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In situ layered double hydroxide for efficient remediation of acidic water
Get PDFThe efficient and sustainable in situ remediation of high‐strength acidic groundwater contaminated by complex micropollutants with minimal use of chemicals is a challenge. Here it is reported that MgAl alloy achieves neutralization and a complete removal of 20 mg L−1 Cd2+, Cr(VI), Cu2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+ in 15 min from acidic water free of chemicals. The removal rate of heavy metals and nitrate increases with decreasing pH and is not significantly reduced after 5 cycles of treating acidic water. The excellent performance of MgAl alloy in reactivity, durability, and efficiency is attributed to a synergistic effect of chemical reduction and eutectic reactions, which is catalyzed by intermetallic compound Mg17Al12 and in situ layered double hydroxide (iLDH). The pH 2.47 of an acid mine drainage sample from copper ore mines is raised to 7.4 ± 0.4 and the concentrations of Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn ions are reduced to <0.55 mg L−1 from 5–559 mg L−1. In contrast, quick lime treatment increases the pH to 12.45, whereas activated carbon, zerovalent iron, and conventional LDH are not able to neutralize or remove Al3+ and heavy metals. The findings of this study provide new insights into the efficient, green, and sustainable approach for acidic water remediation.Advanced Sustainable System
Monitoring and managing spatial-temporal variability on farm: a crop modelling approach for nitrogen management
No full textHannam, Jacqueline A. - Associate Supervisor
Stockdale, Elizabeth - Associate Supervisor (NIAB)
Marchant, Benjamin - Associate Supervisor (BGS)Spatial variability in soil properties leads to significant differences in nitrogen use
efficiency and crop response, creating challenges for optimising fertiliser
management in wheat production. This research evaluates the feasibility of using
the Sirius Crop Simulation Model to inform site-specific N management,
integrating high-resolution soil sensing, long-term yield maps, and agronomic
data. A systematic review identified key knowledge gaps, including the lack of
crop simulation model applications for UK wheat at the sub-field scale and
challenges in spatially parameterising soil properties. To address these, Sirius
was validated using long-term agronomic data, accurately simulating spatial-
temporal variability in grain N uptake (RRMSE = 19.5%), demonstrating its
potential for spatial N management. A framework for cleaning, validating, and
applying whole-farm yield map datasets was developed and applied to a 435 ha
commercial farm. This enabled management zone delineation based on soil and
economic performance and demonstrated how such techniques could be used to
support precision agriculture, including crop modeling parametrisation. Sirius was
then parameterised and applied across 30.5 ha using these management zones
techniques, generating zone-specific N recommendations ranging from 160–216
kg N ha⁻¹, simulating potential for improvements in nitrogen use efficiency and
reducing unutilised N, particularly in low available water capacity zones where
current farm standard N application increased leaching risk by up to 31.1 kg N
ha⁻¹. This research demonstrates a novel integration of crop simulation models
into precision N management for UK wheat, combining validated models with
refined spatial data techniques to improve farm-scale decision-making. While
some model limitations remain, particularly in biomass simulations, the study
highlights the potential for models to support economic and environmental
sustainability in wheat production. Future work should validate model-derived
recommendations in field trials, explore multi-model comparisons, and assess
broader rotational impacts to enhance long-term farm management.PhD in Environment and Agrifoo
Developing and leveraging digital twins in engineering design
Get PDFDigital twins are digital representations of real-world entities constantly fed by dynamic, bidirectional communication and updates throughout the lifecycle of these sophisticated paired systems. Developing digital twins in production engineering creates new avenues for engineering design in the context of digital transformation in manufacturing and sociotechnical systems. This paper reviews the foundational concepts, methodologies, and applications of digital twins in engineering design, covering both their architecture and development (engineering of digital twins), and their utilisation to enhance design activities (engineering with digital twins). An overview of the current state-of-the-art is presented, challenges are highlighted, and future research directions are addressed.(Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)The authors express their sincere gratitude to Dr Yifan Qie, Dr Xin Ma, the makeTwin research group, and the TransiT Research Hub (https://www.transit.ac.uk/) which is funded through EPSRC Grant Number EP/Z533221/1, for their valuable support.CIRP Annal
Should indigenous knowledge in development be redefined? Lessons from the artisanal mining sector in Ghana
Get PDFIndigenous knowledge is often posed as a unified body of knowledge, undefiled and somewhat sanctimonious. When it does not appear so, it is claimed that indigenous knowledge, particularly, has been ‘adulterated’ by Westernised ideologies from colonialism and modernisation. This perceived dichotomy, i.e. indigenous versus modern knowledge, often ignores the possibility of hybridised knowledge, a continuous and complicated everyday process whereby various forms of knowledge blend in space and time. This paper, therefore, argues that the existence of dichotomous and distinct forms of knowledge is a mirage. Rather, what may be termed indigenous is a co-produced knowledge by multiple actors and agents, having evolved through rigorous negotiations, legitimisation and politico-economic contestations. We make this point by analysing the bricolage processes of alteration and aggregation between ideologies perceived to be rooted in African indigenous knowledge systems, and modern, colonially rooted religious ideologies in a Ghanaian mining village. The paper highlights the importance of context in these discussions. We conclude that particularly in rapidly shifting socio-economic, political and cultural landscapes, indigenous knowledge as a distinct body of applicable knowledge remains contestable and complex and therefore solicits for intentional dissection and detangling, especially within development practice.International Development Planning Revie
Microstructure tailoring of a wire-arc DED processed Ti6242 alloy for high damage tolerance performance
Get PDFThis paper examines the effects of interpass hammer peening and post-process β annealing on the tensile properties, high-cycle fatigue, and fatigue crack growth behaviour of the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo-0.1Si (Ti6242), processed via wire-arc directed energy deposition (w-DED, also known as WAAM). A major challenge in additive manufacturing of titanium alloys is the development of a coarse columnar grain structure under standard build conditions, leading to significant anisotropy and variability in mechanical properties. This study demonstrates that interpass peening effectively refines the grain structure by inducing recrystallization, resulting in isotropic properties and increased strength without compromising fatigue crack growth resistance. Additionally, post-deposition annealing above the β-transus temperature (β annealing) significantly reduces the fatigue crack growth rate by an order of magnitude through microstructural refinement. The formation of coarse single-variant lamellar colonies promotes crack path branching and deviation, enhancing fatigue crack growth performance. Combining in-process grain refinement via peening with post-process β annealing further increases the threshold stress intensity factor by 2.5 times. These improvements provide substantial benefits for damage-tolerant design principles.We would like to thank the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) for supporting this research through the “New Wire Additive Manufacturing (NEWAM)” programme grant (EP/R027218/1).Additive Manufacturin
Operation METHODICAL: protecting London’s art during a nuclear attack
Get PDFOn the 6 November 1972, detailed orders were issued by HQ United Kingdom Land Forces for the removal of major national art treasures from London in the event of a nuclear attack on the UK. The codeword METHODICAL was given to this operation. Lessons for evacuating significant works of art from London during the Second World War had been adapted and expanded for re-use during the Cold War, which also saw considerations for collections in both Edinburgh and Cardiff. Given that the international security context has shifted back towards competition and state-on-state conflict from one of international terrorism and state failure in the post-Cold War era, perhaps now is the time to reconsider how nationally important artworks and collections can be safeguarded and their security integrated into homeland defence planning.The Historic Environment: Policy & Practic
DBSCAN-based particle Gaussian mixture filters
No full textThis study addresses nonlinear and non-Gaussian state estimation problems where the particle filter (PF) exhibits the impoverishment issue. This issue arises from the discretisation of the continuous posterior distribution of the state and the use of importance sampling, where the true distribution of the state is unknown. In this study, we propose density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN)-based particle Gaussian mixture (PGM) filters: the PGM-DS and PGM-DU filters, where DS indicates the PGM filter with D B S CAN and DU indicates the PGM filter with D BSCAN and the unscented transform ( U T). These filters assume the posterior distribution of the state to be a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) and sample particles from this GMM. At every time step, the particles are clustered into multiple Gaussian components using DBSCAN, the components are updated with the Kalman/linear minimum mean squared error (LMMSE) update, and the GMM is reconstructed with the updated means and covariances. The proposed filters are tested in three numerical simulation scenarios and compared with other state-of-the-art nonlinear filters. The results show enhanced performance and robustness across the tested simulation scenarios, with lower computational cost compared to the other filters.This research was supported by the Inha University funded project Precision Guidance and Navigation for Deep Space Exploration (project number P20962).Digital Signal Processin
Theorizing synchronization of organizational resources in dynamic environments
Get PDFThe data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.Resource orchestration (RO) in dynamic environments poses challenges during strategic initiatives. Although prior research highlights RO's benefits, little is known about how managerial decisions influence RO over time, potentially leading to inefficiencies. This study examines two multiyear strategic initiatives: an innovative city project and a telecommunications network upgrade to explore how RO actions adapt to shifting priorities using historical methods and longitudinal data. The study contributes to our understanding by examining RO processes in dynamic environments, offering a framework for synchronizing RO, and proposing a roadmap to guide senior management in aligning initiatives with organizational assets. It highlights the importance of adaptation and ambidexterity. Our findings identify four key synchronization processes—refocusing, descoping, substituting, and deferring—essential for managing strategic initiatives. A framework that aligns organizational capabilities with the benefits of innovation through four synchronization states: “Drowning,” “Swimming,” “Treading Water,” and “Doggy Paddle” is presented. Implications, future research, and limitations are discussed.This work was supported by the Konkuk University (2025-A019-0194).Thunderbird International Business Revie
Combinatorial sputtering of photoluminescent europium titanium oxide thin films
No full textPhotoluminescent thin films were fabricated using a combinatorial physical vapour deposition (PVD) process, enabling rapid variation of europium oxide (Eu2O3) in titanium dioxide (TiO2) with concentrations varying from x = 0–1 in x = Eu/(Eu + Ti). Combinatorial sputtering enables synthesising samples with diverse compositions faster than traditional sol–gel, powder mixing, solvo/hydrothermal, and melt-quench processes. Post-heat treatment at 600 °C produced changes to the phase, structure and optical properties of the thin films. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed vertically oriented columnar microstructures in samples with concentrations lower than x = 0.5, exhibiting a narrower average columnar width of about 50 nm after annealing at 600 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that TiO2 was in the anatase phase while Eu2O3 crystallises in a monoclinic structure. The nanocrystalline grain size exhibits noticeable changes after annealing. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to study the photoluminescence of thin films. The excitation peak at 394 nm (7F0 → 5L6) measures spectral emissions, with the strongest emission at 613 nm (5D0 → 7F2).All authors greatly acknowledge the partial support from the European Regional Development Fund via the Innovation In Manufacturing, Aerospace and Green economy (IMAGE) programme to Cranfield University and UKRI Innovate UK via Grants 133908 and 133913.All authors also acknowledge the Environmental Analytical Facility (EAF) and the Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation (Agri-EPI) Centre at Cranfield University for access to the fluorescence spectrophotometer equipment throughout the study.Additionally, we are deeply grateful to James Fong at the University of Manchester and the Henry Royce Institute at the University of Manchester for access to the Thin Film XRD under Royce Partner Equipment Access Schemes (EPSRC grants EP/R00661X/1, EP/S019367/1, EP/P025021/1 and EP/P025498/1).RSC Advance
DNA-free CRISPR genome editing in raspberry (Rubus idaeus) protoplast through RNP-mediated transfection
Get PDFProtoplast-based systems have been utilised in a wide variety of plant species to enable genome editing without chromosomal introgression of foreign DNA into plant genomes. DNA-free genome editing followed by protoplast regeneration allows elite cultivars to be edited without further genetic segregation, preserving their unique genetic composition and their regulatory status as non-transgenic. However, protoplast isolation presents a barrier to the development of advanced breeding technologies in raspberry and no protocol has been published for DNA-free genome editing in the species. Pre-assembled ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs) do not require cellular processing and the commercial availability of Cas9 proteins and synthetic guide RNAs has streamlined genome editing protocols. This study presents a novel high-yielding protoplast isolation protocol from raspberry stem cultures and RNP-mediated transfection of protoplast with CRISPR-Cas9. Targeted mutagenesis of the phytoene desaturase gene at two intragenic loci resulted in an editing efficiency of 19%, though estimated efficiency varied depending on the indel analysis technique. Only amplicon sequencing was sensitive enough to confirm genome editing in a low efficiency sample. To our knowledge, this study constitutes the first use of DNA-free genome editing in raspberry protoplast. This protocol provides a valuable platform for understanding gene function and facilitates the future development of precision breeding in this important soft fruit crop.(Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council)This research was funded by BerryWorld Plus™Frontiers in Genome Editin