Sexism experienced by consultant cardiologists in the United Kingdom

Objectives – The aim was to compare the frequency with which male and female cardiologists experience sexism, and to explore types of sexism experienced in cardiology. Methods – A validated questionnaire measuring experiences of sexism and sexual harassment was distributed online to 890 UK consultant cardiologists between March and May 2018. Chi squared tests and pairwise comparisons with a Bonferroni correction for multiple analyses compared the experiences of male and female cardiologists. Results – 174 cardiologists completed the survey (24% female; 76% male). The survey showed that 61.9% of female cardiologists have experienced discrimination of any kind, mostly related to gender and parenting, compared to 19.7% of male cardiologists. 35·7% of female cardiologists experienced unwanted sexual comments, attention or advances from a superior or colleagues, compared to 6.1% of male cardiologists. Sexual harassment affected the professional confidence of female cardiologists more than it affected the confidence of male cardiologists (42·9% vs. 3·0%), including confidence with colleagues (38% vs. 10·6%) and patients (23·9% vs. 4·6%). 33.3% of female cardiologists felt that sexism hampered opportunities for professional advancement compared to 2.3% of male cardiologists. Conclusion – Female cardiologists in the UK experience more sexism and sexual harassment than male cardiologists. Sexism impacts the career progression and professional confidence of female cardiologists more, including their confidence when working with patients and colleagues. Future research is urgently needed to test interventions against sexism in cardiology, and to protect the welfare of female cardiologists at work

Quantum turbulence in 4He, oscillating grids, and where do we go next?

Experimental approaches to the study of quantum turbulence (QT) in superfluid 4He in the low temperature limit, where the normal fluid density is effectively zero, are considered. A succinct general introduction covers liquid 4He, superfluidity, critical velocities for the onset of dissipation, quantized vortex lines and QT. The QT can be created mechanically by the oscillation of wires or grids above characteristic critical velocities. The interesting dynamics of the oscillating grid are discussed. It exhibits an enhanced effective mass due to backflow, as expected from classical hydrodynamics. It is found that the critical velocity attributable to the onset of QT production rises with increasing temperature. Oscillating objects like grids or wires create QT that is not well-characterized in terms of length scale, and the QT is not spatially homogeneous. The QT can be detected by the trapping of negative ions on vortex cores. Although the corresponding capture cross-section has not yet been measured, it is evidently very small, so that the technique cannot be expected to be a very sensitive one. In the future it is hoped to create well-characterized, homogeneous QT by means of a drawn grid. Improved sensitivity in the detection of QT is being sought through calorimetric techniques that monitor the temperature rise of the liquid caused by the decay of the vortex lines

Supporting information structuring in a digital library

In this paper we present Garnet, a spatial hypertext interface to a digital library. Spatial hypertext systems support information structuring – the organisation of documents performed by a user to complement their information seeking. In the past, spatial hypertext systems have suffered from poor connectivity with information sources such as digital libraries. Conversely, digital libraries have provided strong support for document retrieval whilst offering little support for information structuring over the retrieved documents. Garnet provides an integrated environment for both seeking and organising information. We report on the results of a user study that elicits the response of users to a combined seeking and structuring environment. The feasibility of exploiting the information structuring of users to identify the interests of users is also investigated