UWCScholar
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Strong polymer-cellulose interfacial engineering enables hydrogel-enhanced separators with multiscale networks for zinc-ion batteries
(Elsevier B.V., 2025) Iwuoha, Emmanuel; Lang, Aoxue; Guo, Ziyu
Cellulose paper-based separators have attracted significant attention as promising materials for aqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) owing to their excellent wettability, chemical stability, and environmental compatibility. However, water molecules penetrate into the amorphous regions of cellulose to induce plasticization, thus increasing the mobility of molecular chains and disrupting the intermolecular hydrogen bonding within cellulose. This degradation mechanism severely deteriorates battery cycling performance and capacity retention, thereby hindering the utility of cellulose paper-based separators in aqueous ZIBs. Herein, we propose an in situ photo-initiated radical polymerization strategy to integrate acrylamide-nanocellulose hydrogels onto cellulose separators, resulting in the construction of hydrogel-coated composite separators. In this design, the strong polymer-cellulose interfacial interactions restrict cellulose chain mobility, homogenize Zn2+ ion flux, and significantly enhance wet-state mechanical robustness. Consequently, the composite separator ensures structural integrity during prolonged cycling. The assembled Zn|PNF-6|V2O5 full cell demonstrates superior cycle stability, retaining a capacity retention of 80 % over 4000 cycles at 5 A g−1. This work pioneers a scalable route toward high-performance hydrogel-enhanced paper separators, addressing critical challenges for ZIBs industrialization.
Traumatic experience and coping among adolescent refugees: a scoping review
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025) Danga, Solomon; Adebiyi, Babatope; Roman, Nicolette
Background Adolescent refugees may be uniquely impacted by potential traumatic experiences due to their incomplete bio-psychosocial and cognitive development, dependence, and underdeveloped coping skills. Despite this vulnerability, there is a lack of clarity in the literature on the coping strategies adolescent refugees employ following trauma exposure and how these strategies are associated with their adjustment. The objective of this scoping review was to systematically identify the types of coping strategies used by adolescent refugees and examine the associations between trauma exposure and coping mechanisms. Methods A comprehensive search of four electronic databases (Ebsco Host, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) was conducted to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles. Inclusion criteria for studies were: 1) focused on the relationship between trauma and coping strategies was explicitly examined and discussed; 2) trauma was the primary predictor variable and the main focus of the study; 3) coping strategies were analyzed as outcome variables; 4) focused on adolescent refugees or asylum seekers aged 12–18 years as participants, including all genders; 5) articles were published in peer-reviewed journals between January 1, 2001, and June 20, 2021; 6) articles were written in English. Results A total of 389 articles were identified as potentially relevant for the study, 6 articles were included in this scoping review. In total, 1694 participants were included across the included studies. Five included studies utilised a cross-sectional research design, and one study employed a case study. The review found that adolescent refugees mostly employed emotion-focused, avoidant and social support/ support-seeking coping strategies among the participants of the included studies. The majority of the included studies showed that traumatic experiences are more strongly associated with emotion-focused, avoidant and social support coping strategies than active and problem-focused strategies across diverse adolescent refugee populations. Avoidant-coping strategy was associated with maladjustment in young refugees. Conclusions This scoping review suggests that future efforts should focus on equipping adolescent refugees with problem-solving and active coping strategies while addressing their psychosocial, cultural, and educational challenges to foster resilience and positive adjustment.
Influencing return to work among women with acquired brain injury
(John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2025) Darries, Zareena; Soeker, Mogammad Shaheed
Purpose: Research indicates that women with brain injury have a higher risk of not resuming their work roles. This study investigates the influence of sociodemographic, impairment‐related and environmental factors on the return‐to‐work outcomes of women with acquired brain injury in Cape Metropolitan, South Africa. Methods: A cross‐sectional survey was conducted among 139 women aged 18–65 with acquired brain injury in Cape Metropolitan, South Africa. Participants were conveniently sampled, and the Work Rehabilitation Questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 26, focusing on sociodemographic, impairment‐related and environmental factors influencing return to work outcomes. Results: Women with acquired brain injury who participated in this study yielded a postinjury return to work rate of 61.2%. Older women were less likely to return to work (odds ratio: 0.905). Environmental support, particularly from workplace supervisors or managers, significantly enhanced RTW (odds ratio: 5.660). Marital status, impairment‐related restrictions, type of vocational intervention and family support were not significant predictors of return to work. Conclusion: These results highlight the necessity for multidimensional and integrative RTW programmes that address both personal and systemic barriers. Such programmes are essential to promoting sustained economic participation and improving the quality of life for women with ABI.
Situation analysis of the medicines pricing in context of the national medicines policy of Namibia
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Nambahu, Fransina Netumbo
This study provides an in-depth analysis of medicine pricing in Namibia, emphasizing the gaps and challenges within the existing regulatory framework and proposing recommendations for the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive National Medicine Pricing Policy. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Namibia's current National Medicines Policy (NMP) in regulating medicine prices, ensuring affordability, and improving access to essential medicines in both public and private sectors. The study's objectives were to explore regulatory barriers that hinder effective policy implementation, evaluate compliance levels among key stakeholders, and identify primary challenges in the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of medicine pricing policies in Namibia. The absence of a structured and comprehensive medicine pricing policy, leading to price disparities, inconsistent enforcement, and reliance on imported medicines, framed the core problem addressed by this research. A qualitative, exploratory research approach was adopted, with document content analysis utilized to examine secondary data from legislative acts, regulatory reports, national policies, government reports, and international guidelines. Data analysis focused on identifying gaps within the existing pricing framework and evaluating Namibia's practices against international best practices, including World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations and case studies from countries like South Africa and Brazil. The findings reveal significant shortcomings in Namibia's current medicine pricing system, including a lack of transparency in pricing mechanisms, absence of standardized pricing frameworks such as External Reference Pricing (ERP) and Internal Reference Pricing (IRP), and fragmented policy enforcement.
Beyond the line and hook: Identifying primary e-logistics technology adoption factors in the fishing industry
(Universidade do Minho, 2025) Khumalo, Bradley Bucky; Pather, Shaun
In the current era, e-logistics technologies have become commonplace in businesses to enhance supply chain and associated data analytics efficiencies. However, while contributing significantly to the GDPs in many countries, the fishing industry has been slow at adopting new technologies. Many slow adopters in this industry continue to use outdated data collection methods, thereby resulting in less-than-optimal data-driven decision-making. While prior research has examined the role of emerging technologies in the industry, there has been limited research to date to understand adoption issues. Our study therefore investigates factors that influence the adoption of e-logistics technologies in the fishing industry, using the Western Cape province in South Africa as the study site. The research investigated these factors using the Security-Technology-Organisation-Environment-Diffusion-ofInnovation framework. Qualitative data was collected via semi-structured interviews. The findings provide a rich insight into several adoption factors that demonstrate an interplay of technological innovations, organisational dynamics, and the environment within the industry. The findings were synthesized into an e-logistics technology adoption model. This paper enriches the existing literature on technology adoption, contributing insights for fishing industry stakeholders, and lays the foundation for informed decision-making in the realm of e-logistics integration.