“Civil disobedience” in the Archive: documenting women’s activism and experience through the Sheffield Feminist Archive

The study investigated what motivates feminist activists to engage in archiving and memory collecting activity, such as oral history projects, and what form such activity takes, including the extent to which they collaborate with formal archives. A case study of a feminist archiving project was undertaken: the Sheffield Feminist Archive project. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with the five most active members of the project were conducted. The participants in this study saw their activity as a part of their feminist activism. They were motivated by a desire to increase the presence of women and feminists in the archival record. They hoped that the material they collected would help to change the way the public see women, feminism, and gender relations. They chose to collaborate with a formal archive, Sheffield Archives, from the start of their archiving activity. They felt that this brought benefits to the project which enabled them to meet their aims. These included status and public identity, visibility and archival expertise. Despite their limited time, the participants saw themselves as having an active and multifaceted role in the collaboration including being a link with the feminist community, collecting material for the archive, publicising the archive, and challenging archival practice

Fabrication of crystals from single metal atoms

YesMetal nanocrystals offer new concepts for the design of nanodevices with a range of potential applications. Currently the formation of metal nanocrystals cannot be controlled at the level of individual atoms. Here we describe a new general method for the fabrication of multi-heteroatom-doped graphitic matrices decorated with very small, ångström-sized, three-dimensional (3D)-metal crystals of defined size. We irradiate boron-rich precious-metal-encapsulated self-spreading polymer micelles with electrons and produce, in real time, a doped graphitic support on which individual osmium atoms hop and migrate to form 3D-nanocrystals, as small as 15 Å in diameter, within 1 h. Crystal growth can be observed, quantified and controlled in real time. We also synthesize the first examples of mixed ruthenium–osmium 3D-nanocrystals. This technology not only allows the production of ångström-sized homo- and hetero-crystals, but also provides new experimental insight into the dynamics of nanocrystals and pathways for their assembly from single atoms.We thank the Leverhulme Trust (Early Career Fellowship No. ECF-2013-414 to NPEB), the University of Warwick (Grant No. RDF 2013-14 to NPEB), the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant No. PA00P2_145308 to NPEB and PBNEP2_142949 to APB), the ERC (Grant No. 247450 to PJS), EPSRC (EP/G004897/1 to RKOR, and EP/F034210/1 to PJS) and Science City (AWM/ERDF) for support. We thank the Wellcome Trust (Grant No. 055663/Z/98/Z) for funding the Electron Microscopy Facility, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick. We also thank COST Action CM1105 for stimulating discussions, Thomas Wilks for supplying the micelle image for Figure 1, and the Australian Synchrotron and the University of Monash for allocation of time on the SAXS/ WAXS beamline and funding. The 2000FX Gatan Orius digital TEM camera used in this research was funded by Science City: Creating and Characterizing Next Generation Advanced Materials, with support from Advantage West Midlands and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund

11β-HSD1 inhibition in men mitigates prednisolone-induced adverse effects in a proof-of-concept randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial

Glucocorticoids prescribed to limit inflammation, have significant adverse effects. As 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) regenerates active glucocorticoid, we investigated whether 11β-HSD1 inhibition with AZD4017 could mitigate adverse glucocorticoid effects without compromising their anti-inflammatory actions. We conducted a proof-of-concept, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study at Research Unit, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK (NCT03111810). 32 healthy male volunteers were randomized to AZD4017 or placebo, alongside prednisolone treatment. Although the primary endpoint of the study (change in glucose disposal during a two-step hyperinsulinemic, normoglycemic clamp) wasn’t met, hepatic insulin sensitivity worsened in the placebo-treated but not in the AZD4017-treated group. Protective effects of AZD4017 on markers of lipid metabolism and bone turnover were observed. Night-time blood pressure was higher in the placebo-treated but not in the AZD4017-treated group. Urinary (5aTHF+THF)/THE ratio was lower in the AZD4017-treated but remained the same in the placebo-treated group. Most anti-inflammatory actions of prednisolone persisted with AZD4017 co-treatment. Four adverse events were reported with AZD4017 and no serious adverse events. Here we show that co-administration of AZD4017 with prednisolone in men is a potential strategy to limit adverse glucocorticoid effects

Development, flood risk and the urban environment: experiences from the River Tame

Experience and knowledge of river-restoration schemes are generally available at the reach scale. However, there are problems with the application of this knowledge at the scale of large urbanised catchments which relate to understanding the system and predicting the impact of management strategies. This paper considers problems of developing a perceptive and efficient rehabilitation strategy for a large urbanised catchment, with specific reference to the River Tame in the West Midlands. Consideration is given to (a) rainfall-runoff relationships, (b) assessment of water quality and ecological status, and (c) predicting the impact of various management strategies

Morphological and ecological change on a meander bend: the role of hydrological processes and the application of GIS

Environmental change induced by hydrological processes can often be quite small. This paper illustrates subtle changes in river planform on a single meander bend of the lower River Dee, Wales, and the significance of those changes for the ecology of the present riparian zone. Geographical information systems (GIS) are shown to provide an excellent framework for integrating historical and contemporary information from different sources, and for quantifying possible transcription errors so that true environmental associations and relatively small changes, in the context of the spatial scales of the sources, can be identified with confidence. As a result, functional units within the riparian zone of a regulated river can be defined and mapped