What’s sex got to do with it? A family-based investigation of growing up heterosexual during the twentieth century

This paper explores findings from a cross-generational study of the making of heterosexual relationships in East Yorkshire, which has interviewed women and men within extended families. Using a feminist perspective, it examines the relationship between heterosexuality and adulthood, focussing on sexual attraction, courtship, first kisses, first love and first sex, as mediated within family relationships, and at different historical moments. In this way, the contemporary experiences of young people growing up are compared and contrasted with those of mid-lifers and older adults who formed heterosexual relationships within the context of the changing social and sexual mores of the 1960s/1970s, and the upheavals of World War Two

Work and intimacy: reassessing the career/couple norm through a narrative case approach

It is argued that ‘career’, as linear progression through one industry or two, and ‘coupledom’, as hetero, cohabitive, and moving towards marriage, have both been undermined by alternate arrangements for work and intimacy. In the face of these changes, this article considers how the hallmarks of coupling and the tenets of career manifest themselves in everyday interactions within partnerships. The article uses a narrative case approach to explore these interactions in depth. It reveals not only the persistence of normative assumptions within couple relationships but also how the ‘work’ of couple relationships draw on particular expectations surrounding what it means to negotiate a successful ‘career’. The paradigm of progress transects career/couple narratives, blurring the already opaque boundaries between productive and personal realms. This entanglement presents challenges for individuals, limiting prescriptions for what are considered ‘acceptable’ narratives of work and intimacy

A simple and versatile 2-dimensional platform to study plant germination and growth under controlled humidity

We describe a simple, inexpensive, but remarkably versatile and controlled growth environment for the observation of plant germination and seedling root growth on a flat, horizontal surface over periods of weeks. The setup provides to each plant a controlled humidity (between 56% and 91% RH), and contact with both nutrients and atmosphere. The flat and horizontal geometry of the surface supporting the roots eliminates the gravitropic bias on their development and facilitates the imaging of the entire root system. Experiments can be setup under sterile conditions and then transferred to a non-sterile environment. The system can be assembled in 1-2 minutes, costs approximately 8.78$per plant, is almost entirely reusable (0.43$ per experiment in disposables), and is easily scalable to a variety of plants. We demonstrate the performance of the system by germinating, growing, and imaging Wheat (Triticum aestivum), Corn (Zea mays), and Wisconsin Fast Plants (Brassica rapa). Germination rates were close to those expected for optimal conditions

Study of the structure and mechanical properties in 8 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia coating manufactured by suspension plasma spraying

RESUMEN: El estudio de recubrimientos nanoestructurados fabricados mediante proyección térmica ha generado un gran interés en las últimas dos décadas debido a su considerable mejora en sus propiedades sobre todo en las propiedades físicas y mecánicas. Esta mejora resulta de reducir los tamaños de grano de su materia prima a escalas de 100 a 1000 veces más bajas comparadas con los recubrimientos convencionales microestructurados. Así, estos recubrimientos con estructuras a nivel nano y/o submicrométrica están empezando a ser usados en la industria gracias a sus sobresalientes propiedades y es fundamental el estudio de sus propiedades mecánicas para determinadas aplicaciones. En la actualidad, la indentación es la principal técnica de caracterización de recubrimientos y películas delgadas, a pesar de estar altamente influenciada por los defectos propios del recubrimiento en la vecindad de la indentación. La nanoindentación y la microindentación se presentan como la mejor opción para evaluar el comportamiento mecánico de estos recubrimientos nanoestructurados. Por esta razón, en este trabajo se analizó el efecto de la estructura de un recubrimiento de circona estabilizada con 8% en mol de itria (8YSZ) elaborado por proyección térmica por plasma a partir de suspensiones nanométricas (SPS) y su relación con sus propiedades mecánicas (dureza y módulo de elasticidad) medidas por las técnicas de nanoindentación y microindentación. El análisis de la estructura de la sección transversal mostró que el recubrimiento exhibe una estructura bimodal, la cual está compuesta por una zona con partículas nanométricas semifundidas (ZS) y lamelas con mayor grado de fusión (ZF). Los ensayos de nanoindentación mostraron una distribución de Weibull bimodal de sus propiedades mecánicas, la cual característica de este tipo de recubrimientos; mientras que la dureza (HV) y el módulo de elasticidad evaluados por microindentación, presentaron una distribución monomodal. Estos resultados de microindentación estuvieron influenciados por el área de contacto en las zonas indentadas en la estructura bimodal del recubrimiento. Palabras clave: Recubrimiento por plasma a partir de suspensiones (SPS), estructura, indentación, Distribución Weibull, recubrimiento 8YSZ.ABSTRACT: The study of nanostructured coatings manufactured by thermal spraying has generated a great interest in the last two decades due to their considerable improved properties especially in the physical and mechanical properties. This improvement is to reduce grain sizes of their raw materials at scales of 100-1000 times lower compared to conventional coatings (microstructured). Thus, these coatings structured at the nano and sub micrometric scale start to be used in the industrial applications and, it is essential to study their mechanical properties for certain applications. Currently, the indentation is the main technique for characterizing thin films and coatings, despite being highly influenced by the defects of the coating in the vicinity of the indentation. Nanoindentation and microindentation is presented as the best option for evaluate the mechanical behavior of nanostructured coatings. For this reason, in this work the study of the effect of the structure of the 8 mol% yttria-stabilised zirconia coating (8YSZ) manufactured by suspension plasma spraying (SPS) and the relationship with its mechanical properties (hardness and elastic modulus) measures for nanoindentation and microindentation techniques was analyzed. Analysis of the structure of the cross section of coating exhibit a bimodal structure, which is composed by a zone with semi-molten nanoparticles (ZS) and lamellaes with a higher grade of fusion (ZF). Nanoindentation tests showed a bimodal Weibull distribution of the mechanical properties (hardness and elastic modulus) which is related to the two zones (ZF and ZS) present in the coat-ing, while hardness (HV) and elastic modulus measured by microhardness, showed a monomodal distribu-tion. These results of microhardness were influenced by the contact area of the indentation in zones com-posed of the bimodal structure of the YSZ coating. Keywords: Suspension plasma spraying (SPS), structure, indentation, Weibull distribution, 8YSZ coating

Anti-sexist living arrangements A feminist research project

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