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Degradation Pathways and Microplastic Pollution of Polypropylene Geotextiles in Soil Systems
No full textPolypropylene (PP) geotextiles and composite materials, though valued for their durability and cost-effectiveness, contribute significantly to environmental plastic pol lution. This review evaluates the degradation mechanisms and environmental fate of PP and its blends, particularly under field-relevant exposure conditions. Emphasis is placed on the formation and transport of microplastics (MPs) in soil systems, driven by mechanical stress, thermal aging, UV exposure, and biodegradation. The review examines the impacts of PP-derived MPs and additive leachates on soil biota, includ ing microbial community shifts, enzyme activity disruption, and rhizosphere function impairment. Modeling approaches are presented to explore the feedback loops between polymer surface morphology, degradation rate, and exposure intensity. Comparative analysis of biopolymer-reinforced PP composites (e.g., PLA, jute, coir) highlights trade offs between mechanical stability and environmental degradability. Key knowledge gaps are identified in MP transport in soils and toxicity pathways of chemical additives. This synthesis supports the development of predictive frameworks and sustainable materi als engineering strategies to mitigate the long-term ecological risks associated with PP-based geotextiles
Developing through relationships with the physical and social environment: disentangling the transition from co-regulation to self-regulation
Full text linkThe present thesis centres its attention on early regulatory skills of physiological arousal and attention. These abilities play a central role during early infancy and are crucial for achieving autonomy and establishing the foundation for later social, behavioural, and cognitive development.Early in development, infant’s self-regulatory capacities are thought to be immature, poorly coordinated, and limited. Because of this, co-regulation with the caregiver is particularly important. Much of the infant/ child research emphasizes the developmental increase in self-regulation and highlights a gradual transition from co-regulation (where regulatory processes are shared between child and caregiver) to self-regulation. Research on this transition, however, is scarce and complex and remarkably little is known on how these co-regulatory dynamics between infant-caregiver change and evolve over time.Taking a novel, multi-method approach that integrates neural, physiological, and behavioural techniques and uses a mixture of home- and naturalistic lab-based research, the present thesis examines the development of self- and co- regulatory processes in infancy. More specifically, it explores whether infants’ physiological and attentional states gradually become less dependent on others as they get better at self-regulation over developmental time.Evidence is presented showing developmental changes in the way environmental factors (both physical and social) influence infants’ regulation of physiological arousal and attention. Evidence also shows that, contrary to our hypothesis, dyadic strategies, rather than being phased out or replaced, seem to continue to play an important role.Discussion is focused on the contribution of the findings to theories of the development of dyadic regulatory process, and in identifying new and more naturalistic ways to study them
The Impact of the Ketogenic Diet on Depression and Psychological Wellbeing: A Randomised Controlled Trial with Integrated Qualitative Analysis
Full text linkBackground and aims:There is evidence to suggest that a ketogenic diet (KD) may help to alleviate psychiatric symptoms, including depression, but this has not been studied extensively or compared directly to the impact of the more common low carbohydrate diet (LCD). The aim of this research was to understand the impact of a non-calorie-restricted low carbohydrate diet and ketogenic diet on depression and aspects of psychological well-being in those with either mild to moderate depressive symptoms or low or no depressive symptoms.Materials and methods: In a randomised control trial with quasi experimental design, participants with mild to moderate depressive symptoms and low depressive symptoms were randomised into either a LCD, a KD, or a control diet (diet as usual) generating a total of 6 participant groups. The dietary interventions (LCD and KD) were delivered through an online education platform for 12 weeks, followed by 12 weeks of unsupported continued diet. The control diet was maintained for a total of 6 weeks. Examinations at baseline (T0), day 1, week 6, week 12, and week 24 included questionnaires and psychological measures stress, anxiety, mental wellbeing, positive and negative affect, depression, self-compassion, social support, and body appreciation. Demographical data was also collected and analysed. Attrition rates were explored post intervention, and a qualitative thematic analysis was carried out on participants interview data following the KD to better understand their experience of the dietary intervention.Results: From study 1, the KD group saw no improvements in psychological wellbeing. The LCD group reported significant improvements in stress, anxiety, and negative affect after 12 weeks and in depressive symptoms after 24 weeks compared to the KD and control group. Significant improvements in positive affect, mental well-being and depressive symptoms were found in those with lower levels of body appreciation compared to those with higher levels, regardless of diet type. From study 2, dropout rates peaked during the 12-week intervention compared to post intervention and the end of the study at 24 weeks. Those with depressive symptoms were less likely to drop out of the study compared to those who were ‘healthy’. From the qualitative study 3, participants in the KD group experienced both physical and mental health improvements. They lost weight and experienced an increase in confidence, energy, and self-esteem. Some reported a renewed meaning and purpose in life.Conclusion:The ketogenic diet did not improve quantitatively measured depressive symptoms or aspects of psychological well-being from self-reported questionnaires. However, from interview data, improvements were experienced by those on the ketogenic diet suggesting that the diet worked for some. Reasons for this contradiction are explored and may be explained in part, by reviewing the intervention design. A low carbohydrate diet was found to improve some aspects of psychological well-being in those with mild to moderate depressive symptoms over 24 weeks. Adverse events experienced were mild and temporary, but retention of participants was challenging. Further well-designed randomised control trials are warranted to identify whether a ketogenic diet would improve psychological well-being in those with more severe depression akin to antidepressant efficacy
Neural oscillatory insight into the endogenous cognitive processes and inter-personal contingencies that drive infant attention and support joint action during early infant-caregiver interaction
Full text linkInfants’ ability to engage in joint attention with others towards the end of the first year is fundamental to language acquisition and shared cognition. Despite this, our understanding of the endogenous cognitive mechanisms that drive infant attention during shared caregiver-infant interaction, and support dynamic inter-personal co-ordination is, at the moment, limited. Traditional approaches to joint attention development centred on understanding how caregivers didactically structure infant learning through ostensive communication. More recent perspectives, however, drawing on dynamic systems views of early cognition, have emphasised the role of fast-acting, multi-level, sensorimotor processes that operate across the dyad to support joint action and social learning. Newly developed micro-analysis approaches to studying early interaction have shown that infants use sensory cues to rapidly coordinate their attention with an adult partner, and statistical regularities in these cues are thought to extend infant attention and support word learning. To fully understand the contribution of joint interactions to early cognitive development however, we need to examine the mechanisms, endogenous to the infant, that support infant engagement and interpersonal contingency on a moment-by-moment basis. One way we can examine this is through the application of neurocognitive methods, such as electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, to studying the dynamics of naturalistic, free-flowing interactions. Analysing time-locked and continuous associations between infants’ neural activity, infant attention, and inter-dyadic behavioural coordination, this thesis assesses the sub-second cognitive processes that influence how infants allocate their attention during triadic caregiver-infant play. First, neural evidence is presented to show that, whilst infants do not play a proactive role in creating episodes of mutual attention, they are sensitive to when their gaze is followed by an adult partner. Second, extended infant attention episodes are shown to be influenced, jointly, by attentional processes endogenous to the infant and reactive modulations in caregiver behaviour in response to changes in infant attention and cognitive engagement. Finally, the applicability of continuous methods to assessing speech-brain tracking by infants to their caregivers’ speech signal during naturalistic interactions is examined, and the role of behaviour-brain entrainment in creating and maintaining episodes of joint attention considered. Discussion focusses on the contribution of the findings to our understanding of active learning processes that operate across the dyad during early interaction, and that support the development of shared cognition. Models of early language learning in the context of the findings are considered, and directions for future work put forward
Virtual Reality Risks Against Children Policy Brief
Full text linkNearly half (46%) of UK children aged 8–17 have already used a VR headset, exposing many to harassment, inappropriate content, and even exploitation in immersive environments besides the benefits it can provide. In our research experts and young users unanimously called for better protection, including safety-by-design features and more robust moderation tools. This policy brief outlines the urgent need for action and provides evidence-based recommendations. Key measures include:- Building child safety by design into VR platforms from the outset,- Strengthening content moderation with a hybrid of AI and human oversight,- Integrate information about and guidance on potential metaverse risks into education policy at DfE level, and- Involving children’s own voices in developing the solutions.Ensuring that the Online Safety Act’s promise of protecting children extends effectively into virtual and augmented reality spaces
Understanding the Experiences of Social Workers in Adult Social Services in England in the Aftermath of the Age of ‘Austerity’ and Efficiency Savings
Full text linkAusterity has been identified by many researchers as a major reason for the inability of local authorities to perform their statutory responsibilities in England. Although austerity was pronounced over by 2019/2020, the legacies of austerity and the major elements of it such as budget cuts and efficiency savings remain. As a result, adult social services continue to feel the pressure of budget cuts and efficiency savings. This research seeks to explore the experiences of social workers in adult social services in England in the aftermath of austerity. Using a qualitative approach and semi- structured interviews, it was conducted with fifteen participants across three different English Councils. The result is a contribution to knowledge on the impact of budget cuts and efficiency savings on services. The research has also provided new insight into the experiences of social workers in adult social services that had not previously been examined.Findings from this research indicate that due to austerity, care and support needs assessments are now being over-scrutinised by managers and funding panels which sometimes lead to a reduction in resource allocation or outright rejection of assessments. The findings also revealed that social workers are not able to make independent decisions about the level of support that is required to meet the care and support needs of service users. Moreover, the voluntary and community sector is no longer effective in managing unmet needs as they are also experiencing tight budgets. It is also the finding of this research that social workers are experiencing increasing workload due to high demand and less people to do the work.Other findings include workers burnout, low morale, stress, and negative emotions. The outcome of this research indicates that adult social services in England are struggling to meet the care and support needs of the most vulnerable adults due to budget cuts. It highlights serious emotional stress and moral distress amongst social workers who find it difficult to respond appropriately to needs due to the rules around funding within their services.The research adopted interpretivist phenomenological analysis in understanding the socially constructed narratives of the participants to make sense of the multiplicity of opinions and realities. Further meanings were given to this through reflexive thematic analysis. Although the contributions of participants may appear negative on the surface of it, however, further analysis reveal professionals who are passionate about their profession but concerned about the direction of travel for local authorities in general, and adult social care in particular. Positively, the research has highlighted that where there is targeted support, social workers are able to build a high level of resilience to mitigate risks such as stress and burnout.As a result, this research has implications for practice and policy makers. Social workers are keen to promote the ethics and values of social work and the commitment to social justice. Due to the well documented risks from stress, social work employers have a duty of care and responsibility to ensure that social workers are not unduly exposed to work related stress and emotional exhaustion, by ensuring that they are well supported to boost their confidence in their professional identity and accomplishments
A role for HRM in the Further Education sector: Using critical performativity to meet the needs of both the market and the professional development needs of the teacher.
Full text linkA review of the literature on the English Further Education (FE) sector suggests a shift from the current performativity culture towards teacher professionalism and reflexivity within communities of practice would more effectively improve teaching and learning. Drawing on the critical performativity perspective this article considers how a progressive Observation of Teaching and Learning (OTL) in FE Colleges might be facilitated by HR practitioners through a reconciliation of teacher professionalism with the managerial positivism of the Ofsted Inspection Framework. Adopting critical performativity in the development of OTL would require HR practitioners to apply dialectical reasoning, involving discussion and debate of competing ideologies as a catalyst for a new and creative development of teaching and learning. In uncovering the voices of both leaders and teachers and shifting the dynamic from one of power and resistance to one of participation, communicative action and dialogue, pragmatic solutions may be found to meet both the performativity and staff development agendas in the sector. Such use of critical performativity by HRM is justified by the values and behaviours advocated by the professional body for HR practice – the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) - of good HRM being good for both employer and employee
Unveiling the shadows: tracing the informal economy in the Balkans from 1996 to 2021
Full text linkUsing the MIMIC model, we analyse the informal economy (IE) in Balkan countries from 1996 to 2021. Results show a decline in the IE, which started at approximately 35% in 1996 but remained relatively high at over 29% of GDP by 2021. This was driven by regulatory burden, financial freedom, urbanisation, macroeconomic factors, and government size. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a rise in informal activity in 2020, increasing by 1–3% points compared to 2019. This study highlights the role of policy-driven and macroeconomic factors in shaping the IE, addressing gaps in understanding post-reform socio-economic developments in the region
The emerging technology in hiring: Insights from assembly line workers and managers
No full textHiring assembly line workers is often time- and resources-demanding. Following the call of more effective hiring practice, this article describes the design, development and imple-mentation of an ‘AI-empowered recruitment model’, an emerging technology in hiring em-ployees. The raw data for model building were gathered from the assembly-line workers and their managers. The dataset comprised two parts: Part-1 data were the occupational codes and personality parameters of the top performers (provided by performers), whereas Part-2 data were the employability- and fitness-parameters of the top performers (rated by the managers of performers). Top performers were defined as the employees who had the highest output of products with the lowest defect rate. Through the repetitive da-ta-matching algorithms, the model gradually learned and identified the signs (patterns) of top performers. After cross-validation and external testing, the model became established. The model was then applied to the employee recruitment practice, in which the model achieved its purpose by selecting the best-fit candidates from the pool of applicants within minutes. The AI-empowered recruitment model saved organizational resources and ex-penses. As there was no use of human labor, administrative delays and errors were mini-mized, thus improving the efficacy of hiring practice. Limitation and suggestions for im-provement were addressed