Women post-recession: moving towards insecurity

After the recession, the rise in casual and precarious contracts is entrenching gender inequality in the UK

Not to Die, but to Survive : The Construction of Female Voice in Isabel Allende\u27s The House of the Spirits

Isabel Allende\u27s debut novel The House of the Spirits follows three generations of a Chilean family, focusing primarily on the lives of the grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter. Living under a controlling patriarch and an oppressive government, these women strive to reclaim and maintain their identities in a world that denies and rejects their agency and experiences. This literary critical essay discusses the means through which Allende\u27s characters, and Allende herself, create their own narratives: silence, speech, and writing. Through extensive close reading and analysis of Allende\u27s text, I examine the individual and combined narratives constructed by these methods, and how the characters and author move within patriarchal limitations. I also discuss the evolution of the characters\u27 perceptions of their personal narrative within their familial narrative, and their familial narrative within the grand narrative of time. By both subverting and writing back against traditional patriarchal narratives regarding women\u27s lives, Allende\u27s characters utilize the power of words through speech and writing to construct portrayals of themselves and their experiences with their own voices

Scottish government equality outcomes:pregnancy and maternity evidence review

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Creating transient gradients in supramolecular hydrogels

The self‐assembly of low molecular weight gelators in water usually produces homogeneous hydrogels. However, homogeneous gels are not always desired. Using a photoacid generator, it is shown how to form gels with a transient gradient in stiffness, proved using cavitation and bulk rheology. Small‐angle neutron scattering is used to show that the gels formed by photoacid are the result of the same structures as when using a conventional pH trigger. Patterned gels can also be formed, again with transient differences in stiffness

The mean temperatures of CME-related dimming masses

Sun-as-a-star EUV spectroscopy from EVE (the Extreme-ultraviolet Variability Experiment, on board SDO, the Solar Dynamics Observatory) frequently shows striking irradiance reductions following major solar flares. These coincide with dimming events as seen in EUV and X-ray images, involving the evacuation of large volumes of the corona by the associated coronal mass ejections. The EVE view of the dimming process is precise and quantitative, whereas difference imaging in the EUV reveals the structures to be full of complicated detail due most likely to unrelated activity. We have studied a sample of 11 events, mostly GOES X-class flares, all of which were associated with coronal mass ejections. For a set of nine lines of Fe ions at stages viii – xiii, corresponding to nominal peak formation temperatures below log(T/K) = 6.3, we have compared the emission-measure-weighted temperature of the preflare global corona and that of the dimming mass, defined by the deficit at the time of greatest dimming. We find similar temperatures by this measure, but with a distinctly narrower variation in the preflare samples. For higher ionization states, weak emission commonly appears during the dimming intervals, consistent with residual late-phase flare development. The dimming depths do not appear to correlate with the preflare state of the global corona

Understanding the Mechanism of Electronic Defect Suppression Enabled by Nonidealities in Atomic Layer Deposition.

Silicon germanium (SiGe) is a multifunctional material considered for quantum computing, neuromorphic devices, and CMOS transistors. However, implementation of SiGe in nanoscale electronic devices necessitates suppression of surface states dominating the electronic properties. The absence of a stable and passive surface oxide for SiGe results in the formation of charge traps at the SiGe-oxide interface induced by GeOx. In an ideal ALD process in which oxide is grown layer by layer, the GeOx formation should be prevented with selective surface oxidation (i.e., formation of an SiOx interface) by controlling the oxidant dose in the first few ALD cycles of the oxide deposition on SiGe. However, in a real ALD process, the interface evolves during the entire ALD oxide deposition due to diffusion of reactant species through the gate oxide. In this work, this diffusion process in nonideal ALD is investigated and exploited: the diffusion through the oxide during ALD is utilized to passivate the interfacial defects by employing ozone as a secondary oxidant. Periodic ozone exposure during gate oxide ALD on SiGe is shown to reduce the integrated trap density (Dit) across the band gap by nearly 1 order of magnitude in Al2O3 (<6 × 1010 cm-2) and in HfO2 (<3.9 × 1011 cm-2) by forming a SiOx-rich interface on SiGe. Depletion of Ge from the interfacial layer (IL) by enhancement of volatile GeOx formation and consequent desorption from the SiGe with ozone insertion during the ALD growth process is confirmed by electron energy loss spectroscopy (STEM-EELS) and hypothesized to be the mechanism for reduction of the interfacial defects. In this work, the nanoscale mechanism for defect suppression at the SiGe-oxide interface is demonstrated, which is engineering of diffusion species in the ALD process due to facile diffusion of reactant species in nonideal ALD

The learner’s perspective in GP teaching practices with multi-level learners: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND Medical students, junior hospital doctors on rotation and general practice (GP) registrars are undertaking their training in clinical general practices in increasing numbers in Australia. Some practices have four levels of learner. This study aimed to explore how multi-level teaching (also called vertical integration of GP education and training) is occurring in clinical general practice and the impact of such teaching on the learner. METHODS A qualitative research methodology was used with face-to-face, semi-structured interviews of medical students, junior hospital doctors, GP registrars and GP teachers in eight training practices in the region that taught all levels of learners. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Qualitative analysis was conducted using thematic analysis techniques aided by the use of the software package N-Vivo 9. Primary themes were identified and categorised by the co-investigators. RESULTS 52 interviews were completed and analysed. Themes were identified relating to both the practice learning environment and teaching methods used.A practice environment where there is a strong teaching culture, enjoyment of learning, and flexible learning methods, as well as learning spaces and organised teaching arrangements, all contribute to positive learning from a learners' perspective.Learners identified a number of innovative teaching methods and viewed them as positive. These included multi-level learner group tutorials in the practice, being taught by a team of teachers, including GP registrars and other health professionals, and access to a supernumerary GP supervisor (also termed "GP consultant teacher"). Other teaching methods that were viewed positively were parallel consulting, informal learning and rural hospital context integrated learning. CONCLUSIONS Vertical integration of GP education and training generally impacted positively on all levels of learner. This research has provided further evidence about the learning culture, structures and teaching processes that have a positive impact on learners in the clinical general practice setting where there are multiple levels of learners. It has also identified some innovative teaching methods that will need further examination. The findings reinforce the importance of the environment for learning and learner centred approaches and will be important for training organisations developing vertically integrated practices and in their training of GP teachers.This project was supported by a grant from General Practice Education and Training through Coast City Country General Practice Training. This project was approved for conduct by the ANU Human Research Ethics Committee (protocol number 2011/415)

Effects of Housing First approaches on health and wellbeing of adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Background: Homelessness is associated with poor health. A policy approach aiming to end homelessness across Europe and North America, the ‘Housing First’ (HF) model, provides rapid housing, not conditional on abstinence from substance use. We aimed to systematically review the evidence from randomised controlled trials for the effects of HF on health and well-being. Methods: We searched seven databases for randomised controlled trials of interventions providing rapid access to non-abstinence-contingent, permanent housing. We extracted data on the following outcomes: mental health; self-reported health and quality of life; substance use; non-routine use of healthcare services; housing stability. We assessed risk of bias and calculated standardised effect sizes. Results: We included four studies, all with ‘high’ risk of bias. The impact of HF on most short-term health outcomes was imprecisely estimated, with varying effect directions. No clear difference in substance use was seen. Intervention groups experienced fewer emergency department visits (incidence rate ratio (IRR)=0.63; 95% CI 0.48 to 0.82), fewer hospitalisations (IRR=0.76; 95% CI 0.70 to 0.83) and less time spent hospitalised (standardised mean difference (SMD)=−0.14; 95% CI −0.41 to 0.14) than control groups. In all studies intervention participants spent more days housed (SMD=1.24; 95% CI 0.86 to 1.62) and were more likely to be housed at 18–24 months (risk ratio=2.46; 95% CI 1.58 to 3.84). Conclusion: HF approaches successfully improve housing stability and may improve some aspects of health. Implementation of HF would likely reduce homelessness and non-routine health service use without an increase in problematic substance use. Impacts on long-term health outcomes require further investigation. Trial registration number: CRD42017064457