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Perspective - Formate as a key intermediate in CCU
No full textReplacing fossil feedstocks for chemicals and polymers in the chemical industry is a key step towards a future circular society. Making use of CO2 as a starting material in Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) or Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) processes presents a great opportunity. Unfortunately, converting CO2 is not easy - due to its stability and inherently low reactivity either high energy inputs or nifty catalytic systems are required for its conversion. An electrochemical cell using a gas-diffusion electrode to convert CO2 into formate is such a promising system. But making formate alone does not allow us to substitute many fossil carbon-fed processes. Oxalic acid on the other hand is a potential new platform chemical for material production as useful monomers such as glycolic acid can be derived from it. Fortunately, formate can be converted into oxalate (and subsequently oxalic acid) by coupling two formates in a formate to oxalate coupling reaction (FOCR). The FOCR is a reaction that has been studied for more than 175 years and has seen widespread industrial use in the past. In this work, we critically discuss the history of the FOCR, present the most recent advances and draw a perspective for its future. We provide an overview of all (side)products obtained in FOCR and examine the various reaction parameters and their ability to influence the reaction. To understand the reaction better and improve it in the future, we critically discuss the many mechanisms proposed for the various catalytic systems in the FOCR. At last, we explore the potential to introduce new catalytic and solvent systems or co-reactants to the FOCR to improve reaction performance and broaden the range of products from CO2 derived formate
Picturing Displaced Persons (DPs), Exhibiting French Prestige? Photographs of humanitarian aid for European DPs in French-occupied Germany, c. 1945-1952
No full textThis article explores how photography documenting humanitarian aid for European DPs in French-occupied Germany was mobilised to enhance France’s image in Allied occupied Germany, against the backdrop of increasing anxieties about its international standing. It draws on a selection of images found in the archives of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration [UNRRA] and the French occupation zone at La Courneuve, which sat between the ‘official’ and the ‘private’. In doing so, this article calls for a recognition of the role of amateur and relief workers photographers in sustaining post-war visual discourses of internationalism and national-self fashioning. Although largely overlooked today, these images play a role in wider debates about what it meant to be ‘French’ in the aftermath of the Nazi occupation. In particular, relief workers and amateur photographers built on and reproduced aspects of the widely disseminated narrative about the universalism of resistance that was being circulated in metropolitan France and Britain at the same time to disrupt conventional images of the French zone as a refuge for French wartime collaborators. Ultimately, this article argues that this hitherto neglected aspect of humanitarian imagery offers fresh insights into the contribution of relief workers and amateur photographers to French post-war diplomatic and occupation strategies
Impact of occupational pesticide exposure assessment method on rist estimates for prostate cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Parkinson's disease - results of three meta-analyses
No full textObjective: Assessment of occupational pesticide exposure in epidemiological studies of chronic diseases is challenging. Biomonitoring of current pesticide levels might not correlate with past exposure relevant to disease etiology, and indirect methods often rely on workers’ imperfect recall of exposures, or job titles. We investigated how applied exposure assessment method (EAM) influenced risk estimates for some chronic diseases. Methods: In three meta-analyses the influence of EAM type on the summary risk ratio (sRR) of prostate cancer (25 articles), Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) (30 articles), and Parkinson’s disease (PD) (32 articles) was investigated. EAM types analysed were: group-level assessments (e.g. job titles), self-reported exposures, expert-level assessments (e.g. job-exposure matrices), and biomonitoring (e.g. blood, urine). Additionally, sRRs were estimated by study design, publication year period, and geographic location where the study was conducted.Results: EAM types were not associated with statistically significant different sRRs across any of the health outcomes. Heterogeneity in results varied from high in cancer studies to moderate and low in PD studies. Overall, case-control designs showed significantly higher sRR estimates than prospective cohort designs. Later NHL publications showed significantly higher sRR estimates than earlier. For prostate cancer, studies from North America showed significantly higher sRR estimates than studies from Europe. Conclusion: Exposure assessment method applied in studies of occupational pesticides appears not to have a significant effect on risk estimates for prostate cancer, NHL, and PD. In systematic reviews of chronic health effects of occupational exposure to pesticides, epidemiological study design, publication year, and geographic location, should primarily be considered. <br/
Properties of positive feedback interconnected negative imaginary systems
No full textThis paper addresses the problem of finding a set of ‘if and only if’ criteria for a positive feedback interconnection of two Negative Imaginary (NI) systems to retain the NI property.First, we have derived a state-space characterisation for NI systems that does not impose the minimality restriction. Then, two more essential pre-requisite technical lemmas are provided to prove the main results of this paper, which deal with interconnected system properties. Under some technical assumptions, the paper shows that a positive feedback interconnection of two NI systems with possible pole(s) at s = 0 preserves the NI property.Subsequently, the result is specialised when the NI systems do not have any pole(s) at s = 0 and then to SNI systems. The proposed results have potential applications in decentralised control of large vehicle platoons. Furthermore, the results may be utilised in simplifying complex physical networks and in physical network analysis and synthesis
Does the design of the NHS Low Calorie Diet Programme have fidelity to the programme specification? A documentary review of service parameters and behaviour change content in a Type 2 Diabetes intervention
No full textBackgroundNHS England commissioned four independent service providers to pilot low-calorie diet programmes to drive weight loss, improve glycaemia and potentially achieve remission of Type 2 Diabetes across 10 localities. Intervention fidelity might contribute to programme success. Previous research has illustrated a drift in fidelity in the design and delivery of other national diabetes programmes.Aims: 1) To describe and compare the programme designs across the four service providers; 2) To assess the fidelity of programme designs to the NHS England service specification.MethodsThe NHS England service specification documents and each provider’s programme design documents were double coded for key intervention content using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication Framework and the Behaviour Change Technique (BCT) Taxonomy. ResultsThe four providers demonstrated fidelity to most but not all the service parameters stipulated in the NHS England service specification. Providers included between 74% and 87% of the 23 BCTs identified in the NHS specification. Twelve of these BCTs were included by all four providers; two BCTs were consistently absent. An additional seven to 24 BCTs were included across providers. ConclusionsA loss of fidelity for some service parameters and BCTs was identified across the provider’s designs; this may have important consequences for programme delivery and thus programme outcomes. Furthermore, there was a large degree of variation between providers in the presence and dosage of additional BCTs. How these findings relate to the fidelity of programme delivery and variation in programme outcomes and experiences across providers will be examined.KeywordsType 2 diabetes, low calorie diet, behaviour change, intervention design, intervention fidelity, total diet replacement, weight management <br/
Psychologically informed health care
No full textThe term ‘psychologically informed health care’ refers to the comprehensive integration of psychological principles into health care. Psychologically informed health care has the potential to lead to a transformation of care, resulting in truly transdisciplinary care. To facilitate its future development, we discuss key characteristics of this approach. These include the direct mode (psychologists assessing and treating patients themselves) and indirect mode (psychologists working through other health care providers) of integrating psychological principles into healthcare; the range of health domains targeted using this approach; transdisciplinary care, transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries; and the positioning of care. We describe a framework for transdisciplinary care, which we refer to as the Framework for Catalytic Collaboration. This framework comprises six dimensions: setting, disciplines, patients/clients, mode of psychological care, primary components of care, and primary targets of care. We also provide four brief illustrations of psychologically informed health care. Finally, we discuss future directions, including the need for professional recognition of the indirect mode, financing of the indirect mode, cross-disciplinary training and trans-disciplinary research
PHANGS-JWST First Results: Spurring on Star Formation:JWST Reveals Localised Star Formation in a Spiral Arm Spur of NGC 628
No full textWe combine JWST observations with ALMA CO and VLT-MUSE Hα data to examine off-spiral arm star formation in the face-on, grand-design spiral galaxy NGC 628. We focus on the northern spiral arm, around a galactocentric radius of 3-4 kpc, and study two spurs. These form an interesting contrast, as one is CO-rich and one CO-poor, and they have a maximum azimuthal offset in MIRI 21μm and MUSE Hα of around 40∘ (CO-rich) and 55∘ (CO-poor) from the spiral arm. The star formation rate is higher in the regions of the spurs near to spiral arms, but the star formation efficiency appears relatively constant. Given the spiral pattern speed and rotation curve of this galaxy and assuming material exiting the arms undergoes purely circular motion, these offsets would be reached in 100-150 Myr, significantly longer than the 21μm and Hα star formation timescales (bot
Angiotensin receptor blockade is associated with increased risk of giant cell arteritis
No full textBackground. Angiotensin II is implicated in giant cell arteritis (GCA) pathology. We examined whether the use of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) is associated with GCA risk, compared with ACE inhibitors (ACEi) or other antihypertensives.Methods. We performed a matched cohort study including adults who were initiators of antihypertensives in UK primary care data between 1995 and 2019. Treatment naïve individuals without prior GCA or polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) were categorised into three groups – ARB initiators, ACEi initiators, or other antihypertensive initiators (beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, diuretics or alpha-adrenoceptor blockers) – and followed for up to 5 years. Incident GCA was defined using validated Read codes, with age of onset ≥50 years and ≥2 glucocorticoid prescriptions. Inverse-probability-weighted Cox models were used to model outcome risk, adjusting for lifestyle parameters, comorbidities, and comedications.Results. Among over a million new starters of antihypertensives (81,780 ARB, 422,940 ACEi, and 873,066 other antihypertensives), the incidence rate of GCA per 10,000 patient-years was 2.73 (95%CI 2.12-3.50) in the ARB group, 1.76 (95%CI 1.25-2.39) in the ACEi group, and 1.90 (95%CI 1.37-2.56) in other antihypertensive group. The hazard of GCA was higher in ARB initiators (HR 1.55; 95%CI 1.16-2.06) than initiators of ACEi, but similar between initiators of other antihypertensives and ACEi (HR 1.08; 95%CI 0.87-1.35).Conclusions. Initiation of ARB is associated with higher risk of GCA compared to ACEi or other antihypertensives. Mechanistic studies of angiotensin receptor biology will provide further clarity for our findings
Grassland degradation-induced declines in soil fungal complexity reduce fungal community stability and ecosystem multifunctionality
No full textSoil microorganisms are major regulators of ecosystem functioning and are under threat from human-induced disturbances. Among these threats is grassland degradation, which is estimated to affect 49% of the grassland area worldwide, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Yet, we currently lack an understanding of how grassland degradation influences belowground microbial communities, their stability, and functioning, and how effective restoration efforts are for the recovery of these important belowground properties. Here, we assessed soil fungal network complexity and a suite of ecosystem functions along a well-characterised gradient of grassland degradation and restoration on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and conducted an accompanying microcosm experiment designed to test the effects of complexity on stability in soil fungal communities. We found that with increasing levels of grassland degradation, soil fungal communities became less complex and were less compositionally stable when confronted with drought under laboratory conditions. Moreover, this degradation-induced reduction in fungal community complexity was associated with lower ecosystem multifunctionality. However, fungal communities and ecosystem multifunctionality failed to recover even after ten years of grassland restoration. Our results indicate that degradation-induced simplification of fungal communities can potentially impair fungal community stability and ecosystem multifunctionality, thereby highlighting the need to protect and restore healthy grasslands with complex belowground microbial communities
Current and Future Perspectives on the Utility of Provocative Tests of Anal Sphincter Function: a state-of-the-art summary
No full textBackgroundThe maintenance of fecal continence depends upon coordinated interactions between the pelvic floor, anorectum, and anal sphincter complex orchestrated by central and peripheral neural activities. The current techniques to objectively measure anorectal function rely on fixed diameter catheters placed inside the anal canal with a rectal balloon to obtain measurements of anal resting and squeeze function, and rectal compliance. Until recently it had not been possible to measure the distensibility of the anal canal, or in other words its ability to resist opening against an increasing pressure, which has been proposed as the main determinant of a biological sphincter’s function. Anal acoustic reflectometry (AAR) and the functional lumen imaging probe (FLIP) are two novel, provocative techniques that dynamically assess the anal sphincter complex under volume-controlled distension. In doing so, both provide information on the viscoelastic properties of the anal canal and offer new insights into its function. PurposeThis review details the current and potential future applications of AAR and FLIP and highlights the unanswered questions relevant to these new technologies. <br/