stem from career barriers and management support in male and female International Medical Graduate, European Economic Area and UK doctors. Our findings provide insights into intersectional variations in career barriers and pay gaps for skilled medical migrants which point to penalties for migrants, especially migrant ethnicized women. Based on our findings we extend the literature in two ways. First, we extend theoretical explanations of pay gaps by conceptualizing pay differences as a complex multi-layered concept that embrace workplace practices as well as intersecting demographic identities. Second, we contribute to theory on skilled migration by highlighting the counter-intuitive shape of management support on migrants’ careers and diversifying extant understandings of constraint and enablement in migrant careers
“They kind of found different ways of being together without being together” – family approaches to meeting children’s social needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Get PDFBefore the COVID-19 pandemic, there was already considerable concern for the mental health and wellbeing of UK children, including those of primary school age. Friendship and resilience are two factors which can help children to cope in times of adversity. The pandemic and measures such as lockdown and school closures made it difficult for children to maintain their friendships in the usual ways and moreover were themselves an enormous source of stress and worry, which is likely to have further impacted the mental wellbeing of the nation’s children. This study sought to explore how families experienced the pandemic in terms of their children’s lack of access to their habitual routines and contact with their friends, by interviewing fifteen mothers of primary school-aged children during the summer and early Autumn of 2020. Interviewees revealed how they and their children attempted to meet children’s social needs during the first national lockdown and its subsequent easing, aware, through attunement, that isolation and loneliness was detrimental to their children’s wellbeing. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse and interpret the interview transcripts, and three main themes were constructed which explored the resilience and adaptation that parents and children exhibited in order to meet the children’s social needs. The implications and contribution of this research, as well as its limitations, are discussed. Children’s wellbeing, healthy development and their ability to cope in adversity are reliant on time and space to be with their friends (Graber et al., 2016). Caregivers can offer support and facilitation of this (online and offline) contact when children’s normal means of socialising become unavailable
Deep Learning Based Fault Prediction in Wireless Sensor Network Embedded Cyber-Physical Systems for Industrial Processes
No full textThis paper investigates the challenging fault prediction problem in process industries that adopt autonomous and intelligent cyber-physical systems (CPS), which is in line with the emerging developments of industrial internet of things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0. Particularly, we developed an end-to-end deep learning approach based on a large volume of real-time sensory data collected from a chemical plant equipped with wireless sensors. Firstly, a novel recursive architecture with multi-lookback inputs is proposed to perform autoregression on imbalanced time-series data as a preliminary prediction. In this process, a novel learning algorithm named recursive gradient descent (RGD) is developed for the proposed architecture to reduce cumulative prediction uncertainties. Subsequently, a classification model based on temporal convolutions over multiple channels with decay effect is proposed to perform multi-class classification for fault root cause identification and localization. The overall network is named the cumulative uncertainty reduction network (CURNet), for its superior capacity in reducing prediction uncertainties accumulated over multiple prediction steps. Performance evaluations show that CURNet is able to achieve superior performance especially in terms of fault prediction recall and fault type classification accuracy, compared to the existing techniques
Digital technologies can enhance climate resilience of critical infrastructure
No full textDelivering infrastructure, resilient to multiple natural hazards and climate change, is fundamental to continued economic prosperity and social coherence. This is a strategic priority of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), public policies and global initiatives. The operability and functionality of critical infrastructure are continuously challenged by multiple stressors, increasing demands and ageing, whilst their interconnectedness and dependencies pose additional challenges. Emerging and disruptive digital technologies have the potential to enhance climate resilience of critical infrastructure, by providing rapid and accurate assessment of asset condition and support decision-making and adaptation. In this pursuit, it is imperative to adopt multidisciplinary roadmaps and deploy computational, communication and other digital technologies, tools and monitoring systems. Nevertheless, the potential of these emerging technologies remains largely unexploited, as there is a lack of consensus, integrated approaches and legislation in support of their use. In this perspective paper, we discuss the main challenges and enablers of climate-resilient infrastructure and we identify how available roadmaps, tools and emerging digital technologies, e.g. Internet of Things, digital twins, point clouds, Artificial Intelligence, Building Information Modelling, can be placed at the service of a safer world. We show how digital technologies will lead to infrastructure of enhanced resilience, by delivering efficient and reliable decision-making, in a proactive and/or reactive manner, prior, during and after hazard occurrences. In this respect, we discuss how emerging technologies significantly reduce the uncertainties in all phases of infrastructure resilience evaluations. Thus, building climate-resilient infrastructure, aided by digital technologies, will underpin critical activities globally, contribute to Net Zero target and hence safeguard our societies and economies. To achieve this we set an agenda, which is aligned with the relevant SDGs and highlights the urgent need to deliver holistic and inclusive standards and legislation, supported by coordinated alliances, to fully utilise emerging digital technologies
Increased admissions to paediatric wards with a primary mental health diagnosis: results of a survey of a network of eating disorder paediatricians in England
No full textOptimising Audio Reproduction in the Domestic Environment Incorporating Ad-Hoc Devices
Get PDFTo experience loudspeaker-based immersive audio at home, listeners are currentlyrequired to own surround-sound systems, otherwise they are relegated to receivinga compromised experience. A study was undertaken, revealing low ownership byhouseholds of surround-sound systems (11.5%) and soundbars (16.9%). Ownershipwas higher for portable audio-capable devices, including wireless loudspeakers (17.5%),tablets (66.3%) and mobile phones (82.5%). This motivated development of techniquesto optimise reproduction for the unique listener and loudspeaker arrangements whichexist in homes, using those portable, ad-hoc devices.First, we examined a range of approaches through which ad-hoc devices could be usedto improve listening experiences. This was achieved through an exploratory listeningexperiment, performed via creation of a representative playback environment, a highqualityand format-agnostic dataset of programme items, and a broad set of novelrendering approaches validated by industry experts. The experiment revealed thatrepositioning non-dialogue elements of the programmes, whilst restricting dialogue tothe main loudspeakers, had the most consistent positive effect. This was observed mostprominently for attributes related to spatial extent, such as envelopment.Next, a system to automatically optimise listener experience for arbitrary arrangementsof installed and ad-hoc loudspeakers was developed. Requiring minimal producer input,the system operates by repositioning objects to maximise perceived envelopment acrossmultiple listening positions. Whilst validation of the envelopment model demonstratedonly moderate correlation, when compared to VBAP, stereo and 5.0, using stereo plusone to eight ad-hoc devices, the envelopment-system outputs were typically significantlypreferred to VBAP and in 75% of cases to stereo — when rendering to stereo plustwo, or more, ad-hoc devices. The outputs were only ever less preferred to 5.0 in themost challenging scenarios and when using few ad-hoc devices. This demonstratesthat perceptually motivated reproduction approaches can facilitate improved listeningexperiences, using devices which home users often already own
Guidance, Navigation and Control of Retrograde Relative Orbits around Phobos
Get PDFDespite the advantages of very-low altitude retrograde orbits around Phobos, questions remain about the efficacy of conventional station-keeping strategies in preventing spacecraft such as the Martian Moons eXploration from escaping or impacting against the surface of the small irregular moon. This paper introduces new high-fidelity simulations in which the output of a sequential Square-Root Information Filter is combined with recently developed orbit maintenance strategies based on differential algebra and convex optimization methods. The position and velocity vector of the spacecraft are first estimated using range, range-rate, and additional onboard data types such as LIDAR and camera images. This information is later processed to assess the necessity of an orbit maintenance maneuver based on the estimated relative altitude of MMX about Phobos. If a maneuver is deemed necessary, the state of the spacecraft is fed to either a successive convex optimization procedure or a high-order target phase approach capable of providing sub-optimal station-keeping maneuvers. The performance of the two orbit maintenance approaches is assessed via Monte Carlo simulations and compared against work in the literature so as to identify points of strength and weaknesses
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage University of Surrey? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!