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What environmental circumstances generate hazardous wave overtopping conditions for infrastructure disruption: Dawlish (United Kingdom) case study
No full textCoastal infrastructure faces increasing threats from wave overtopping due to climate change, rising sea levels, and intensifying storms. This research investigates the environmental conditions that drive hazardous wave overtopping using Dawlish, a vulnerable section of the UK’s railway, as a case study. Understanding these conditions is essential for improving knowledge, developing effective mitigation strategies, and enhancing the resilience of shoreline defences against future challenges. Using one-year observations from WireWall instruments, offshore wave buoy, and meteorological data, the research applies a Random Forest model to assess the influence of metocean conditions on overtopping. The results indicate that wave height, tidal level, and wave direction are the primary drivers, with wind speed and direction playing a secondary but potentially significant role despite their omission from empirical models like EurOtop. Analysis of events exceeding the railway wall reveals that southerly waves (Hs \u3e 1.5 m) combined with strong south-southwest winds (\u3e10 m/s) are key triggers of extreme overtopping occurrences. High-impact overtopping occurs predominantly when wave periods range from 6 to 7 s, aligning with mid-to-high tidal levels, particularly around 90 minutes before high tide. Comparisons between WireWall field measurements and EurOtop predictions highlight discrepancies, as the empirical model under-represents overtopping severity under certain conditions. The Random Forest model demonstrates sensitivity to input complexity, resulting in some overprediction of overtopping events. The exclusion of nearshore morphological data and the reliance on distant wind measurements introduces uncertainty, highlighting the need to incorporate on-site wind monitoring, beach profile dynamics, and longer-term datasets to improve predictions. These findings underscore the increasing risk of overtopping at coastal locations, such as Dawlish, and emphasise the necessity for improved real-time forecasting and adaptive coastal management strategies. As sea levels rise and storm intensities increase, integrating high-resolution environmental monitoring and advanced modelling techniques will be essential for protecting vital transport networks in vulnerable coastal regions
Comparing the effect of marine aquarium salts and sodium chloride on Vicia faba stress response
No full textSoil salinity is a major abiotic stressor limiting agricultural productivity. Many salt stress studies rely solely on sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions, despite not accurately representing natural saline conditions. This study investigated the stress response of Vicia faba to NaCl and marine aquarium salt (MAS) solutions to assess the impact of a more complex ionic composition on plant physiology. Plants were cultivated in a controlled greenhouse and treated with either NaCl, MAS, or rainwater (control) for up to 55 days. Growth parameters, water status, proline accumulation, chlorophyll content, and root nodule weight were measured to evaluate stress responses. The results indicate that the NaCl-treated plants experienced greater stress than both the control and MAS-treated plants, with reduced shoot growth, lower relative water content, and increased proline accumulation. The MAS-treated plants better maintained their water content and exhibited higher root nodule weight and chlorophyll content, suggesting enhanced nitrogen fixation and photosynthetic capacity. However, a miscalculation in treatment concentrations resulted in the MAS solution containing slightly less NaCl than intended, which may have influenced the results. Despite this, the findings still highlight the potential role of additional ions in mitigating salt stress and emphasis the need for more realistic salt stress methodologies in plant research. Understanding the influence of ions responsible for salinisation on nitrogen fixation and plant resilience could lead to improved strategies for crop stress tolerance. Future studies should expand this approach to field conditions and diverse crop species to develop more sustainable agricultural practices that reduce reliance on nitrogen fertilisers and improve yields in saline soils
Occupational Therapy Research Cafes – a novel route to embed research into practice
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Midwives’ knowledge, barriers, and enablers of providing warm compresses in the second stage of labour: a clinical audit
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Establishing a large public involvement network for a chronic pain research consortium in the UK
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The use of social prescribing and community-based wellbeing activities as a potential prevention and early intervention pathway to improve adolescent emotional and social development: a systematic mapping review
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Social prescribing (SP) initiatives which aim to connect individuals to community-based assets have received increased research and policy attention, however schemes have mostly centred on adults. There is little research examining how social prescribing might work for children and young people (CYP), and specifically, what pathways into social prescribing look like for this group.
METHODS: We conducted a systematic mapping review to understand what social prescribing pathways look like for CYP. Searches were carried out in February 2022. We reviewed published journal articles and grey literature on pathways for CYP accessing activities or services in the community. We synthesised studies through tabulation and narrative descriptions of similarities and differences.
RESULTS: We identified 14,518 unique hits through electronic database searches, and an additional 230 through grey literature searches. Following exclusions at title/abstract and full text stage, a total of 35 articles from the database searches and 33 sources from the grey literature search were included in the review.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Included papers described a broad range of approaches, cohorts, implementation, and roles included in services. Pathways into SP for CYP seem to vary from the adult SP model, which primarily utilises a primary care pathway, with referrals for CYP SP mostly through educational institutions but also through GPs and self-referral. Link workers or another \u27linking function\u27 was often (but not always) involved in the pathway. Future research should examine how and in what ways particular cohorts access, or not, these sorts of pathways, the economic impact, and examine any potential risks or harms that might be associated with CYP-SP.
FUNDING: National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research (project reference MH003).
TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO 2022 CRD42022312745
Penicillin allergy de-labelling implementation intervention in a UK hospital: a process evaluation, the patient experience
Get PDFBackground: Penicillin allergy (penA) records are common, but true penA is rare. PenA records are associated with broad spectrum antibiotic prescribing and negative patient outcomes. We developed a behavioural intervention package to support inpatient penicillin allergy de-labelling (PADL) delivered by a multi-profession non-allergist workforce to remove incorrect penA records from medical and surgical adult inpatients in a UK hospital. Aims: To explore the experiences, beliefs and concerns of patients who had been offered PADL. Methods: Semi-structured interviews to explore the views of patients admitted to a medical or surgical ward with a penA record and offered PADL between June 2024 and October 2024. Inductive reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: Twenty patients were interviewed. Patients that believed their penA to be incorrect and those that described their index reaction as mild were more likely to agree to testing. Patients considered hospital a safe place to be tested. Some patients thought being acutely unwell was not a barrier to testing, whereas others preferred an outpatient setting once discharged from hospital. De-labelled patients described having a good explanation of the risks and benefits of PADL, were grateful for the opportunity and trusted the healthcare worker and the PADL process. Conclusion: PADL was well accepted by patients who described receiving a good explanation of the PADL process. Index reactions perceived as low severity (e.g. non-severe rashes) and/or doubtful of their penA (e.g. unaware they had a penA record) were more likely to accept PADL. Some who declined inpatient PADL would consider outpatient testing once recovered from their acute illness
(Un)just transitions for youth and the disabled? The exclusionary pressures facing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education
No full textThis paper highlights the under-representation of young people with disabilities in STEM subjects and career pathways, with particular reference to the engineering sector given its prominent role in the design of energy systems related to net-zero policies. We consider the role of physical infrastructure, and pedagogic and representational practices, in facilitating the marginalisation and under-representation of young people with disabilities. Ultimately, we seek a broader understanding of the ‘just transition’ that acknowledges the role of education in ensuring the active participation of all young people, regardless of learning difficulty or disability or social identity, in that transition. The research is intended to contribute to a progressive imagined future or imaginary that envisages a ‘just’ transition which is not simply aimed at mitigating impacts on already marginalised demographics. This includes problematizing the current discourse of ‘inclusive’ education on account of documented exclusionary practices in education that are likely to undermine the realization of an equitable and ‘just’ transition. Representational practices are considered in recognition that such practices are multi-faceted and frequently, following Foucault, ‘invisibilised’ or hidden. That is, they remain unacknowledged in the strategic management of public and individual expectations. This recognition resonates with the often-hidden influence of policies from non-energy sectors, like the education sector, on achieving a just transition to Net Zero. The paper forms part of a collaborative research project which aims to highlight how uneven participation in STEM education and careers can impact a just transition to a low-carbon economy in the UK
Synergistic or Siloed? Communicative practices in dual-earner parents\u27 boundary navigation and implications for gendered work-family experiences
Get PDFIt is well established that in contemporary Western society, work and family (WF) are often navigated by both members of a parenting couple. However, existing understandings regarding the communicative processes by which both parents navigate, and relationally co-construct WF boundaries together, remain somewhat of a theoretical blind spot. This study provides insights into the relational communicative practices that coupled, heterosexual parents engage in when navigating WF boundaries. Our couple-level data collected during the UK Covid-19 lockdown period, in which both parents simultaneously experienced boundary disruption, explore the communicative practices or ‘tactics’ engaged in to relationally navigate boundaries in this context. Utilising a novel multi-method, qualitative approach constituting in-depth interviews and daily diaries, we extend the concept of communicative tactics put forward by Kreiner et al. Specifically, our findings uncover new relational patterns of communicative tactics utilised for WF boundary navigation, which we term ‘synergistic’ and ‘siloed’ communicative modes. We demonstrate how the tactics of ‘expectation setting’ and ‘confronting violators’, alongside the novel communicative tactic we term ‘re-setting expectations’, can be enacted in very different ways depending upon the overarching communicative mode, thereby constituting distinct relational communicative approaches. We further demonstrate the role of (gendered) power dynamics on communicative practices revealing how such dynamics can impact upon prevailing gender (in)equality between parents. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for both future research and practice