Increasing Hydrophilicity and Transparency of Diamond-Like Carbon Thin Films with Dopants for an Anti-Fogging Laparoscope Coating

Laparoscopes are prone to fogging which can lead to a limited field of view during surgical procedures. Current methods of mitigating fogging issues are not efficient or can require costly modification to the laparoscope. Previous studies of diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings found doping the films improved hydrophilic qualities, suggesting their possible use as antifogging coatings for laparoscopes. For this work, two series of DLC films, doped with either SiO and Al2O3 were investigated. The biocompatibility, transparency, and stability of these films were assessed through cellular assays, spectrophotometry, and simulated body fluid soaking experiments. Contact angle and surface energy measurements were performed to assess the hydrophilic qualities of the films. Plasma cleaning was utilized as a surface treatment to improve hydrophilicity; time-studies were performed to assess the stability of this treatment. Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and adhesion tests were performed to assess the physical characteristics of the films. The silicon monoxide doped films demonstrated improved transparency and hydrophilic qualities. Samples subjected to plasma cleaning had contact angles under 5° when measured within 60 minutes of treatment. From the time-studies performed, the hydrophilicity of the SiO doped films was improved for over 24 hours after treatment. The aluminum oxide doped films demonstrated transparency results of up to 97% over the visible spectrum indicating this dopant helped improve transparency. After plasma cleaning samples demonstrated a contact angle of 8° within 60 minutes of treatment. Both series demonstrated similar biocompatibility results with cellular assay viability values being statistically similar to the control media. No delamination of the films from either series was observed when soaked in simulated body fluid over the course of 40 weeks. The results of this research show promise for DLC as an antifogging coating for laparoscopes

The governance of complaints in UK higher education:critically examining ‘remedies’ for staff sexual misconduct

Complaints processes and their governance in UK higher education (HE) have received little critical scrutiny, despite their expanded role under the increasing marketisation of HE. This article draws on interviews with students who attempted to make complaints of staff sexual misconduct to their HE institution. It outlines four groups among the interviewees according to the ‘remedy’ that they obtained, describing how most interviewees could not access the services of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education in England as they could not complete internal institutional complaints processes. The failure of most complainants to obtain remedy, and the difficult experiences of those who did, reveals the inadequacies of using an individualist, consumer-oriented model for addressing discrimination complaints in HE. The article also contributes to discussions of justice for sexual violence survivors, suggesting that community-oriented remedies are needed alongside formal administrative justice processes to address power-based sexual misconduct in institutions

Making power visible: ‘Slow activism’ to address staff sexual misconduct

This article examines activism to address staff-to-student sexual misconduct in higher education in the UK from our perspective as founders and members of the research and lobby organisation The 1752 Group. We argue that in order to tackle staff sexual misconduct in higher education, the problem has first to be made visible. We theorise this as ‘slow activism’ and outline the activities that we and others have been engaged in towards this end: conducting research; using complaints processes within institutions; naming the experiences of staff sexual misconduct and/or institutions and perpetrators; and carrying out discipline-led and sector-level initiatives

Emotions and critical thinking at a dark heritage site: investigating visitors’ reactions to a First World War museum in Slovenia

This paper explores the connection between memory study theories (antagonistic, cosmopolitan, and agonistic) and emotions in a dark heritage site. It does so by investigating Italian and Slovene visitors’ emotional reactions to the permanent exhibition of the Kobarid Museum. The museum is located in a dark heritage site in Slovenia that was the epicenter of a series of bloody conflicts during the First World War. Relying on a cosmopolitan narrative, the museum promotes a clear antiwar message, aiming to elicit emotional responses such as empathy and compassion for the victims to connect with visitors. However, our analysis brings to light antagonistic emotions among Italian and Slovene visitors, raising important issues concerning the role of emotions and multiperspectivity in dark heritage sites. Hence, we discuss how these emotions could instead promote critical thinking, self-reflection, and cross-national dialogue

Book review: El Sistema: orchestrating Venezuela’s youth

The Venezuelan youth orchestra programme known as ‘El Sistema’ has attracted much attention internationally through its claims to use classical music education to rescue vulnerable children. Geoffrey Baker examines El Sistema’s program of ‘social action through music,’ reassessing widespread beliefs about the system as a force for positive social change. Anna Bull thinks this book will spur on some much needed soul-searching around the uncomfortable question of why the world, all too easily, fell for the hype

Cloud Chamber: A Performance with Real Time Two-Way Interaction between Subatomic Particles and Violinist

‘Cloud Chamber’ - a composition by Alexis Kirke, Antonino Chiaramonte, and Anna Troisi - is a live performance in which the invisible quantum world becomes visible as a violinist and subatomic particle tracks interact together. An electronic instrument was developed which can be “played” live by radioactive atomic particles. Electronic circuitry was developed enabling a violin to create a physical force field that directly affects the ions generated by cosmic radiation particles. This enabled the violinist and the ions to influence each other musically in real time. A glass cloud chamber was used onstage to make radioactivity visible in bright white tracks moving within, with the tracks projected onto a large screen