New Biobased Sulfonated Anionic Surfactants Based on the Esterification of Furoic Acid and Fatty Alcohols: A Green Solution for the Replacement of Oil Derivative Surfactants with Superior Proprieties.

The surfactant market represents a key sector of the chemical industry and encompasses many diverse applications. Their sustainability in terms of feedstock used, synthetic procedure, biodegradability, and formulation are crucial parameters to assessing the environmental impact of the surfactant. The anionic surfactant linear alkyl benzene sulfonates have proven successful to date because of their high performance, low cost, and extensive studies within formulations to optimize performance, allowing usage in a large variety of applications, especially in cleaning. Due to their advantageous properties and extensive research and development, their substitution with a biobased surfactant such as sodium dodecyl sulfate has struggled to succeed. Furan surfactants have been reported as valuable candidates for the implementation of green alternatives to traditional anionic sulfonated surfactants with a perfect trade-off between performances and green credentials. However, their implementation suffers of scalability and high cost in producing the final product due to feedstock availability and low yields of the final product. Herein, we report a new class of furan surfactants, sulfonated alkyl furoates, which are derived from the esterification of furoic acid and fatty alcohols, followed by a sulfonation step. Compared to traditional surfactants, they showed more favorable behavior in basic proprieties (such as critical micelle concentration, ecotoxicity, hard water resistance, surface tension water/oil), which gives a good prospective for the introduction of a new biobased chemical with superior performances.

The multifaceted nature of the response to adversity in an Italian sample of refugee community leaders.

The end of the last decade saw record numbers of refugee arrivals to Italy, straining the existing reception and integration systems. Although significant research attention has focused on the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicidal ideation in refugee populations, there are increasing calls to study the interactions between distress, resilience, and positive outcomes of adversity. To fully understand the complexity of the refugee experience, these voices must be heard in dialogue. Studies must be framed within a more nuanced view of refugees, characterizing them not exclusively as victims but also as advocates for their own well-being and the well-being of their communities. This exploratory study performed a thematic analysis of 15 interviews conducted with refugee community leaders in Italy, each a founder or leader of a community association and actively engaged in civil society. In keeping with Papadopoulos' (2007) construct of adversity-activated development, an inductive analysis identified three distinct patterns of positive adversity response: meaning, motivation, and mobilization. A deductive analysis identified the most appropriate theories of resilience to describe the sample, which included resilience as a dynamic positive adaptation and resilience as resistance to change in moral codes and personal value systems. The resulting image of refugee community leaders in Italy is that of individuals who are exposed to adversity and experiences of suffering and distress but safeguard their core values while positively adapting to a new country.

At Home: Place Attachment and Identity in an Italian Refugee Sample.

The central tenet of Place Attachment theory states that an individual has an inborn predisposition to form strong bonds with places as well as with people. Our qualitative study applies this theory to understand how, despite loss and adversity, refugees are able to reconstruct a sense of identity, community, and "home". Participants included 15 forcibly displaced people from different countries of origin. Semistructured interviews explored factors that facilitate participants' integration in a new context and the impact of this context on their sense of identity. Data were analysed using Consensual Qualitative Research Methodology to identify recurrent themes and their frequencies within interview transcripts. Within the relational dimensions of place attachment, affiliation, and seeking help from others, the study explores the factors that facilitate the integration of refugees in a new context and the impact of this context on their sense of identity, identifying recurrent themes and their frequencies within interview transcripts. The most frequent resulting themes were (a) a sense of identity and (b) expectations toward the resettlement country. Additional, though less frequent, themes included: (c) sense of belonging, (d) community integration, (e) trust, (f) opportunity seizing, (g) being a point of reference for others, (h) sense of community, (i) positive memories, (j) refusal. These results begin to describe the ways by which Place Attachment, toward both birth and resettlement countries, contributes to a restructured identity and sense of "feeling at home" for refugees.