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Closed-loop and chromium-free leather for the circular economy through refining sustainably available plant food waste
Get PDFCurrently, 80% (1700 km2) of global leather manufacture is tanned with chromium (III) salts, which are not renewable and problematic to recover at end-of-life (Covington 2007). Commercial vegetable tanning agents are extracted from cultivated stocks, which are insufficient to replace the current consumption of chromium (III) salts. Further expansion of existing plantations is not a sustainable method to generate sufficient tannin extracts to meet current demands. Therefore, alternative bio-based waste sources are required to effectively reuse resources and reduce the need for new fossil-based inputs and reduce the environmental footprint of leather manufacture. Literature supports the presence of tannins in coffee waste. Low et al (2015) and Bhoite et al (2013) confirm the presence of both condensed and hydrolysable tannins with C13 NMR and MS data. This observation can be extended to many waste streams in the food and beverage sector. Underpinning tanning application has been demonstrated through trials by Baskar at ICLT, which shows the extracted coffee waste replaces conventional veg tannins which includes both tanning and retanning stages. Typical concentrations of tannins required to fully tan are more than 30% of the hide weight, therefore, the use of waste sources has the potential to replace a significant quantity of leather processing chemicals. Currently at TRL 3, the project aim is to develop a scalable leather manufacturing process with tannins extracted from food and beverage wastes thus replacing Cr and plantation crop tanning agents
Photo-Textual Relationships in Early Photobook Making: [Re]Tracing the Roots of Photobook Syntax
Get PDFThis paper proposes to analyse the first stages of the relationship between textual matter and photographic images in nineteenth-century photobook practice, investigating how these two elements interacted within several books created during that period of photobook history. The examination aims to demonstrate how those photographic books embody an unexpected duality in which text and photographic images can be divergent or harmonious, questioning established academic perceptions that defined photographs as exclusively secondary in relation to text or categorically central in the construction of photographic books. In its second part, the paper examines how these different intersemiotic relationships did not immediately sustain the type of photo-textual narrative this article attributes to photobookworks, a type of photographic book defined by a complex suprasegmental, multi-layered and relational narrative predominantly based on a multimodal discourse that traverses the entirety of the book
Training secondary school teachers on early attachment trauma and adolescent brain development: impact on empathy
Get PDFThis small-scale study investigated the impact of training teachers on early attachment and adolescent neuroscience. The aim was to assess change in empathy pre and post training. Forty secondary school teachers in England completed the Empathy Components Questionnaire before and after Attachment Awareness training, showing small but non-significant changes in empathy post-training. Qualitative interviews with four staff showed a positive response to the training, and changes to teachers’ cognitive appraisal of pupils’ challenging behaviour. However, barriers to implementation were identified with some negative reactions from staff. This provides an avenue for future research exploring how Attachment Awareness training can be implemented in schools to improve outcomes for adolescents
Nation-Building and Identity in the Post-Soviet Space: New Tools and Approaches
Get PDFNation-building and identity in the post-Soviet space: new tools and approaches, edited by Rico Isaacs and Abel Polese, Oxon, UK and New York, USA, Routledge Post-Soviet Politics Series, 2019, 258 pp., £120.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-4724-5476-8; £29.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-367-28135-9; £26.99 (eBook), ISBN 9781315597386 The collapse of state socialism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union have had critical impacts on the former state-socialist countries. Alongside with the political and economic restructuring, post-socialism has brought dramatic changes in the context of culture, history, memory, and identity (see, for example, Naumov and Weidenfeld 2019; Young and Light 2001). Although there has been considerable academic interest in these changes over time, the number of theoretical and empirical contributions on nation-building and politics of identity construction in the post-Soviet world is still limited
The state and voluntary sector in austere times: 10 years of National Citizen Service
Get PDFIn this paper we examine the latest chapter in the relationship between the state and the voluntary sector in the UK. We present an analysis of the UK Government’s ‘National Citizen Service’ scheme and map the landscape of youth services over the past decade. Drawing on interview data with delivery providers of the programme, and key government and policy actors, we explore the new geographies NCS has created and reflect on the wider implications of this programme in austerity Britain
Hedonism and luxury fashion consumption among Black African women in the UK: an empirical study
Get PDFPurposeAlthough consumption is a universal phenomenon, it is characterised with considerable degree of diversity in relation to various factors such as culture, age, gender, ethnicity and many others. Accordingly, more often than not, these factors underpin consumers' reactions to different market offerings including luxury products. While a plethora of scholarship efforts are evident in the extant literature in regards to luxury consumption, there is dearth of studies around how this is linked hedonism and ethnic consumers. Hence, this paper aims to fill a palpable gap in the literature by exploring the UK Black African women's taste for luxury fashion consumption.Design/methodology/approachThe study is interpretive in nature with the use of 20 in-depth interviews conducted with Black African women through the use of snowballing and purposive sampling methods.FindingsThe study shows that the respondents' motivation for luxury consumption is driven by success and evolutionary motives, belongingness, societal pressures, cultural connection, anthropomorphism, consumer brand relationship and hedonism.Originality/valueApart from the theoretical implication of the study, which revolves around extending the discourse of taste in consumption and ethnic consumer behaviour, the paper will be greatly beneficial for marketing practitioners, especially in the area of segmentation, targeting and positioning vis-à-vis the marketing of luxury products
Use of Porous Titanium Trabecular as a Bone Defect Regenerator: In Vivo Study
Get PDFThe application of porous materials is increasingly being used in orthopaedic surgery due to its good results. Bone growth within the pores results in excellent mechanical fixation with the bone, as well as good bone regeneration. The pores, in addition to being colonised by bone, produce a decrease in the modulus of elasticity that favours the transfer of loads to the bone. This research shows the results of an experimental study where we have created critical osteoperiosteal defects of 10 mm on rabbit’s radius diaphysis. In one group of 10 rabbits (experimental group) we have implanted a bioactive porous titanium cylinder, and in another group we have allowed spontaneous regeneration (control group). Mechanical tests were performed to assess the material. Image diagnostic techniques (X-ray, scanner and 3D scan: there are no references on the literature with the use of CT-scan in bone defects) and histological and histomorphometric studies post-op and after 3, 6 and 12 months after the surgery were performed. All the control cases went through a pseudoarthrosis. In 9 of the 10 cases of the experimental group complete regeneration was observed, with a normal cortical-marrow structure established at 6 months, similar to normal bone. Titanium trabecular reached a bone percentage of bone inside the implant of 49.3% on its surface 3 months post-op, 75.6% at 6 months and 81.3% at 12 months. This porous titanium biomaterial has appropriate characteristics to allow bone ingrowth, and it can be proposed as a bone graft substitute to regenerate bone defects, as a scaffold, or as a coating to achieve implant osteointegration
Student satisfaction with online academic skills sessions during the pandemic
Get PDFDuring the Covid-19 pandemic, the University of Northampton changed its usual mode of delivery from face-to-face to online. This may have involved less adjustment than in other institutions as, pre-pandemic, the university already made use of active blended learning using its virtual learning environment. To capture the student voice concerning satisfaction with this change of mode, professional service teams surveyed students attending embedded academic skills and information literacy workshops. The number of students completing the survey was 385 and overall, students were satisfied with online learning. Nearly two-thirds of respondents listed specific advantages and challenges of online learning. The most frequently mentioned advantage was convenience: being at home; the greater ease of combining study with work or home life; and reduced traveling saving both time and money. Other advantages were the improved quality and functionality of the online sessions, and positive motivational/affective factors. The most common challenge was issues with technology. Other challenges were negative motivational/affective factors, with students reporting lack of concentration and that the sessions were impersonal. A significant challenge was a perceived lack of communication between both students and lecturers, and students and their peers. Age was found to be a salient factor with students over the age of 30 markedly more positive about online learning than their younger peers. Concerns for practitioners in moving to online learning would be around ensuring students have access to the appropriate technology and finding ways to improve communication online. However, with appropriate planning, future provision may benefit from the advantages that online learning affords
Lessons learnt from delivering the public and patient involvement forums within a younger onset dementia project
Get PDFIncluding the ‘voices’ of people living with dementia in a meaningful way is pivotal in shaping local, national and international health and social dementia care research. The Alzheimer’s Society (United Kingdom) funded Angela Project (2016–19) was aimed at improving the diagnosis and post-diagnostic support for younger people living with dementia. From the outset, the Project Team ensured that the knowledge and expertise of people living with a younger onset dementia was integral to all decisions taken in respect to overall project design, implementation, and dissemination processes. This was achieved by establishing two project public and patient involvement (PPI) forums; a London PPI Forum and a Bradford-based local PPI Hub. This paper describes how the two groups were formed; the format of the meetings; and the key points learnt by the Project Team from involving people with dementia in all aspects of developing and delivering the Angela Project. Ultimately, the aim is to demonstrate to other researchers in the dementia field how the perspectives of those with a diagnosis can be included in research studies in an active and meaningful way
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