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A review of resource recovery from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME): Recent technological innovations and pathways to circular economy
Full text link© 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), a waste created because of palm oil processing, poses significant environmental issues. POME has a lot of pollutants, including organic waste, nutrients, and heavy metals. This review extensively discusses successful cases of resource recovery from POME with challenges posed today in its treatment or management methods. It also covers the advanced technologies that seek to enhance resource recovery from POME, with the evaluation of the environmental impacts of the processes. POME an anaerobic effluent with high concentrations of organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus and trace heavy metals, i.e., cadmium, copper and zinc. These pollutants can give rise to eutrophication, deterioration of water quality and greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, effective treatment is needed to change POME into useful resources such as biogas, organic fertilizers, and reclaimed water. The technologies that have been attempted include anaerobic digestion, membrane bioreactor and other microbial treatment systems, which are highly effective in pollutant reduction along with resource recovery. Another area investigated is integration possibilities for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) alongside hybrid systems that may incorporate biological and physical methodologies. Strong policy support and regulatory framework will engage in cementing sustainable practices that synergize palm oil production with circular economy models. Key challenges identified from our study include higher operational costs, variability of POME composition, limitations of current treatment methods, and constraints of scale-up and commercialization. However, there are economic benefits in favour of resource recovery from POME, which include avoiding costs for power and fertilizer production and generating additional income from bioproducts. Overall, effective management of POME is critical for the sustainability of the palm oil industry and its role towards achieving global sustainability goals
Handbook on Lived Experience in the Justice System
No full textThis is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in [Handbook on Lived Experience in the Justice System] on [11/12/2025], available online: http://www.routledge.com/Handbook-on-Lived-Experience-in-the-Justice-System/Dum-Fader-LeBel-Wright/p/book/9781041016052Lived experience-informed justice practices are increasingly recognised as a resource for improving criminal justice policies and practices. However, these practices remain under-researched and under-theorised within criminology. This chapter employs Tomczak and Buck's hybrid model of the penal voluntary sector as a conceptual framework to map a diversity of lived experience contributions to justice. Drawing on methodical searches and deductive analysis, the chapter identifies five types of activity: fixers, who focus on individual rehabilitation; enablers of individuals, who provide person-centred support; thought changers, who challenge dehumanising ideologies; distribution changers, who seek structural reforms; and brokers, who mediate cross-sectoral alliances for systemic change. Examples from UK and international contexts illustrate these categories, highlighting global significance. The chapter also explores hybrid approaches, where multiple aims and activities intersect. By offering a rigorous conceptual mapping of these diverse and hybrid practices, this work contributes original insights to the underexplored domain of lived experience-led justice, advancing theoretical understanding and potentially informing future research and policy.unfunde
Deep learning–enhanced prediction of microstructure and porosity evolution in additive-manufactured membrane coatings for harsh environments
Full text link© The Author(s) 2025.The version of record of this article, first published in [International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology], is available online at Publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00170-025-17226-8This study investigates the capability of additive manufacturing (AM) to produce thick coatings functioning as multifunctional membranes with enhanced barrier, transport, and mechanical properties for harsh operating environments. The primary objective was to evaluate how deposition technique and microstructural optimisation influence porosity, diffusion resistance, corrosion protection, and thermal stability. A combined methodology was implemented, integrating experimental testing of laser cladding, thermal spraying, and direct energy deposition (DED) with mathematical models for permeability, diffusion, and thermal conductivity. Laser cladding demonstrated the densest structures, achieving porosity levels below 2% and reducing gas permeability to 1.2 × 10⁻¹⁵ m², nearly an order of magnitude lower than thermal spraying (1.1 × 10⁻¹⁴ m²). Corrosion testing showed nickel-based cladded coatings reached rates as low as 0.0025 mm/year, representing a 90% reduction compared to uncoated substrates (0.026 mm/year). Thermal barrier evaluation of YSZ coatings indicated a conductivity of 0.95 W/m·K at 1200 °C, corresponding to a 38% reduction in heat flux across 1.2 mm-thick layers. Ultrasonic spray post-treatment reduced surface roughness by up to 55% and biofilm accumulation by nearly half. Error analysis confirmed deviations within ± 6%. These results confirm that AM thick coatings function as functional membranes, offering selective transport regulation, structural durability, and sustainability across the aerospace, energy, and marine sectors.unfunde
Sustainable Logistics: Generating Value by Doing the Right Thing
No full text© 2026 Andrew Birkbeck and Lisa RoweGBA Logistics (hereafter GBA) is a provider of international logistics, headquartered in the Northwest of England. During recent years, it has increased in size, both in terms of number of employees and annual revenue. GBA is also meeting the criteria for several elements of existing and emerging legislation whereby companies must report on matters relating to environmental social governance (ESG), such as greenhouse emissions and energy usage. Customer pressure is also prevalent in this area, with corporations and companies operating in different geographic regions subject to different ESG legislative requirements, which can be passed to suppliers. GBA must balance its own ESG legislative obligations with those of its customers and develop a strategy whereby maximum company and customer value is derived. Students will be asked to examine the influence of political and societal factors on logistics organizations in fulfilling ESG requirements as well as achieving the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs), assess the roles within the organization for ESG and SDG alignment, describe the impact of ESG on customer values, and identify responsible and sustainable practices.N/
Materiality and Virtuality: Entanglements of Material and Virtual Worlds in Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture
No full textThis chapter examines how the Mobility of Objects project sought to enhance the visibility and accessibility of regional museum collections in the UK and Western Europe, leading collaborators to engage critically with the relationship between virtuality and materiality. It addresses three interconnected issues: first, the conceptualisation and application of the terms virtuality, materiality, the virtual, and the material; second, the role of haptic and sensory engagement by academics, pupils, and the public in revealing the multiplicity and “realities” of medieval materials; and third, the potential of digital and virtual-reality reconstructions to open medieval objects to wider audiences and illuminate the dynamic interplay between the virtual and the material. Rob Shields’s observation that “the digitally virtual is […] embedded in the ongoing life of the concrete,” offering both imaginative possibility and a basis for material-world action, provides a critical point of departure for this discussion.unfunde
What can higher education leadership learn from the further education sector?
No full textThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Further and Higher Education on 27/01/2026, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2026.2621547The Senior Editors of the Journal of Further and Higher Education (JFHE) are offering a series of editorials to celebrate the journal's vitality. In this editorial, we explore the extent to which the Journal of Further and Higher Education consider the symbiotic nature of further and higher education institutions. In doing so, we will focus on the UK as an example of the challenges that both sectors face and identify how higher education can possibly learn from the challenges faced in the further education sector. While this editorial is primarily UK-centric, we challenge readers to consider how widespread these factors are in their own countries.unfunde
Leader’s emotional agility: Scale validation and psychological correlates
No full text© Nehir Ozdemir and Steve Lambert.Purpose: This study aims to develop and validate the Emotional Agility Scale for leaders by expanding and re-conceptualising the emotional agility subscale of the Agile Leadership Scale, and to examine its demographic and psychological correlates.
Design/methodology/approach: The scale was extended based on theory, expert input, and qualitative data collected through open-ended questions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using evaluations provided by followers of school leaders. Multiple validity types, including construct and convergent validity, were assessed.
Findings: Factor analysis of the Emotional Agility Scale (EAS) for leaders revealed a two-factor structure, distinguishing Team-Oriented EA and Personal EA. Correlational analyses showed that female managers scored significantly higher on Team-Oriented EA (r = 0.23, p = 0.01) and total EA (r = 0.22, p = 0.01), while higher perceived stress was negatively associated with Team-Oriented EA (r = -0.28, p < 0.01) and total EA (r = -0.24, p < 0.01). Additionally, older managers scored significantly higher on Personal EA (r = 0.22, p = 0.01), indicating age-related improvements in self-regulatory emotional competence.
Originality: This is one of the first validated tools tailored for educational leaders’ emotional agility. Incorporating follower perspectives enhances ecological validity. The scale provides a practical resource for leadership development and educational management.unfundedAAM removed and archived and VoR uploaded to ChesterRep 31/03/202
The way forward for assessing the human health safety of cosmetics in the EU: Proceedings of Workshop 2
Full text link© The Author(s) 2025.The version of record of this article, first published in [Archives of Toxicology], is available online at Publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00204-025-04275-xUnder the European Cosmetic Regulation, safety assessments of cosmetics and their ingredients must be conducted without the use of animals. This regulatory requirement poses a number of challenges, as validated alternative methods are only available for some of the toxicological endpoints that are typically considered in standard human health risk assessments. Despite significant progress since the ban in 2013, particularly in the development of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for local and acute toxicity, and for mutagenicity/genotoxicity, there remains an urgent need for non-animal test methods to assess systemic toxicity, which often becomes evident after repeated or long-term exposure. Currently, no validated animal-free alternatives are available for assessing sub-acute, sub-chronic and chronic toxicity, carcinogenicity, developmental/reproductive toxicity, or for a major part of toxicokinetics. In response to these challenges, the Methodology Working Group of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety organised a dedicated workshop in December 2024 to discuss advances in the application of Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA) as a strategic animal-free approach for the safety assessment of cosmetic ingredients. The workshop focused on a number of important key issues for the practical application of NAMs and NGRA, their regulatory acceptance and identification of possible (partial) solutions to overcome existing limitations. [Abstract copyright: © 2025. The Author(s).]unfunde
British ritual innovation under COVID-19
Full text link© 2021 by the authors.This report outlines the context, methods, data, and findings of the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project British Ritual Innovation under Covid-19 [BRIC-19]. The project ran from August 2020 to September 2021, with the aim of documenting and analysing changes to British communal religious life during the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, and of providing best practice recommendations for religious communities adapting their practice to address similar crisis
situations in the future. Particular effort has been made to include data that reflects, to the extent possible, the geographic and religious diversity of Britain, by focussing on questions of religious practice rather than on theological questions or issues of belief which are specific to faith traditions.Social Distance, Digital Congregation: British Ritual Innovation under COVID-19 | Funder: UK Research and Innovation | Grant ID: AH/V008730/
Translating research into practice: A UK based case study of a social care research-practice partnership focusing on older adults
Full text linkThis author accepted manuscript is deposited under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) licence. This means that anyone may distribute, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes, subject to full attribution. If you wish to use this manuscript for commercial purposes, please contact [email protected] literature review exploring developing research-practice partnerships highlighted they originated in the education sector and have been operating for two decades in the United States. The literature was applied to frame a real-world case study and make recommendations to inform the development and implementation of such partnerships.
Research practice partnerships are long-term collaborations between researchers and practitioners aiming to make practice-based improvement. The literature offers frameworks and guidance regarding how to establish and develop these partnerships and the factors required for success. Insights from the case study highlight the importance of adequate resourcing, open dialogue between partners, setting research goals, and establishing terms of reference.
Research practice partnerships provide a platform in facilitating a range of partners in supporting the application of evidence into practice. The application of such partnerships has the potential to address current challenges by promoting evidence-informed practice.
The uniqueness of this paper is in highlighting research practice partnerships can be implemented in adult social care and offering practical guidance. Research practice partnership can raise practitioners’ awareness of research and the associated processes required. Similarly, the researchers gain better understanding of the challenges faced in adult social care practice.unfunde
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