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Im Rahmen des von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) geförderten Graduiertenkollegs GRK 2462 "Prozesse in natürlichen und technischen Partikel-Fluid-Systemen" (PintPFS) untersuchen Forscherinnen und Forscher aus den Bereichen Bauingenieurwesen, Maschinenbau, Verfahrenstechnik und Materialwissenschaften in einem interdisziplinären Ansatz natürliche und technische Partikel-Fluid-Systeme (PFS). Da PFS im Alltag allgegenwärtig und für viele Prozesse in Industrie, Pharmazie und Lebensmittelproduktion relevant sind, stellen sie ein hochinteressantes Forschungsfeld dar, das in vielerlei Hinsicht vielversprechende und nützliche Erkenntnisse verspricht., In the framework of Research Training Group GRK 2462 “Processes in Natural and Technical Particle-Fluid-Systems” (PintPFS), funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), researchers from the fields of civil engineering, mechanical engineering, process engineering, and materials sciences investigate natural and technical Particle-Fluid-Systems (PFS) in an interdisciplinary approach. As PFS are ubiquitous in everyday life and relevant for many processes in industry, pharmacy, and food production, they represent a fascinating field of research with potential for promising and useful discoveries in many aspects.

Objectives To synthesize the available epidemiological and clinical evidence relevant to the mental health care of migrant, ethnic minority and Indigenous populations in the context of early psychosis. Methods This study provides a narrative review of the literature on psychosis in these populations, including issues related to the provision of early intervention services for psychosis. Results Migrant status has long been reported as a significant risk factor for psychosis in many geographic contexts. This increased risk among migrants seems to persist beyond the first generation and has been found to be higher in all migrant populations, but especially for black ethnic minorities and individuals migrating from economically developing countries to developed ones. Recent evidence suggests that this higher risk is at least in part due to migrants' and minorities' cumulative exposure to social adversities, such as racial discrimination, marginalization and socio-economic disadvantage. Systemic racism affects migrant and minority populations by creating bias in diagnostic practices and aggravating treatment disparities in addition to contributing to causation of psychosis. Furthermore, migrant and ethnic minority groups are known to seek mental healthcare after longer delays, to be more frequently forcibly hospitalized, to disengage from treatment prematurely and to be less satisfied with their treatment. The consideration of social and cultural context and factors is essential to the provision of good healthcare, especially in a culturally diverse society. Furthermore, acknowledging power relationships that stem from the societal context and shape institutions and models of care is a key step towards structural competence and safety in mental healthcare. Several strategies have been proposed to make mental healthcare services and systems more culturally and structurally competent. These include the use of interpreters and cultural brokers, tailored assessments and specialised cultural interventions. However, these strategies have yet to be adopted broadly in early intervention for psychosis. Conclusion Given its emphasis on meaningful engagement and person-centered care, early intervention should integrate inclusive, structurally competent and context-informed interventions as a priority. Efforts must be made to apply knowledge from and adapt the tools of social and cultural psychiatry to the field of early intervention in psychosis. Sociocultural considerations, hitherto inconsistently applied in psychosis research and service design in Quebec, are especially relevant to the province given its distinct linguistic context, its increasing cultural diversity, and its ongoing effort to systematize and expand the delivery of early intervention services.

Wastes like sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) can be used as raw material in the ceramics, by the elaboration of bricks and tiles, and glass industry due its high amount of silica in its composition (>70 %). Another application for the SCBA is the synthesis of metallic silicates. In this work is studied the synthesis of sodium silicate with SCBA as main raw material and the future application of the sodium silicate for the preparation of silica particles to create hydrophobic surfaces for ceramic materials to prevent its erosion. The sodium silicate synthesis was carried out by the thermochemical method with batches of ash and sodium carbonate in a 1:1 sodium oxide-silicon oxide molar ratio. The thermal treatment was in a electric furnace at 800 °C for 8 hours, then for the synthesis of the silica particles, the sodium silicate was dissolved in water and there was added methanol in a 3:2 water methanol volume ratio, the solution was aging for an hour to create the bond Si-OH, finally TEOS was added and the solution was stirred for 2 hours to originate a hydrophobic and hydrolytically resistant siloxane by the displacement of the H in the Si-OH bond. The application of the solution was by the spray-coating method over substrates of concrete and red clay with an application of 10, 15 and 20 layers. The hydrophobicity was evaluated with the water contact angle test, with results of contact angles above the 110°, thus demonstrating the capacity of a waste for the generation of coatings to prolong the useful life of building materials.

We have studied the correlations between twelve environmental, economic and health variables, by carrying out a statistical analysis of the fatality rate of COVID-19 in 14 countries. Our statistical analysis indicates that, among the 12 variables, the diabetes percentage of the total population and the extent of the population ages 65 and older in each country are correlated most strongly with the total number of deaths in them. Although the strength of the correlations between the variables and the total ND may change as the ongoing pandemic evolves, the study highlights the importance of integrating regional-specific variables in the modelling efforts aimed at projecting how the spread of the virus may influence different parts of the world.

Saline water evaporation from a single meniscus plays an important role in determining the general dynamics of evaporation from porous media filled with saline water, which is relevant to several processes such as soil salinization, land-atmosphere interaction and soil moisture-precipitation interactions. Fundamental understanding of the mechanisms controlling solute transport and deposition in single capillary tubes is a necessary step to describe saline water evaporation and solute precipitation in complex porous media (Norouzi Rad et al., 2013; Shokri-Kuehni et al., 2017a; Shokri-Kuehni et al., 2017b). Within this context, we utilized dual energy imaging using synchrotron X-ray micro-tomography (Shokri-Kuehni et al., 2018) to investigate solute transport and deposition during evaporation from single capillary tubes of square and circular cross sections with lateral dimension of 1 mm and 3 mm (two sizes per cross section which resulted in four capillary tubes in total). The capillary tubes were filled with CaI2 solution of 5% concentration (by weight) and were placed under similar evaporative conditions. All boundaries were closed except top which was exposed to air for evaporation. The drying capillary tubes were scanned approximately once every hour for nearly 20 hrs. The recorded images enabled us to quantify solute concentration with a high spatial and temporal resolution throughout the capillary tubes with different sizes and cross sections and delineate the key transport mechanisms controlling solute transport and preferential deposition during evaporation. Our findings clearly show the contribution and impact of corner flow observed in square capillary tubes on the spatio-temporal distribution of solute, the evaporative mass losses and the velocity of the receding meniscus. The obtained results extend the fundamental understanding required for describing the transport mechanisms controlling saline water evaporation from porous media.ReferencesNorouzi Rad, M., N. Shokri, M. Sahimi (2013), Phys. Rev. E, 88, 032404.Shokri-Kuehni, S.M.S., T. Vetter, C. Webb, N. Shokri (2017a), Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, 5504–5510.Shokri-Kuehni, S.M.S., M. Norouzirad, C. Webb, N. Shokri (2017b), Adv. Water Resour., 105, 154-161.Shokri-Kuehni, S.M.S., M. Bergstad, M. Sahimi, C. Webb, N. Shokri (2018b), Sci. Rep., 10, 10731, London: Nature Publishing Group.