ABSTRACT Understanding interfacial adsorption mechanisms at the molecular level is essential for designing next‐generation functional materials. Herein, we engineer thermally modified dolomite (DL) surfaces to enable selective capture of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and uncover the atomistic basis of interaction using a synergistic combination of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations and experimental spectroscopy. Calcination induces structural transformations in DL, yielding Ca(OH)2 and Mg(OH)2 surface phases that promote hydrogen bonding‐driven adsorption despite electrostatic repulsion. AIMD simulations reveal that post‐calcination surfaces exhibit enhanced electrostatic anchoring and charge‐mediated complexation, validating a previously unresolved interfacial adsorption mechanism. Experimental results corroborate these findings, with PFOA uptake following pseudo‐second‐order kinetics and Langmuir behavior, achieving equilibrium within 4–5 h and removal efficiencies of up to 94%. While the adsorption capacity remains moderate (2.16–2.58 mg g−1), the study demonstrates how natural minerals can be functionally tuned at the atomic scale to enhance interfacial reactivity. These insights advance the rational design of mineral‐based functional interfaces for selective molecular capture.
To date, research investigating the role of socially supportive relationships on service users' recovery in the context of forensic inpatient admissions is scarce. This study aimed to explore the protective effects of socially supportive relationships on objective measures of recovery in the context of admissions to secure hospital. Family, peer and intimate partner support variables were constructed based on Historical Clinical Risk Management (HCR-20v3) risk assessments of 330 service users. Secondary data analyses of National Health Service care records using generalised linear models and proportional hazards modelling were conducted to measure the impact of social support on service users' length of stay in hospital, risk incidents during inpatient admissions and total number of admissions to hospital. Results demonstrated protective effects of family and intimate partner support on objective measures of recovery, particularly regarding incidences of violence and the overall number of inpatient admissions. Findings are discussed in relation to existing theory and research, and implications for practice and future research are suggested, with a focus on the unmet need for family intervention and outreach in forensic mental health services.
Soil contamination standards are widely assumed to provide consistent protection of human health and ecosystems, but there are substantial inconsistencies in terminology used and threshold concentrations set across national frameworks. These inconsistencies limit the accuracy, comparability and reliability of soil assessments and can lead to uneven risk evaluation. The paper identifies key methodological and regulatory sources of divergence and proposes a harmonised, function-based framework that standardises terminology, differentiates for assessment endpoints, incorporates soil properties and background levels, aligns analytical methods with data use, and promotes end-to-end workflow standardisation and quality control. Implementing these measures would improve confidence in soil datasets, support more robust and comparable risk assessments, and enable more consistent and scientifically defensible soil policy.
PurposeThis article examines how informal workers in Lagos, Nigeria, construct urban resilience through adaptive strategies following climate-related disasters. It challenges top-down disaster risk reduction by positioning informal workers as active agents rather than merely vulnerable populations in shaping post-disaster urban futures.Design/methodology/approachUsing qualitative methods, the study drew on semi-structured interviews with 45 informal workers, six focus group discussions with worker associations, and 150 h of participant observation across Makoko, Oshodi and Lagos Island. Iterative thematic analysis identified patterns in adaptive strategies and resilience practices.FindingsFive adaptive strategies emerged: livelihood diversification; leveraging social networks, including rotating savings groups and kinship ties; spatial and mobility practices; collective organising through trade associations; and hybrid formal-informal responses integrating state and independent resources. While demonstrating sophisticated organisational capacity, these strategies are constrained by land tenure insecurity, infrastructure deficits and political-economic marginalisation.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus on three Lagos communities limits generalisability, and the cross-sectional design captures experiences at particular moments rather than longitudinal trajectories. Future research should employ comparative cross-city analysis, longitudinal designs that track informal workers over time and mixed-methods approaches that combine qualitative depth with quantitative assessments of livelihood impacts and recovery costs.Practical implicationsPolicy recommendations include institutionalising informal worker participation in urban governance, extending infrastructure to informal settlements, developing adaptive social protection schemes, securing land tenure, mainstreaming gender equity in resilience interventions and establishing multi-stakeholder climate adaptation platforms.Social implicationsThe study fundamentally questions the right to shape urban futures and where knowledge, priorities and experiences should guide urban development. By demonstrating that informal workers already actively construct resilient urban systems through everyday practices, the study challenges societies to recognise, support and learn from these contributions rather than dismissing or criminalising them. The social implications extend beyond Lagos to broader debates about social justice in an era of climate crisis, asking whether societies will address the structural conditions producing vulnerability or merely expect marginalised populations to adapt to crises they didn't create. This represents a profound ethical and political challenge with implications for social movements, policy frameworks and collective visions of just and sustainable urban futures.Originality/valueThe research advances urban resilience scholarship by foregrounding informal workers' agency and demonstrating that resilience is constructed through social relations and informal institutions rather than formal planning systems alone. It enriches critical resilience frameworks by capturing both the resourcefulness and structural limits of "resilience from below," challenging deficit narratives about informality and offering empirical grounding for inclusive urban planning across Global South cities.
Opportunities arise for professional learning as teachers cross boundaries within the subject they are teaching out-of-field. Teachers bring knowledge with them when teaching out-of-field. As well as bringing subject and pedagogical content knowledge of their in-field subject, teachers also have knowledge of the subject they are teaching out-of-field. Learning to teach their out-of-field subject requires recontextualisation of their existing subject knowledge. Using the bricolage as methodology, this study explores out-of-field teachers of mathematics' conceptualisation of the subject knowledge of mathematics. The out-of-field teachers of mathematics participating in this study tended to conceptualise mathematics as school mathematics, which they saw through the lens of their pupils. Their boundary-crossing work was between school and pedagogical mathematics. This paper argues for school leaders to provide professional development for out-of-field teachers that adopts an opportunity model, identifying the subject knowledge they bring with them. The subject knowledge out-of-field teachers bring with them can be used as a starting point for developing out-of-field teachers' subject and pedagogical content knowledge, as well as to inform and develop the pedagogical content knowledge of in-field teachers and subject departments as communities of practice.
