The impact of Vogue germany’s fashion images on female reader’s well-being

This internship report will discuss my experience as a trainee in the magazine Vogue Germany in Paris between September 2020 and May 2021. As an operational assistant in the fashion department, I was directly involved with the production of Vogue Germany’s fashion images, mostly picturing women. During the preparation for the shoots, the contact with multiple experts in the fashion industry made me aware of and impressed by the impact fashion paper magazines have on the configuration of women’s identity, and consequently, on their well-being. In this report I seek to understand how the processes underlying the production of fashion images representing women have psychological and behavioral implications for female readers. Drawing on neurological and sociological principles, I focus particularly on how images can reinforce society’s preconceived representations of and prejudices against women. Neurological principles have demonstrated the potential impact of images on well-being. Thus, through a selection of case studies found in the issues of Vogue Germany published during periods of confinement due to Covid-19, I examine how and to what extent the representation of women in the production of fashion images can lead to psychological changes in female readers, thereby impacting their well-being. To understand how women would like to be represented in fashion photography, I adopted the use of qualitative research through focus group interviews. Neuropsychological principles of mental imagery informed the causal link between the representation of women in fashion magazines and their impact on women’s identity.O presente relatório de estágio visa discutir a minha experiência como estagiária na revista Vogue Germany em Paris, de setembro de 2020 a maio de 2021. Como assistente operacional no departamento de moda, estive diretamente envolvida com a produção das fotografias de moda da Vogue Germany, a maioria das quais representando mulheres. Na preparação das sessões fotográficas, o contacto com vários especialistas da indústria da moda tornou-me consciente do impacto que as revistas de moda em suporte de papel tem na configuração da identidade das mulheres, e, consequentemente, no seu bem-estar. Neste relatório, procuro compreender como os processos subjacentes à produção de imagens de moda que representam mulheres têm implicações de ordem psicológica e comportamental para as leitoras. Lançando mão de princípios neurológicos e sociológicos, examino como as imagens podem reforçar representações sociais pré-concebidas e preconceitos vários contra as mulheres. Os princípios neurológicos têm demonstrado o potencial impacto das imagens sobre o bem-estar. Assim sendo, através de uma seleção de estudos de casos retirados dos números da Vogue Germany, que foram publicados no decorrer dos períodos de confinamento devido a Covid-19, reflito sobre como e em que medida a representação das mulheres na produção de imagens de moda pode levar a alterações psicológicas nas leitoras, com implicações no seu bem-estar. Para compreender como as mulheres gostariam de ser representadas nas fotografias de moda, utilizei como instrumento metodológico a investigação qualitativa através de entrevistas em focus groups. Princípios neuropsicológicos relativos a imagens mentais informaram o elo causal entre a representação das mulheres nas revistas de moda e o seu impacto na identidade das mulheres

Entanglement between a diamond spin qubit and a photonic time-bin qubit at telecom wavelength

We report on the realization and verification of quantum entanglement between an NV electron spin qubit and a telecom-band photonic qubit. First we generate entanglement between the spin qubit and a 637 nm photonic time-bin qubit, followed by photonic quantum frequency conversion that transfers the entanglement to a 1588 nm photon. We characterize the resulting state by correlation measurements in different bases and find a lower bound to the Bell state fidelity of F = 0.77 +/- 0.03. This result presents an important step towards extending quantum networks via optical fiber infrastructure

Exploiting topology-directed nanoparticle disassembly for triggered drug delivery

YesThe physical properties of cyclic and linear polymers are markedly different; however, there are few examples which exploit these differences in clinical applications. In this study, we demonstrate that self-assemblies comprised of cyclic-linear graft copolymers are significantly more stable than the equivalent linear-linear graft copolymer assemblies. This difference in stability can be exploited to allow for triggered disassembly by cleavage of just a single bond within the cyclic polymer backbone, via disulfide reduction, in the presence of intracellular levels of l-glutathione. This topological effect was exploited to demonstrate the first example of topology-controlled particle disassembly for the controlled release of an anti-cancer drug in vitro. This approach represents a markedly different strategy for controlled release from polymer nanoparticles and highlights for the first time that a change in polymer topology can be used as a trigger in the design of delivery vehicles. We propose such constructs, which demonstrate disassembly behavior upon a change in polymer topology, could find application in the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents.ERC are acknowledged for support to M.C.A., A.P.D. (grant number: 681559) and R.O.R. (grant number: 615142)

Development of CO2 snow cleaning for in situ cleaning of µCMM stylus tips

Contamination adhered to the surface of a µCMM stylus tip compromises the measurement accuracy of the µCMM system, potentially causing dimensional errors that are over ten times larger than the uncertainty of a modern µCMM. In prior work by the authors, the use of a high pressure CO2 gas stream was demonstrated to achieve significant cleaning rate for a range of contaminant without damage to the stylus tip surface. This paper explores the practical challenges of achieving effective stylus tip cleaning in situ on µCMM systems. Two types of snow cleaning approaches were evaluated for their coverage of cleaning, thermal impact and gas flow forces. This work then presents a novel multi-nozzle prototype system using pulsed snow streams to achieve cleaning coverage over the entire stylus tip, and balances forces from the snow streams reducing drag force imparted by the gas stream to levels comparable to the probing force of µCMMs, as well as allowing automated cleaning procedure integrated into a µCMM system

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

Exploiting nucleobase-containing materials : from monomers to complex morphologies using RAFT dispersion polymerization

yesThe synthesis of nucleobase-containing polymers was successfully performed by RAFT dispersion polymerization in both chloroform and 1,4-dioxane and self-assembly was induced by the polymerizations. A combination of scattering and microscopy techniques were used to characterize the morphologies. It is found that the morphologies of self-assembled nucleobase-containing polymers are solvent dependent. By varying the DP of the core-forming block, only spherical micelles with internal structures were obtained in chloroform when using only adenine-containing methacrylate or a mixture of adenine-containing methacrylate and thymine-containing methacrylate as monomers. However, higher order structures and morphology transitions were observed in 1,4-dioxane. A sphere-rod-lamella-twisted bilayer transition was observed in this study. Moreover, the kinetics of the dispersion polymerizations were studied in both solvents, suggesting a different formation mechanism in these systems.University of Warwick, Swiss National Science Foundation, EPSRC, Birmingham Science City, Advanatfe West Midlands (AWM), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Science City Research Alliance, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE

E2F6 initiates stable epigenetic silencing of germline genes during embryonic development.

In mouse development, long-term silencing by CpG island DNA methylation is specifically targeted to germline genes; however, the molecular mechanisms of this specificity remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the transcription factor E2F6, a member of the polycomb repressive complex 1.6 (PRC1.6), is critical to target and initiate epigenetic silencing at germline genes in early embryogenesis. Genome-wide, E2F6 binds preferentially to CpG islands in embryonic cells. E2F6 cooperates with MGA to silence a subgroup of germline genes in mouse embryonic stem cells and in embryos, a function that critically depends on the E2F6 marked box domain. Inactivation of E2f6 leads to a failure to deposit CpG island DNA methylation at these genes during implantation. Furthermore, E2F6 is required to initiate epigenetic silencing in early embryonic cells but becomes dispensable for the maintenance in differentiated cells. Our findings elucidate the mechanisms of epigenetic targeting of germline genes and provide a paradigm for how transient repression signals by DNA-binding factors in early embryonic cells are translated into long-term epigenetic silencing during mouse development

Reading faces: differential lateral gaze bias in processing canine and human facial expressions in dogs and 4-year-old children

Sensitivity to the emotions of others provides clear biological advantages. However, in the case of heterospecific relationships, such as that existing between dogs and humans, there are additional challenges since some elements of the expression of emotions are species-specific. Given that faces provide important visual cues for communicating emotional state in both humans and dogs, and that processing of emotions is subject to brain lateralisation, we investigated lateral gaze bias in adult dogs when presented with pictures of expressive human and dog faces. Our analysis revealed clear differences in laterality of eye movements in dogs towards conspecific faces according to the emotional valence of the expressions. Differences were also found towards human faces, but to a lesser extent. For comparative purpose, a similar experiment was also run with 4-year-old children and it was observed that they showed differential processing of facial expressions compared to dogs, suggesting a species-dependent engagement of the right or left hemisphere in processing emotions

The sound of chemistry: Translating infrared wavenumbers into musical notes

YesThe abstract nature of physical chemistry and spectroscopy makes the subject difficult to comprehend for many students. However, bridging arts and science has the potential to provide innovative learning methods and to facilitate the understanding of abstract concepts. Herein, we present a high-school project based on the conversion of selected infrared absorbances of well-known molecules into audible frequencies. This process offered students a unique insight into the way molecules and chemical bonds vibrate, as well as an opportunity to develop their creativity by producing musical pieces related to the molecules they synthesized. We believe that experiencing chemistry from an alternative viewpoint opens up new perspectives not only for student learning but also for the decompartmentalization of scientific and artistic disciplines.This project was supported by the Royal Society (Partnership Grant no. PG\170122 to NPEB and NG and University Research Fellowship no. UF150295 to NPEB) and the Academy of Medical Sciences/the Wellcome Trust/the Government Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy/the British Heart Foundation springboard Award [SBF003\1170 to NPEB]

Cannabis in medicine: a national educational needs assessment among Canadian physicians

BACKGROUND: There is increasing global awareness and interest in the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes (CTP). It is clear that health care professionals need to be involved in these decisions, but often lack the education needed to engage in informed discussions with patients. This study was conducted to determine the educational needs of Canadian physicians regarding CTP. METHODS: A national needs assessment survey was developed based on previous survey tools. The survey was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the McGill University Health Centre Research Institute and was provided online using LimeSurvey®. Several national physician organizations and medical education organizations informed their members of the survey. The target audience was Canadian physicians. We sought to identify and rank using 5-point Likert scales the most common factors involved in decision making about using CTP in the following categories: knowledge, experience, attitudes, and barriers. Preferred educational approaches and physician demographics were collected. Gap analysis was conducted to determine the magnitude and importance of differences between perceived and desired knowledge on all decision factors. RESULTS: Four hundred and twenty six responses were received, and physician responses were distributed across Canada consistent with national physician distribution. The most desired knowledge concerned “potential risks of using CTP” and “safety, warning signs and precautions for patients using CTP”. The largest gap between perceived current and desired knowledge levels was “dosing” and “the development of treatment plans”. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified several key educational needs among Canadian physicians regarding CTP. These data can be used to develop resources and educational programs to support clinicians in this area, as well as to guide further research to inform these gaps