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Relations between the European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states date back to the 1960s. Brexit has also affected relations between the European Union and African-Caribbean and Pacific states. While the impact of Brexit on the EU is evident, the United Kingdom's exit from the EU has begun the process of renegotiation with African-Caribbean and Pacific states. The main objective of the study is to highlight the relationship between the ACP states, the United Kingdom, and the EU for the pre- and post-Brexit period. First, the historical process between the EU and the African-Caribbean and Pacific states was mentioned, and then an attempt was made to examine the consequences of Brexit for the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the related countries.

The purpose of this study is to explore the sustainability of innovations introduced during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in remote and rural primary care advanced clinical practice.

The methodology includes an exploratory qualitative study of eight key stakeholders from Scottish remote and rural primary care advanced practice (three policymakers and five advanced practitioners). Data were collected using semi-structured interviews during 2022 and analysed thematically.

Advanced practice in remote and rural primary care is characterised by a shortage of doctors, close-knit communities and a broad scope of practice. Covid-19 catalysed changes in the delivery of healthcare. Innovations which participants wanted to sustain include hybrid working, triage, online training and development, and increased inter-professional support networks.

Findings provide valuable insights into how best to support remote and rural advanced practice which may have implications for retaining healthcare professionals. They also identified useful innovations which could benefit from further investment.

Given current healthcare workforce pressures, identifying and sustaining innovations which will support and retain staff are imperative. Hybrid consultations and online access to training, development and support should be sustained to support the remote and rural advanced practice workforce. Further research should explore the sustainability of innovations introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic in other care contexts.

The purpose of this study is to prepare a new adsorbent activated carbon immobilized on polystyrene (ACPS) for uranium (VI) and thorium (IV) removal from an aqueous solution. Activated carbon (AC) was derived from biochar material by chemical activation to increase the active sites on its surface and enhance the adsorption capacity. Activated carbon (AC) was immobilized on polystyrene (PS) to improve the physical properties and facilitate separation from the working solution. A feasibility study for the adsorption of uranium (VI) and thorium (IV) on the new adsorbent (ACPS) has been achieved. Adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamics models of the adsorption process were used to describe the reaction mechanism.

Activated carbon was synthesized from biochar charcoal by 2 M H₂SO₄. Activated carbon was immobilized on the pretreatment polystyrene by hydrothermal process forming new adsorbent (ACPS). Characterization studies were carried out by scanning electron microscope, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer, infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. Different factors affect the adsorption process as pH, contact time, solid/liquid ratio, initial concentration and temperature. The adsorption mechanism was explained according to kinetic, isothermal and thermodynamic studies. Also, the regeneration of spent ACPS was studied.

The experimental results showed that pH and equilibrium time of the best adsorption were 6.0 and 60 min for U(VI), 4.0 and 90 min for Th(IV), (pH_PZC = 3.4). The experimental results fit well with pseudo-second order, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich models proving the chemisorption and heterogenous adsorption reaction. Adsorption thermodynamics demonstrated that the adsorption process is exothermic and has random nature of the solid/liquid interface. In addition, the regeneration of spent ACPS research showed that the adsorbent has good chemical stability. According to the comparative study, ACPS shows higher adsorption capacities of U(VI) and Th(IV) than other previous bio-adsorbents.

This study was conducted to improve the chemical and physical properties of bio-charcoal purchased from the local market to activated carbon by hydrothermal method. Activated carbon was immobilized on polystyrene forming new adsorbent ACPS for eliminating U(VI) and Th(IV) from aqueous solutions.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the adjustment of relations between the EU and ACP countries to multilateral requirements.

Has been carried out an analysis of the previous situation, the reasons and the result of the adjustment. To do this, they have been pursued literary and documentary sources.

The European Union's relations with the ACP countries have changed drastically. Now there is no unity of action of ACP, and the relations with the EU relations are atomized.

The submitted article summarizes and critically analyzes the evolution of the European Union's relations with ACP countries. The relationship with the ACP has been historically and currently lost its specificity, so it is diluted in the context of the external action of the European Union.

This study aims to scope the profile and application of an advanced clinical practitioner (ACP) roles in primary care in the North of England and how these roles meet the requirements of Health Education England's (HEE’s) ACP workforce capability framework.

A two-stage design was used. Stage 1 analysed health and social care workforce intelligence reports to inform scoping of numbers of ACPs working in primary care. Stage 2 used two surveys. Survey 1 targeted ACP leads and collected strategic-level data about ACP application. Survey 2 targeted staff who perceived themselves to be working as ACPs. Survey 2 was in three parts. Part 1 collected demographic data. Part 2 required participants to record their perceived competence against each of the HEE ACP framework capability criteria. Part 3 required respondents to identify facilitators and barriers to ACP practice.

Despite the introduction of HEE's ACP capability framework, there is inconsistency and confusion about the ACP role. The results indicated a need for standardisation of role definition and educational and practice requirements. The results also suggested that some ACPs are not working to their full potential, while some staff who are employed as “gap-fillers” to provide routine clinical services perceive themselves as ACPs despite not working at the ACP level.

Although previous research has explored the application of ACP practice in primary care, few studies have considered ACP application in the light of the introduction of workforce capability frameworks aimed at standardising ACP practice.

Advanced care planning (ACP) involves the discussion of preferences relevant to a possible future time when one’s ability to make decisions may be compromised. ACP is considered as having potential to enhance choice and control and thereby to improve the experience of care for people with dementia and their carers. Care coordinators have been highlighted as possibly playing a central role in facilitating these discussions among people with long-term care needs. However, there is limited evidence of how ACP is facilitated by community mental health professionals who may be supporting people with dementia and carers. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This exploratory study took the form of qualitative semi-structured interviews to explore the views and experiences of community mental health professionals when discussing ACP with people with dementia and/or their carers. A convenience sample of 14 participants working in community mental health services in one NHS Mental Health Trust in London, England, was recruited and interview data were analysed using a framework approach.

Five themes emerged from the interviews – knowledge and experience, use of ACP, inhibitors of discussion, service influences and the future. The depth of ACP facilitation appeared dependent on the knowledge, confidence and skills of the individual professional. Limited resources leading to service rationing were cited as a major barrier to ACP engagement. Helping people with dementia and their carers with ACP was not viewed as a priority in the face of competing and increasing demands. A further organisational barrier was whether ACP was viewed by service managers as “core business”. Findings indicate that practice was generally to refer people with dementia to other agencies for ACP discussions. However, pockets of ACP practice were reported, such as explaining proxy decision making options for finances.

This exploratory study took place in the community mental health services in one NHS Mental Health Trust that may not be representative of other such teams. Case records were not scrutinised or clinical conversations with people with dementia or carers.

Barriers to initiating ACP discussions were cited, such as limited resources, lack of time and knowledge; unclear role remit, uncertain service direction and poor documentation sharing processes. However, participants held a common belief that ACP for people with dementia is potentially important and were interested in training, a greater team focus on ACP and pathway development. This indicates the potential for staff development and continuing professional development.

Few studies have asked a wide range of members of community mental health services about their knowledge, skills and confidence in ACP and this study suggests the value of taking a team-wide approach rather than uni-professional initiatives.

In the coupling of aircraft pipeline structures, current research works mainly focus on fluid-solid coupling effects or a single part of structure vibration like a pipeline. Because of the clamp, the pipe vibration caused by fluid pulsation was transmitted to the body, and the body vibration was also transmitted to the pipe structure. Thus, the relationship between the airframe and the pipeline system cannot be separated, and the influence of airframe needs to be considered when coupling structure under vibration. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper aims to investigate the influence of pipeline layouts on airframe-clamps-pipeline (ACP) structure’s dynamic response by experiment and simulation method. First, ACP structures are established including three parts. The natural frequencies and mode shapes are obtained by hammering experiment. The mode results are in agreement with numerical simulation. By using electromagnetic vibration shaker, extinction is applied on ACP structure, and then the dynamic responses of structure can be obtained by test equipments. The influence principle of pipeline layouts is obtained by dynamic response analysis. The present study provides a method for pipeline layout design in aerospace engineering.

Under the ACP’s first-order resonance frequency excitation, the maximum stress increases when the Z-shaped pipeline bending position changes from 1/2 to 1/5. The opposite way occurs under the only pipeline resonance frequency excitation. The stress amplitudes near both sides (inner and outer) of the clamp on the plate surface change with the excitation frequency. Under the ACP’s first-order resonance frequency excitation, the outer side stress is larger than the inner side stress, but under the only pipeline resonance frequency excitation, the inner side stress is larger than the outer side stress.

The study of the effect of pipeline layout parameters on ACP structure provides a method for pipeline layout design in aerospace engineering.

Since the First Yaoundé Convention (1963‐1969), the European Union (EU) has been implementing its development policy in the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the trade and financial flows between the EU and the ACP countries and attempt to empirically evaluate the effectiveness of the EU's development policy during the pre‐Cotonou era (1970‐2000).

Extensive trade, governance, and external financing data are gathered about 79 ACP countries during the period 1970‐2004. Using the index of standardized trade performance, diversification indices, and regression analysis, the effectiveness of trade preferences and financial assistance in the ACP countries is quantified.

The results indicate that the preferential trade arrangements between the EU and the ACP countries had neither substantially increased the ACP countries' exports to the EU nor diversified these countries' export structure. Additionally, even though the ACP countries received substantial external financing, these countries continued suffering from the lack of development‐enhancing political and judicial institutions. The empirical results suggest that governance characteristics such as higher corruption and lower democratic accountability have adversely affected the ACP countries' growth rates.

This paper focuses on the effectiveness of the economic cooperation between the EU and the ACP countries during the pre‐Cotonou era. The Cotonou agreement that went into effect in 2000 has changed the EU's approach to the ACP countries significantly. However, the recent nature of this agreement imposes restrictions on data availability, which forces us to exclude the Cotonou era from most of our empirical evaluation.

The empirical results of the paper demonstrate the relevance of governance‐related factors or institutions in developing countries. Neither preferential trade nor financial assistance seems to enhance the growth performance of these countries if they lack political transparency and accountability.

This paper provides empirical evidence that the change in the EU's approach to its economic partnership with the ACP countries is warranted. Because the empirical results suggest that the pre‐Cotonou economic cooperation between the EU and the ACP countries did not contribute to the ACP countries' economic growth, the EU's decision of shifting the focus from trade preferences to governance‐related issues in the ACP countries can be viewed as justified.

The Convention signed at Lomé on 28 February 1975 between the nine members of the European Economic Community and forty‐six developing countries, known as the ACP States, has been hailed as an important advance in economic cooperation between rich and poor nations. Not only has the number of countries associated with the EEC been raised from the nineteen involved in the earlier Yaoundé Convention, but the ACP countries as a group now appear to enjoy more favourable provisions for trade and aid than those obtained under earlier agreements. Among the new ACP States is Ethiopia, a country neither connected with the EEC through previous arrangements nor having any historical links with Europe apart from a brief period of colonial rule by the Italians during 1936–41. The objective of this paper is to examine the implications of the provisions of the Lomé Convention in relation to Ethiopia. In addition to addressing the major question of local concern, i.e. whether or not Ethiopia is likely to benefit from association, a case study of this country is of more widespread interest. The lessons for Ethiopia may be applicable to other countries with similar circumstances. In addition, on the grounds of absolute poverty the Lomé Convention provides preferential treatment in some areas for certain of the least developed ACP countries, of which Ethiopia is one. The likely benefits of association for Ethiopia may serve, therefore, as an indicator of the extent of the EEC's commitment to assisting the ACP States, and the least developed in particular.

The aim of this paper is to critically analyse the trade preferences offered by the European Union (EU) to developing countries under the Cotonou Agreement and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in relation to trade in sugar. There is a need for a timely examination of this area, given the context of the ACP‐EU Economic Partnership Agreements and the recent termination of the ACP‐EU Sugar Protocol (SP).

The paper focuses on the Caribbean region as a whole with a particular focus on two non‐least developed ACP Caribbean countries, Guyana and Jamaica which held the largest sugar quotas among ACP Caribbean which benefited from the SP.

The EU trade regime changes have affected the value of the African‐Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) sugar trade regime and could have a serious impact on the amount of sugar available for purchase on the global market. The paper argues that ACP Caribbean countries could find more profitable to grow sugarcane as an agricultural commodity to produce biofuel, which is currently in high demand.

The analysis in this paper is limited to the arrangements pertaining to developing countries and therefore excludes those relating to least developed countries. Trade in more highly processed sugars such as fructose or glucose, together with the growing trade in biofuel refined from sugar beet and sugar cane are also outwith the scope of this discussion.

The paper deals with an intricate issue. It discusses the socio‐economic impact of the trade regime changes on the selected Caribbean countries and includes a section on recommendations given the economic weight of sugar for these countries.