Doing impact work while female:Hate tweets, ‘hot potatoes’ and having ‘enough of experts’

Drawing upon lived experiences, this article explores challenges facing feminist academics sharing work in the media, and the gendered, raced intersections of ‘being visible’ in digital cultures which enable direct, public response. We examine online backlash following publication of an article about representations of Meghan Markle’s feminism being co-opted by the patriarchal monarchy. While in it we argued against vilification of Markle, we encountered what we term distortions of research remediation as news outlets reported our work under headlines such as ‘academics accuse Meghan of dropping feminism like a hot potato’. Negative responses were polarised: anti-Meghan (drawing upon racist, anti-feminist, pro-empire, pro-Brexit/Trump rhetoric), and pro-Meghan (both general royal enthusiasts, and a smaller subsection viewing Markle in terms of politicised black uplift). In response, we received accusations of sexist, racist bullying, debate over definitions of feminism, claims feminism has gone ‘too far’, variously worded directives to ‘shut up’, gendered personal insults, and threats of doxxing. This article examines the tenor of public discourse around feminism and visible feminists. It questions the responsibility of institutions benefiting from public intellectuals for the wellbeing of employees in the public eye, particularly in the anti-intellectual socio-political context of Brexit and Donald Trump, where the costs for ‘visible’ women and feminist activism are ever higher. It also considers our responsibility as researchers to ensure our contributions to public discourse do not exacerbate existing harms of a white-supremacist, classist society. This article interrogates the risks – of misrepresentation, hyper-visibility, and reputational, psychological and potentially physical harm – faced by those engaging in acts of public feminism

Past or present? The treatment of cultural heritage and tangible assets in central European capital cities

The cultural heritage landscape of any town or city will change over time; new monuments appear, old ones are taken down and others neglected. This is often in relation to political change or significant events in a country’s history when heritage is frequently used as a tool for countries to present a particular version of the past or political thought. This thesis presents an exploration of the cultural heritage and tangible assets of three selected Central European capital cities, in order understand how the treatment of such things informs us of the political and social climate of a place, in addition to providing a methodology for future research. Six field trips across three Central European capital cities; Berlin, Budapest, and Zagreb were undertaken, with the heritage sites visited built into a dataset. The dataset forms the backbone of this study and allowed me to draw out and present a number of patterns in the treatment of heritage across these cities. This is complimented by a methodology that explores these sites further through a variety of lenses. The results of the study show that, whilst each city is unique in their history and presentation of heritage, there are identifying themes that help us to understand the treatment of cultural heritage and tangible assets in other urban landscapes, as well as well as providing insight into the cities themselves. In addition, this study presents a methodology for how we can analyse cultural heritage and tangible assets across other locations

The ciliary GTPase Arl13b regulates cell migration and cell cycle progression

Acknowledgments We acknowledge Prof. Tamara Caspary from Emory University for kindly providing the cell lines, Linda Duncan from the University of Aberdeen Ian Fraser Cytometry Center for help with flow cytometry. MP was funded by the Scottish Universities Life Science Alliance (SULSA) and the University of Aberdeen. Funding This work was supported by grants from British Council China (Sino-UK higher Education for PhD studies) to YD and CM, The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (70190) and The NHS Grampian Endowment Funds (14/09) to BL, and National Natural Science Foundation of China (31528011) to BL and YD.Peer reviewedPostprin

Interfacially-grafted Single Wall Carbon Nanotube / Poly (vinyl alcohol) Composite Fibers

Nanocomposites are critically influenced by interfacial interactions between the reinforcement and matrix. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) of varying molecular weights were prepared and grafted-to single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), to improve the interfacial interaction with a homopolymer PVOH matrix. Nanocomposite fibers were coagulation spun across a broad range of loading fractions, controlled by the spinning dope composition. An intermediate grafted-PVOH molecular weight (10 kDa) maximized grafting ratio, and the final composite mechanical performance; the positive effects were attributed to the increased degree of dispersion of the SWCNTs in the dope, as well as the favorable interface. The PVOH grafting increased the stability of the SWCNT loading fractions (up to 45 wt.%), offering increased strength (up to 1100 MPa) and stiffness (up to 38.5 GPa); at the same time, strain-to-failures remained high (up to 23.3%), resulting in high toughness (up to 125 J g−1)

Interfacially-grafted Single Wall Carbon Nanotube / Poly (vinyl alcohol) Composite Fibers

Nanocomposites are critically influenced by interfacial interactions between the reinforcement and matrix. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) of varying molecular weights were prepared and grafted to single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), to improve the interfacial interaction with a homopolymer PVOH matrix. Nanocomposite fibers were coagulation spun across a broad range of loading fractions, controlled by the spinning dope composition. An intermediate grafted-PVOH molecular weight (10 kDa) maximized grafting ratio, and the final composite mechanical performance; the positive effects were attributed to the increased degree of dispersion of the SWCNTs in the dope, as well as the favorable interface. The PVOH grafting increased the stability of the SWCNT loading fractions (up to 45 wt.%), offering increased strength (up to 1100 MPa) and stiffness (up to 38.5 GPa); at the same time, strain to-failures remained high (up to 23.3%), resulting in high toughness (up to 125 J g-1)

Depleting Depletion: Maintaining Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Dispersions after Graft-to Polymer Functionalization

Grafting polymers onto single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) usefully alters properties but does not typically yield stable, solvated species directly. Despite the expectation of steric stabilization, a damaging (re)dispersion step is usually necessary. Here, poly(vinyl acetate)s (PVAc) of varying molecular weights are grafted to individualized, reduced SWCNTs at different concentrations to examine the extent of reaction and degree of solvation. The use of higher polymer concentrations leads to an increase in grafting ratio (weight fraction of grafted polymer relative to the SWCNT framework), approaching the limit of random sequentially adsorbed Flory ‘mushrooms’ on the surface. However, at higher polymer concentrations, a larger percentage of SWCNTs precipitate during the reaction; an effect which is more significant for larger weight polymers. The precipitation is attributed to depletion interactions generated by ungrafted homopolymer overcoming Coulombic repulsion of adjacent like-charged SWCNTs; a simple model is proposed. Larger polymers and greater degrees of functionalization favor stable solvation, but larger and more concentrated homopolymers increase depletion aggregation. By using low concentrations (25 μM) of larger molecular weight PVAc (10 kDa), up to 65% of grafted SWCNTs were retained in solution (at 65 μg mL-1) directly after the reaction

<i>Grafting from</i> versus <i>Grafting to</i> Approaches for the Functionalization of Graphene Nanoplatelets with Poly(methyl methacrylate)

Graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) were exfoliated using a nondestructive chemical reduction method and subsequently decorated with polymers using two different approaches: <i>grafting from</i> and <i>grafting to</i>. Poly­(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with varying molecular weights was covalently attached to the GNP layers using both methods. The grafting ratios were higher (44.6% to 126.5%) for the <i>grafting from</i> approach compared to the <i>grafting to</i> approach (12.6% to 20.3%). The products were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis–mass spectrometry (TGA-MS), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The g<i>rafting from</i> products showed an increase in the grafting ratio and dispersibility in acetone with increasing monomer supply; on the other hand, due to steric effects, the <i>grafting to</i> products showed lower absolute grafting ratios and a decreasing trend with increasing polymer molecular weight. The excellent dispersibility of the <i>grafting from</i> functionalized graphene, 900 μg/mL in acetone, indicates an increased compatibility with the solvent and the potential to increase graphene reinforcement performance in nanocomposite applications