MASVAW Movement Mapping Report: Movement Mapping and Critical Reflection with Activists of the Men’s Action to Stop Violence Against Women (MASVAW) Campaign, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, August 2014

Engaging men and boys in addressing gender-based violence has grown in attention over the past 20 years. However, the emerging field predominantly focuses on the issues as a problem of individuals, neglecting the role of the institutions and policies that shape norms of gender inequality and perpetuate violent power asymmetries between men and women in people’s everyday lives (Cornwall, Edström and Grieg 2011). Men’s engagement in addressing GBV has therefore tended to be relatively depoliticised, focusing predominantly on individuals’ attitude and behaviour change, and less on accountability of the structures that uphold patriarchal power relations and male supremacy, such as macroeconomic policies and the governance cultures of many formal and informal institutions. This movement mapping report thus introduces a collaborative research project between the Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ), India, their local activist partners in the Men’s Action to Stop Violence Against Women (MASVAW) campaign and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) to explore the effectiveness of men’s collective action in addressing GBV. CHSJ is working across India on the issue of mobilising men to transform discriminatory norms into those based on equity, equality and gender justice to ensure the fundamental human rights of all people. The research is premised on the notion that challenging patriarchy and working towards gender equality must include working with men and boys to understand their privileges as well as the co-option, coercion and subjugation that they also face within a patriarchal system. In turn, we aim to improve understanding and knowledge of the changing roles of men in addressing GBV and how and why collective action holds possibilities as an effective strategy to support this in the Indian context. This research is exploring the actors, strategies, challenges, collaborations and pathways for future engagement of the MASVAW campaign that works across the state of Uttar Pradesh.UK Department for International Developmen

Teaching Excellence Programs – Lessons Learned at two Universities

Universities are seeking novel ways to strengthen the collective educational competence of their faculty and promote educational merits. In this paper we describe and compare the experiences of two recently started initiatives for teaching excellence, the Program for Future Leaders for Strategic Educational Development at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (henceforth KTH) and the Teaching Fellowship Programme at the University of Twente. Both programs have recently completed one complete round of implementation. The programmes are similar in that the participants work on a project of their own for an extended time, while also being part of a community with regular meetings and supported by coaches. The main differences are the programme duration, number of participants, and whether the projects are in a specific theme or wholly formulated by the participants. In this study, both programs are evaluated using similar themes. We analyse this data, and reflect on the context, conditions and design of the programs and our lessons learned from these first experiences.</p

Magnetic properties of (Fe1−x_{1-x}Cox_x)2_2B alloys and the effect of doping by 5dd elements

We have explored, computationally and experimentally, the magnetic properties of \fecob{} alloys. Calculations provide a good agreement with experiment in terms of the saturation magnetization and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy with some difficulty in describing Co$_2$B, for which it is found that both full potential effects and electron correlations treated within dynamical mean field theory are of importance for a correct description. The material exhibits a uniaxial magnetic anisotropy for a range of cobalt concentrations between $x=0.1$ and $x=0.5$. A simple model for the temperature dependence of magnetic anisotropy suggests that the complicated non-monotonous temperature behaviour is mainly due to variations in the band structure as the exchange splitting is reduced by temperature. Using density functional theory based calculations we have explored the effect of substitutional doping the transition metal sublattice by the whole range of 5$d$ transition metals and found that doping by Re or W elements should significantly enhance the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy. Experimentally, W doping did not succeed in enhancing the magnetic anisotropy due to formation of other phases. On the other hand, doping by Ir and Re was successful and resulted in magnetic anisotropies that are in agreement with theoretical predictions. In particular, doping by 2.5~at.\% of Re on the Fe/Co site shows a magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy which is increased by 50\% compared to its parent (Fe$_{0.7}$Co$_{0.3}$)$_2$B compound, making this system interesting, for example, in the context of permanent magnet replacement materials or in other areas where a large magnetic anisotropy is of importance.Comment: 15 pages 17 figure

Men in Collective Action on SGBV in Kenya: A Case Study

This case study examines the ways in which collective action and the involvement of men may influence the prospects of effectively changing community perceptions and values regarding sexual and gender-based violence, and how it may strengthen the overall response to the problem in Kenya. The broader aim is to help improve information access and to inform the strategies of relevant actors (including activists and policymakers) addressing this issue, with meaningful male engagement, and to facilitate the forging and strengthening of strategic alliances for gender justice and ending SGBV in Kenya. The report seeks to contribute to the burgeoning literature on the role of men and collective action in addressing SGBV (Barker et al. 2011; Esplen 2006; Ricardo, Eads and Barker 2011). Efforts to involve men and boys are thought to stand a greater chance of succeeding if different stakeholders can build partnerships with other organisations and across social movements (Cornwall, Edström and Greig 2011). Yet the body of knowledge about the effectiveness and success of initiatives that engage men in the prevention of and response to SGBV remains relatively limited (Barker et al. 2011).UK Department for International Developmen

3D lithium ion batteries—from fundamentals to fabrication

3D microbatteries are proposed as a step change in the energy and power per footprint of surface mountable rechargeable batteries for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and other small electronic devices. Within a battery electrode, a 3D nanoarchitecture gives mesoporosity, increasing power by reducing the length of the diffusion path; in the separator region it can form the basis of a robust but porous solid, isolating the electrodes and immobilising an otherwise fluid electrolyte. 3D microarchitecture of the whole cell allows fabrication of interdigitated or interpenetrating networks that minimise the ionic path length between the electrodes in a thick cell. This article outlines the design principles for 3D microbatteries and estimates the geometrical and physical requirements of the materials. It then gives selected examples of recent progress in the techniques available for fabrication of 3D battery structures by successive deposition of electrodes, electrolytes and current collectors onto microstructured substrates by self-assembly methods

Rechargeable Batteries of the Future—The State of the Art from a BATTERY 2030+ Perspective

The development of new batteries has historically been achieved through discovery and development cycles based on the intuition of the researcher, followed by experimental trial and error—often helped along by serendipitous breakthroughs. Meanwhile, it is evident that new strategies are needed to master the ever-growing complexity in the development of battery systems, and to fast-track the transfer of findings from the laboratory into commercially viable products. This review gives an overview over the future needs and the current state-of-the art of five research pillars of the European Large-Scale Research Initiative BATTERY 2030+, namely 1) Battery Interface Genome in combination with a Materials Acceleration Platform (BIG-MAP), progress toward the development of 2) self-healing battery materials, and methods for operando, 3) sensing to monitor battery health. These subjects are complemented by an overview over current and up-coming strategies to optimize 4) manufacturability of batteries and efforts toward development of a circular battery economy through implementation of 5) recyclability aspects in the design of the battery

Integrated genomic and prospective clinical studies show the importance of modular pleiotropy for disease susceptibility, diagnosis and treatment

Background: Translational research typically aims to identify and functionally validate individual, disease-specific genes. However, reaching this aim is complicated by the involvement of thousands of genes in common diseases, and that many of those genes are pleiotropic, that is, shared by several diseases. Methods: We integrated genomic meta-analyses with prospective clinical studies to systematically investigate the pathogenic, diagnostic and therapeutic roles of pleiotropic genes. In a novel approach, we first used pathway analysis of all published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to find a cell type common to many diseases. Results: The analysis showed over-representation of the T helper cell differentiation pathway, which is expressed in T cells. This led us to focus on expression profiling of CD4(+) T cells from highly diverse inflammatory and malignant diseases. We found that pleiotropic genes were highly interconnected and formed a pleiotropic module, which was enriched for inflammatory, metabolic and proliferative pathways. The general relevance of this module was supported by highly significant enrichment of genetic variants identified by all GWAS and cancer studies, as well as known diagnostic and therapeutic targets. Prospective clinical studies of multiple sclerosis and allergy showed the importance of both pleiotropic and disease specific modules for clinical stratification. Conclusions: In summary, this translational genomics study identified a pleiotropic module, which has key pathogenic, diagnostic and therapeutic roles

Toward Rare-Earth-Free Permanent Magnets: A Combinatorial Approach Exploiting the Possibilities of Modeling, Shape Anisotropy in Elongated Nanoparticles, and Combinatorial Thin-Film Approach

The objective of the rare-earth free permanent magnets (REFREEPM) project is to develop a new generation of high-performance permanent magnets (PMs) without rare earths. Our approach is based on modeling using a combinatorial approach together with micromagnetic modeling and the realization of the modeled systems (I) by using a novel production of high-aspect-ratio (>5) nanostructrures (nanowires, nanorods, and nanoflakes) by exploiting the magnetic shape anisotropy of the constituents that can be produced via chemical nanosynthesis polyol process or electrodeposition, which can be consolidated with novel processes for a new generation of rare-earth free PMs with energy product in the range of 60 kJ/m3 < (BH)max < 160 kJ/m3 at room temperature, and (II) by using a high-throughput thin-film synthesis and high-throughput characterization approach to identify promising candidate materials that can be stabilized in a tetragonal or hexagonal structure by epitaxial growth on selected substrates, under various conditions of pressure, stoichiometry, and temperature. In this article, we report the progress so far in selected phases.This work is supported by European Commission (REFREEPERMAG project) grant number GA-NMP3-SL-2012-280670

Understanding Battery Interfaces by Combined Characterization and Simulation Approaches: Challenges and Perspectives

Driven by the continuous search for improving performances, understanding the phenomena at the electrode/electrolyte interfaces has become an overriding factor for the success of sustainable and efficient battery technologies for mobile and stationary applications. Toward this goal, rapid advances have been made regarding simulations/modeling techniques and characterization approaches, including high-throughput electrochemical measurements coupled with spectroscopies. Focusing on Li-ion batteries, current developments are analyzed in the field as well as future challenges in order to gain a full description of interfacial processes across multiple length/timescales; from charge transfer to migration/diffusion properties and interphases formation, up to and including their stability over the entire battery lifetime. For such complex and interrelated phenomena, developing a unified workflow intimately combining the ensemble of these techniques will be critical to unlocking their full investigative potential. For this paradigm shift in battery design to become reality, it necessitates the implementation of research standards and protocols, underlining the importance of a concerted approach across the community. With this in mind, major collaborative initiatives gathering complementary strengths and skills will be fundamental if societal and environmental imperatives in this domain are to be met