New polymer design breaks the trade-off between toughness and recyclability

Researchers from Osaka University design high-performance polymers that are broken down easily with a catalyst and recycled into pristine polymers, showing that plastics can be both tough and recyclable

Osaka University

 

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New robust polymers that are chemically recyclable. Introducing a directing group enables catalytic cleavage of strong chemical bonds, allowing controlled degradation of robust polymers into monomers.

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Credit: Mamoru Tobisu, Osaka University

Osaka, Japan – Plastics underpin much of modern life—areas like medicine, technology, and food safety would be unrecognizable without plastics and their useful properties. However, the toughness of plastics, which is often desirable, also makes them a dangerous pollutant and difficult to recycle. The solution to this serious and growing problem is making plastics easier to recycle.

In a study recently published in Chemical Science, researchers at Osaka University have found a way to make tough, high-performance polymers, the main component of plastics, that can be broken down easily and precisely into their component parts and recycled into materials that are like new.

The main component of plastics are molecules called polymers, which are long chains of small repeating units called monomers. Current physical recycling simply reuses the polymers without breaking them down, and the recycled plastic is usually worse than the original. Chemical recycling is a newer method that breaks the polymer chains back down into their monomer units and then strings the units back together. The recycled plastic is as good as new. However, the polymers designed for chemical recycling are usually weak because they have weak links between the monomer units so that it is easy to break the chains up.

The researchers have developed a way to make tough, chemically recyclable polymers without compromising on heat and chemical resistance. This breakthrough could hugely expand the uses of chemically recyclable polymers.

“We knew that we needed to make the links between the monomers really strong in harsh environments but easily broken under specific conditions for recycling,” says lead author Satoshi Ogawa. “We were surprised to find that no one had tried including a directing group, which would break the strong links only in the presence of a metal catalyst.”

The directing group is like a lock on the link, only opening the link when the right key is present. The polymers stood up to high temperatures and harsh chemicals, but when it came to recycling, a nickel catalyst acted like a key, and the directing group opened the links easily, releasing the monomers. The original polymer could then be reassembled from the monomers.

“It’s a huge step forward to make a polymer this tough that can be broken down easily and precisely and recycled into a pristine material in so few steps,” explains senior author Mamoru Tobisu. “This revolutionary design could be used in making high-performance polymers that can be recycled indefinitely with no loss of quality.”

The team’s work shows that there doesn’t have to be a tradeoff between performance and recyclability. Their design could be used in lots of other polymers to make many types of plastic chemically recyclable, potentially helping to consign plastic pollution to the trash can of history.

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The article, “Controlled Degradation of Chemically Stable Poly(aryl ethers) via Directing Group-Assisted Catalysis,” was published in Chemical Science at DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sc04147j

About Osaka University
Osaka University was founded in 1931 as one of the seven imperial universities of Japan and is now one of Japan's leading comprehensive universities with a broad disciplinary spectrum. This strength is coupled with a singular drive for innovation that extends throughout the scientific process, from fundamental research to the creation of applied technology with positive economic impacts. Its commitment to innovation has been recognized in Japan and around the world. Now, Osaka University is leveraging its role as a Designated National University Corporation selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to contribute to innovation for human welfare, sustainable development of society, and social transformation.
Website: https://resou.osaka-u.ac.jp/en

 

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Journal

Chemical Science

DOI

10.1039/d4sc04147j 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Controlled Degradation of Chemically Stable Poly(aryl ethers) via Directing Group-Assisted Catalysis

Article Publication Date

7-Oct-2024

 SOCIAL ENGINEERING

Tax, smoke-free legislation, and anti-smoking campaigns linked to smoking reduction

Hitotsubashi University HIAS

Tobacco use remains a significant global health challenge, despite extensive control measures at both national and international levels. Smoking continues to be a leading cause of premature death, with exposure to tobacco—whether through active smoking or secondhand smoke—significantly increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory conditions, and diabetes. These NCDs account for nearly 75% of annual global deaths.

A wide range of strategies has been developed to combat smoking and promote public health, including taxation, mass media campaigns, health warnings on packaging, marketing restrictions, smoke-free legislation, youth access policies, flavor bans, and free or discounted nicotine replacement therapies (NRT). The research team conducted a comprehensive review of real-world, population-level tobacco control strategies to assess their effects on smoking behavior.

Through a systematic review and meta-analysis of 476 studies, the team led by Hitotsubashi University found that tax increases, smoke-free legislation, and anti-smoking campaigns were particularly effective in reducing smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption, as well as increasing quit rates, quit attempts, and quit intentions. Health warnings on cigarette packaging, free or discounted NRT, and flavor bans were also linked to higher smoking cessation rates. Additionally, flavor bans were shown to reduce e-cigarette use.

“Our study provides a detailed overview of the impact of various population-level interventions to curb smoking. Based on the available evidence, anti-tobacco campaigns, smoke-free legislation, health warnings, and tax increases are the most effective strategies for reducing smoking,” said Dr. Shamima Akter, lead author from Hitotsubashi University.

“The findings offer policymakers a foundation for designing and prioritizing tobacco control measures at the population level,” added Professor Ryota Nakamura from Hitotsubashi University.

The study was published today in Nature Human Behaviour and is available via open access.

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Journal

Nature Human Behaviour

DOI

10.1038/s41562-024-02002-7 

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

A systematic review and network meta-analysis of population-level interventions to tackle smoking behaviour

Article Publication Date

7-Oct-2024

 

Stigma has a profound impact on health outcomes must be addressed

Investing in stigma reduction in health care systems will yield results across the care continuum, and should be supported by governments, health-care institution polices, and licensing bodies, say researchers

University of Toronto

A new article published in Nature Reviews Disease Primers underscores the profound role that stigma can play in health care -- and how addressing stigma-related barriers can significantly improve health outcomes for individuals and communities around the world. 

“Stigma has harmful effects on health, equity and justice,” says lead author Carmen Logie, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW). "And while we need more rigorous evaluation of interventions to reduce health-care stigma, we certainly know enough to begin to confront it.”  

Logie and her co-author Laura Nyblade, a fellow at the Social, Statistical and Environmental Sciences, Research Triangle Institute in Washington DC, argue that health-care providers need to be able to identify what drives stigma in health-care settings, so they can take action to address stigmatizing practices as well as internalized, anticipated or perceived stigmatization on behalf of those in need of care. 

Stigma can play a huge role in health outcomes, say the researchers. For example, health-care providers who view weight as a moral issue or lack of personal willpower, may use stigmatizing language in conversation with patients, contributing to their disengagement from care. People who use drugs may be deemed “junkies”, blamed for their substance use and denied services. In some regions, gender-based stigma has resulted in coerced sterilization and lack of informed choices around contraception and education for women living with HIV.  

The good news, say Logie and Nyblade, is that health-care settings are well positioned to identify what drives stigma and make changes to address it through evidence-based approaches. To start, health-care providers can examine misconceptions about disease transmission and infection control, and then make needed changes to institutional policies and practices. “Increasing health providers’ awareness of how stigma is appearing in the ways they deliver services is key,” says Logie, who is also Canada Research Chair in Global Health Equity and Social Justice with Marginalized Populations. 

In Ghana, for example, staff training and activities to reduce fear of HIV infection was shown to improve the caregivers’ willingness to provide services to people with HIV. In Tanzania, stigmatizing beliefs held by HIV clinic staff around substance use was reduced through interventions that addressed commonly held misconceptions. The interventions also successfully conveyed the impact that stigmatizing language used by health-care providers can have on their patients. 

The researchers argue that relationship building and partnerships between health care providers and communities can enhance the ability of both professionals and their clients to strengthen social cohesion, collective resilience and coping strategies. Social movements and dates of significance, such as weight inclusivity movements and World AIDS Day, are examples of ways that people have come together to advocate for awareness and promote change.  

“These approaches move beyond the focus on stigma victimization to recognize and celebrate the strengths of communities who have been marginalized, as well as social histories of mutual support and stigma resistance,” says Nyblade.  

Investing in stigma reduction in health care systems will yield results across the care continuum, and should be supported by governments, health-care institution polices, and licensing bodies, conclude the authors. 

“All types and levels of health-care providers need to be engaged in stigma reduction, through the training curriculums, continuing education programs, and more” says Logie. “The time to act is now.” 

In addition to her role at FIFSW, Logie is affiliated with the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, and the Women’s College Research Insitute at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. 

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Journal

Nature Reviews Disease Primers

DOI

10.1038/s41572-024-00554-6 

Goffman, E (1968) Stigma: Notes on the Management ...

arasite.org

https://www.arasite.org › goffstig

Goffman, E (1968) Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, Harmondsworth: Pelican Books. [Here are some notes from this classic. It is hard to ...

Aussies above 50 are living longer, while younger people are suffering

Australian National University

 

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Dr Sergey Timonin

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Credit: Photo: Jack Fox/ANU

Australians under 50 are experiencing stagnating life expectancy while older cohorts, especially men, are living longer, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU).

The study examined longevity trends and patterns in six English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) and compared them with other high-income countries.

The results show striking similarities between English-speaking countries in terms of adverse health outcomes for young and middle-aged adults under fifty.

Lead author and ANU demographer, Dr Sergey Timonin, said the study reveals that Australia is performing worse in life expectancy for younger cohorts when compared to non-Anglophone high-income countries but is ahead of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

“For the under fifties in Australia, we found that life expectancy is behind the majority of high-income countries, which was quite surprising. We already knew that the US and UK suffer from this problem, but we didn’t expect to see Australia (as well as Canada and New Zealand) in this group,” Dr Timonin said.

“However, compared to English-speaking countries, Australians still enjoy a higher life expectancy, including at younger ages. It also has one of the world’s highest life expectancies at older ages.”

The research challenges the findings of a previous study in The Economist that found Australians ‘are healthier than their peers’. 

Stagnating life expectancy trends were reported in some high-income countries before the COVID-19 pandemic, but according to the researchers, there’s been a lack of comparative studies that provide a broader and more detailed perspective on the phenomenon.

“In the pre-pandemic period in 2010-19, the increase in life expectancy slowed in all Anglophone countries, except Ireland, mainly due to stagnating or rising mortality at young adults and middle-aged adults under fifty,” Dr Timonin said.

“Each of the English-speaking countries has experienced a marked mortality disadvantage for cohorts born since the early 1970s relative to the average of the other high-income countries.”

The study found that life expectancy in younger cohorts in Australia was negatively impacted by suicide, drug and alcohol-related behaviours, and traffic accidents.

“External causes of death and substance use disorders were found to be the largest contributors to the observed disadvantage at these ages,” Dr Timonin said.

“Recreational drug use and risky behaviours are mostly related to mentally driven disorders.”

The researchers believe that although future gains in life expectancy in wealthy societies like Australia will increasingly depend on reducing mortality at older ages, adverse health trends among younger people are a cause for concern.

“This emerging and avoidable threat to health equity in English-speaking countries should be the focus of further research and policy action,” Dr Timonin said.

“There is scope for English-speaking countries to improve the health of their younger populations and to halt the widening gap in mortality compared with other high-income countries.”

The research is published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

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Journal

International Journal of Epidemiology

DOI

10.1093/ije/dyae128 

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Faltering mortality improvements at young-middle ages in high-income English-speaking countries

Article Publication Date

7-Oct-2024

Unexpected intellectual friendships, like Plato and Aristotle, are the secret of long-term innovation, finds prize-winning US academic

Heriot-Watt University

 

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Professor Kirk Doran from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, winner of Scotland's $75,000 Panmure House Prize, which is inspired by 18th century Scots economist Adam Smith.

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Credit: Panmure House

The winner of one of the UK’s biggest academic prizes has discovered what he believes is the key to long-term innovation and economic growth: unplanned intellectual friendships – like Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, or DNA pioneers James Watson and Francis Crick.

Professor Kirk Doran, an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in the United States, has been researching what drives innovation for 14 years – and has made his discovery by forensically analysing data including published research and census, tax, migration and historical data.

Professor Doran has been announced today as the winner of the $75,000 Panmure House Prize, which seeks out ‘radical innovation’ and celebrates Adam Smith, the 18th century Scots economist and philosopher who is known as the father of modern economics.

“Unexpected intellectual collaborations and friendships that you didn't plan in advance lead to the greatest explosions of new knowledge generation and innovation,” Professor Doran explains. “It’s when innovative people bump into each other randomly and then start hanging out with each other all the time – and talking about dozens of different topics – that they can stumble across something stellar.  Friendship is then the key bonding factor in deep collaborations over many years that can overcome immense challenges to produce groundbreaking new discoveries, breakthroughs and inventions.”

These explosions of new knowledge drive economic growth and often come from intellectual friendships between experts in different disciplines, Professor Doran explains. Inter-disciplinary thinking was a key hallmark of the work of Adam Smith, who was a central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment in the second half of the 18th century. Coffee house gatherings and debates played a central role in the era’s outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments.

“The Scottish Enlightenment shows brilliantly how a melting pot of minds can lead to huge innovations in science, culture and society,” Professor Doran says.

“Unexpected friendships during this time that led to breakthroughs include Adam Smith and Scottish philosopher and historian David Hume. They both used experience and observation rather than reason to understand causes and effects in the world – an approach known as empiricism. And this laid the foundation of modern economic thinking – particularly that free trade and markets can benefit all of society, not just a privileged few.”

Other historic friendships that have led to innovative breakthroughs include ancient Greek philosophers Plato and his student Aristotle, whose ideas and teachings in philosophy still shape our understanding of the world today. English 16th century lawyer and scholar Thomas More and his friend Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch priest, together progressed humanism, which uses science and evidence to understand the world rather than religion.

German mathematicians and friends David Hilbert and Hermann Minkowski were pioneers in applying mathematics to physics and influenced German physicist Albert Einstein. Other pioneering friendships include American biologist James Watson and Francis Crick, an English physicist, who together discovered the structure of DNA in 1953.

Professor Doran’s research includes analysing which pioneers knew each other, worked together, lived near each other or shared similar ideas. He has analysed data stretching as far back as the 1300s to the present day. To unlock the economic potential of these unplanned intellectual friendships, Professor Doran is calling on countries to encourage more collaboration between innovators in different disciplines.

“Policy makers must increase incentives for collaboration across disciplines,” he says. “If institutions can better promote these collaborations, I believe the long-run impact can be enormous.”

Professor Doran will use the Panmure House Prize money to further his research, including better understanding which social structures and incentives create the type of teams where collaboration can lead to long-term innovation and economic growth.

He will also visit Edinburgh to collect his prize and take part in three days of activities at Panmure House. This will include recording a podcast, hosting a student workshop and presenting a public lecture.

Named after Panmure House, Adam Smith’s former Edinburgh home, the Panmure House Prize rewards groundbreaking research that contributes to advancing long-term thinking and innovation.

Professor Doran was one of four academics from the United States, Spain and Israel who were shortlisted for the prize, which attracted a record number of entries in 2024, its fourth year.

The Panmure House Prize is administered in partnership with FCLTGlobal, a non-profit organisation that promotes long-term investing, and supported by investment manager Baillie Gifford.

James Anderson, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at investment management company Lingotto Innovation and Chair of the Panmure House Prize judging panel, said: “Pioneers who drive progress and new thinking are the engines behind economic growth – as Professor Doran’s research shows us. It’s critical to support these pioneers and we’re excited to be awarding our fourth Panmure House Prize to research that we really feel is groundbreaking.  Adam Smith was himself a pioneer whose hallmark was collaboration across different disciplines – and Professor Doran’s work embodies this approach.”

John T. McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost of the University of Notre Dame, said: "We are delighted to see Kirk Doran's research receive this international recognition. The Panmure House Prize’s emphasis on long-term, interdisciplinary thinking mirrors the University of Notre Dame's commitment to scholarly innovation and excellence across the disciplines."

Entrants to the Panmure House Prize undergo a rigorous selection process, overseen by a distinguished panel of judges comprising leading scholars and practitioners in the field of economics, business and policy.

Each is evaluated based on their originality, scholarly rigour, potential impact, and relevance to contemporary economic and societal discourse.

The other shortlisted candidates for the 2024 Panmure House Prize were:

• Michela Giorcelli, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
• Dr Moran Lazar, Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the Coller School of Management in Tel Aviv University in Israel.
• Dr Ivanka Visnjic, Professor of Innovation at Esade Business School in Barcelona, Spain, where she leads the Operations, Innovation, and Data Sciences Department.

For more information about the Panmure House Prize, including submission guidelines and key dates, please visit the website.

About Panmure House

Panmure House was originally built in 1691 and was the home of Scottish Enlightenment economist Adam Smith from 1778 to his death in 1790. It is now part of Edinburgh Business School, the business school of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Business School and Heriot-Watt University rescued Panmure House from dereliction in 2008 and invested £5.6 million over 10 years restoring it. Panmure House now hosts a year-round programme of events, debates, research projects and education focused on urgent economic, political and philosophical questions in the 21st century.

About Adam Smith

Born in Kirkcaldy, in Fife, Adam Smith was a Scottish economist and philosopher best known today as the father of modern economics. His most famous work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, continues to be regarded as the foundation text for the study of the relationship between society, politics, commerce and prosperity. Smith was a central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment – the extraordinary flowering of intellectual and cultural achievement that contributed so much to the shaping of the modern world.  He was also a teacher with a profound interest in education for all.

Panmure House in Edinburgh, the former home of 18th century Scots economist and philosopher Adam Smith.

Panmure House in Edinburgh, the former home of 18th century Scots economist and philosopher Adam Smith.

Adam Smith’s portrait over the Reading Room fireplace in Panmure House.

A symbolic coin with the profile of Adam Smith is presented to the winner of the Panmure House Prize.

It is a bronze coin, gold-plated and embossed.

The winner of the Panmure House Prize will come to Edinburgh to be awarded the coin and present their winner lecture.

The coin is presented to the Panmure House Prize winner during a special prize giving.

Credit

Panmure House

The banquet

Plato & Percy Bysshe Shelley

Abstract

Witty, sexy and radiantly beautiful, the Shelley translationof Plato's great Dialogue on Love is by far the best in theEnglish language. It has been described as conveying "much of the vivid life, the grace of movement, and the luminous beauty of Plato" -- "the poetry of a philosopher rendered by the prose of a poet." Although a masterpiece in its own right, the Shelley translation was suppressed and then bowdlerized for well over a century. In 19th century Britain, male love -- at the heart of the dialogue -- was unmentionable. The Banquet and Shelley's accompanying essay, "A Discourse on the Manners of the Antient Greeks," were not published in their entirety until 1931, and then in an edition of 100 copies intended "for private circulation only." The Pagan Press edition is complete, authentic and readable. For the first time this work has received the editing and typography it deserves.

THE BANQUET OF PLATO : PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

Internet Archive

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UK

Use of the term “postcode lottery” has changed dramatically over time – and means different things to different people, study shows

University of Exeter

Experts tracing how the phrase ‘postcode lottery’ became a cliché in British politics have found its meaning has changed dramatically over time – and that it means different things to different people.

New research shows the idea of the ‘postcode lottery’ was first used in 1997 to express concern about how access to NHS drugs and treatment varied from place to place. But its meaning has since broadened to include regional inequalities in state services generally, and even in poverty and life expectancy.

When austerity policies were introduced in 2010, ‘postcode lottery’ stories declined as news stories focused more on reducing the public financial deficit than on inequalities.

But as the impact of austerity policies mounted the phrase was increasingly applied to struggling public services beyond healthcare. Instead of stories focused on individuals and their access to specific treatments, the media paid more attention to regional ‘postcode lotteries’, comparing the quality of health services more generally.

The study was carried out by Grace Redhead and Rebecca Lynch from the University of Exeter.

Dr Redhead said: “It might feel to us as if the phrase has always been around, but that’s not the case. We have shown how it goes in and out of fashion and how its usage has changed a lot over time.

“The ‘postcode lottery’ means different things to different people. Some groups have talked about the risk of a ‘postcode lottery’ to try and protect the NHS and the idea of universal public services. But other people have pointed to the ‘postcode lottery’ as proof that universalism is impossible, and to justify NHS reforms. It’s a useful term for both sides because it compels so much outrage, but it’s not specific about the cause of the problem.”

Researchers analysed newspapers’ use of the term between 1997 and 2023. The concept of an ‘NHS lottery’ or a postcode lottery for health services first appeared in newspapers in the mid-1990s and followed the creation of the NHS ‘internal market’ in 1989–91. These reforms meant that the services available to patients might vary depending on where patients lived. Widespread news coverage of the reintroduction of the National Lottery in 1994 meant that soon people started to talk about a lottery in healthcare.

Dr Lynch said: “The popular slogan for the National Lottery, ‘It could be you’, was repurposed into anxieties about healthcare access – that ‘it could be you’ who gets substandard healthcare.

“But while the winners and losers of the National Lottery are determined by chance, the causes of regional inequality in health and healthcare are complex and deep-seated. It’s not about luck – it’s about the bigger picture of economic inequality and geographic disparities in investment in health and social care.”

Researchers warned that sometimes the fear of a ‘postcode lottery’ has been used to criticise extra state investment or tailored health services in more deprived areas.

The earliest use of the term ‘postcode lottery’ that the researchers could find was in a September 1997 Evening Standard article about a ‘postcode lottery’ for cancer drugs, which reported that an oncologist had falsified a woman's address so that she could access the new cancer treatment Taxotere. This was followed by a November 1997 Daily Mirror article, reporting on the ‘postcode lottery’ case of two women who lived 20 miles apart in Somerset and Avon, of whom only one could access the drug.

The term was quickly picked up in other news stories about patients who couldn’t access treatments such as IVF, or the MS drug beta-interferon, which were available in neighbouring health authorities. Health charities and politicians began to talk about ‘postcode lotteries’ in their campaigns.

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Journal

Health & Place

DOI

10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103301 

Article Title

The unfairness of place: A cultural history of the UK's ‘postcode lottery’