Sensitive sexualities: dichotomized discourse in the erasure of bisexuality

A combination of Q methodology and a Think Aloud task explored how cultural knowledge about bisexuality is constructed and maintained. Q methodology revealed positive interpretations of bisexuality. Critical Discourse Analysis of the Think Aloud task however, exposed the maintenance of dualistic categories of sex, gender and sexuality acting as ‘operating systems’ and strategically guiding the social representation of bisexuality as ‘non-existent’, ‘deviant’, ‘abnormal’ and/or ‘promiscuous’. The findings of this study suggest that overt heterosexism is not becoming extinct; instead it has found rather subtle ways of incorporating itself into ‘liberal’ discourses

Enhanced performance of an Ag(100) photocathode by an ultra-thin MgO film

Metal photocathodes are widely utilized as electron sources for particle accelerators for their ease of use, high durability, and fast response time. However, the high work function (WF) and low quantum efficiency (QE) typically observed in metals necessitate the use of high power deep UV lasers. Metal oxide ultra-thin films on metals offer a route to photocathodes with a lower WF and improved QE while maintaining photocathode durability and response time. We show how the photocathode performance of an Ag(100) single crystal is enhanced by the addition of an ultra-thin MgO film. The film growth and WF reduction of 1 eV are characterized, and the QE and mean transverse energy (MTE) are measured as a function of illumination wavelength. An eightfold increase of QE is achieved at 266 nm without adding to MTE through additional surface roughness, and the resistance of the photocathode to O2 gas is greatly improved

Polyamory: Intimate practice, identity or sexual orientation?

Polyamory means different things to different people. While some consider polyamory to be nothing more than a convenient label for their current relationship constellations or a handy tool for communicating their willingness to enter more than one relationship at a time, others claim it as one of their core identities. Essentialist identity narratives have sustained recent arguments that polyamory is best understood as a sexual orientation and is as such comparable with homosexuality, heterosexuality or bisexuality. Such a move would render polyamory intelligible within dominant political and legal frameworks of sexual diversity. The article surveys academic and activist discussions on sexual orientation and traces contradictory voices in current debates on polyamory. The author draws on poststructuralist ideas to show the shortcomings of sexual orientation discourses and highlights the losses which are likely to follow from pragmatic definitions of polyamory as sexual orientation

Heteroepitaxial Growth of InBi(001)

InBi is a topological nodal line semimetal with strong spin–orbit coupling. It is epitaxially compatible with III–V semiconductors and, hence, an attractive material for topological spintronics. However, growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is challenging owing to the low melting point of InBi and the tendency to form droplets. We investigate approaches for epitaxial growth of InBi films on InSb(001) substrates using MBE and periodic supply epitaxy (PSE). It was not possible to achieve planar, stoichiometric InBi heteroepitaxy using MBE growth over the parameter space explored. However, pseudomorphic growth of ultra-thin InBi(001) layers could be achieved by PSE on InSb(001). A remarkable change to the in-plane epitaxial orientation is observed

ZnSb Films on Flexible Substrates: Stability, Optical Bandgap, Electrical Properties, and Indium Doping

Abstract Undoped and In‐doped ZnSb thin films are deposited on rigid glass and flexible polyimide (Kapton) by physical vapor deposition. Detailed structural and chemical characterization is performed along with measurement of electrical and optical properties. These properties are very similar for films on glass and Kapton. Flexible ZnSb films show remarkable stability of electrical and optical properties, which are unchanged after 104 cycles of linear bending with surface strain 0.18%. Only severe flexing after this treatment (torsional bending with surface strain 1.7%) causes progressive degradation of conductivity over tens to hundreds of cycles. The ZnSb optical direct gap is determined to be 0.89 ± 0.05 eV. The optical direct gap of β Zn4Sb3 was 1.07 ± 0.05 eV. Other absorption features in the films, including smaller indirect gaps, are discussed

Photocathode performance characterisation of ultra-thin MgO films on polycrystalline copper

The performance expected from the next generation of electron accelerators is driving research into photocathode technology as this fundamentally limits the achievable beam quality. The performance characteristics of a photocathode are most notably: normalised emittance, brightness and energy spread. Ultra–thin oxide films on metal substrates have been shown to lower the work function (WF) of the surface, enhancing commonly utilised metal photocathodes, potentially improving lifetime and performance characteristics. We present the characterisation of two MgO/Cu photocathodes grown at Daresbury. The surface properties such as: surface roughness, elemental composition and WF, have been studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). The photoemissive properties have been characterised with quantum efficiency (QE) measurements at 266 nm. Additionally, we measure the Transverse Energy Distribution Curves (TEDC) for these photocathodes under illumination at various wavelengths using ASTeC’s Transverse Energy Spread Spectrometer (TESS) and extract the Mean Transverse Energy (MTE)

Causality in crude oil prices

Crude oil markets witness growing disparity between the quality of crudes supplied and demanded in the market. The market share of low-quality crudes is increasing due to the depletion of old fields and increasing demand. This is unnerving the practitioners and affecting the relevance of the traditional benchmark crudes due to the lack of lower quality benchmarks (Montepeque, 2005). In this article, we apply Granger causality tests to study the price dependence of 32 crudes in order to establish which crudes drive other prices and which ones simply follow general market trends. Our results indicate that some of the old benchmarks are still relevant while others can be disregarded. Our results also interestingly show that the low-quality Mediterranean Russian Urals crude, introduced in the late 1990s, has emerged recently as a significant driver of global prices.