Templating the morphology of soft microgel assemblies using a nanolithographic 3D-printed membrane.

Filter cake formation is the predominant phenomenon limiting the filtration performance of membrane separation processes. However, the filter cake's behavior at the particle scale, which determines its overall cake behavior, has only recently come into the focus of scientists, leaving open questions about its formation and filtration behavior. The present study contributes to the fundamental understanding of soft filter cakes by analyzing the influence of the porous membrane's morphology on crystal formation and the compaction behavior of soft filter cakes under filtration conditions. Microfluidic chips with nanolithographic imprinted filter templates were used to trigger the formation of crystalline colloidal filter cakes formed by soft microgels. The soft filter cakes were observed via confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) under dead-end filtration conditions. Colloidal crystal formation in the cake, as well as their compaction behavior, were analyzed by optical visualization and pressure data. For the first time, we show that exposing the soft cake to a crystalline filter template promotes the formation of colloidal crystallites and that soft cakes experience gradient compression during filtration.

Transition to retirement in the healthcare sector : Working conditions and attitudes of older workers.

BACKGROUND: The aging of societies will increase the need for healthcare services and lead to a growing number of older employees. These two developments are relevant in the healthcare sector (HCS), which is of rising societal and economic importance and at the same time employs many older people. OBJECTIVE: This article, which was written within the EXTEND project, investigates the working conditions and the prospective retirement age of older employees in the HCS in comparison to other sectors and explores what companies are doing to address the needs of this group. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The analysis was conducted as a mixed methods approach. The quantitative part was based on data derived from the Transitions and Old Age Potential (TOP) study in which older German employees were asked about their working conditions and retirement transitions. Matching techniques (coarsened exact matching) were used to investigate differences between sectors. The sample consisted of 114 employees aged between 55 and 65 years, working in the HCS and their statistical twins. The qualitative analysis was based on case studies in two inpatient care organizations and two hospitals in Germany. A total of 23 semistructured interviews with staff members and with representatives of the management were carried out and thematically analyzed. RESULTS: The results showed that older employees in the HCS do not expect to retire earlier but preferred to do so significantly more often. Furthermore, HCS employees are more likely to face physically burdensome working conditions than in other sectors of the economy. The case studies indicated that there are very diverse and unsystematic strategies in addressing and supporting older employees. DISCUSSION: Older employees in the HCS sector are employed in much harsher working conditions than their peers in other sectors. This must be kept in mind when trying to extend their working lives.

[Gerontological policy advice : Possibilities and limits of scientific counseling]. / Gerontologische Politikberatung : Möglichkeiten und Grenzen wissenschaftlicher Beratung.

In the first part of this article a comprehensive understanding of political advice is explicated. In this context reference is made to the value judgement dispute in German sociology and a differentiation between an enlightening and a critical function of scientific policy advice. Development of social scientific policy advice is considered against the background of the distinction between technocratic, decisionistic and pragmatic models of counseling. In the second part of the article, the committee of inquiry on demographic change, the national reports on aging and the reviews on the development of the healthcare system are considered as practical examples of policy advice.