If I am woman, who are 'they'? The construction of 'other' feminisms

Characterizations of feminist identities are presented, represented and, arguably, misrepresented within current public debates and popular media. Issues of sameness and difference have come to the fore as both timely and politically relevant. This paper aims to address issues arising from engagement with feminisms, in particular those which we experience as 'other' but which, concurrently, resonate with many of our concerns. Conflicting views revolve around the viability of constructing stable political identities for women who elect to include the term 'feminist' in their selfdescription. These debates become increasingly complex when contextualized within relative power positionings of knowledge production in differing arenas. Drawing on the literature around the legitimization of gender and political identities, the authors reflect in this paper on the possibilities of engaging with these identities, both in our capacity of 'others', but also as individuals whose theoretical positioning resonates with the issues under consideration

Corrección de dismetría femoral severa en el adulto mediante alargamiento y acortamiento contralateral: A propósito de un caso

Se presenta un caso de acortamiento femoral de 8 cm secundario a consolidación viciosa de fractura multifragmentaria femoral en un varón de 40 años. Debido a la edad del paciente y la magnitud de la dismetría, se decidió su corrección mediante un alargamiento progresivo de 4 cm del fémur corto y, en segundo tiempo, acortamiento inmediato de 4 cm del fémur largo mediante extirpación de un cilindro óseo que se implantó en la zona de distracción del fémur alargado. De esta manera se consiguió una corrección satisfactoria de la dismetría sin complicaciones reseñables. A pesar de la pérdida de estatura, pensamos que esta técnica debe ser considerada en casos puntuales de severa dismetría de extremidades inferior en el adulto.A case of 8-cm femoral shortening secondary to malunion of a multifragmented diaphyseal femoral fracture in 40 years old man is presented. Based on the age of the patients and the magnitude of the leg length discrepancy, treatment consisted of a first stage correction through progressive 4-cm lengthening of the shortened femur. In a second stage, shortening of the contralateral femur was performed by removal of a 4-cm diaphyseal bone cylinder that was implanted in the distraction area of the lengthened femur. The length discrepancy was corrected without complication. Although this technique implies a decrease of height, the method is suitable for selected cases of leg inequality affecting adults

Multiport Multiband Decoupling Optimization for Miniature Antennas

Multiband multiport antennas are increasingly used for wireless communications and sensing miniature devices. The equations governing the multiport multiband antennas are analyzed in this paper with the objective of drawing the design guidelines for low coupling small antennas. Those guidelines have been applied in the design and optimization of a two-port dual band small antenna of size around λ0/13 x λ0/13 at the lowest frequency. Certain coupling conditions are applied to the port loads achieving a coupling reduction of 8 dB when having a simple two-element real load. A reduction of 27 dB can be obtained when having ideal loads composed by a higher number of elements. The antenna geometry is shown together with coupling minimization results

Giochi da senatori

Megalencephalic leucoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts is a genetic brain disorder with onset in early childhood. Affected infants develop macrocephaly within the first year of life, after several years followed by slowly progressive, incapacitating cerebellar ataxia and spasticity. From early on, magnetic resonance imaging shows diffuse signal abnormality and swelling of the cerebral white matter, with evidence of highly increased white matter water content. In most patients, the disease is caused by mutations in the gene MLC1, which encodes a plasma membrane protein almost exclusively expressed in brain and at lower levels in leucocytes. Within the brain, MLC1 is mainly located in astrocyte-astrocyte junctions adjacent to the blood-brain and cereborspinal fluid-brain barriers. Thus far, the function of MLC1 has remained unknown. We tested the hypothesis that MLC1 mutations cause a defect in ion currents involved in water and ion homeostasis, resulting in cerebral white matter oedema. Using whole-cell patch clamp studies we demonstrated an association between MLC1 expression and anion channel activity in different cell types, most importantly astrocytes. The currents were absent in chloride-free medium and in cells with disease-causing MLC1 mutations. MLC1-dependent currents were greatly enhanced by hypotonic pretreatment causing cell swelling, while ion channel blockers, including Tamoxifen, abolished the currents. Down regulation of endogenous MLC1 expression in astrocytes by small interfering RNA greatly reduced the activity of this channel, which was rescued by overexpression of normal MLC1. The current-voltage relationship and the pharmacological profiles of the currents indicated that the channel activated by MLC1 expression is a volume-regulated anion channel. Such channels are involved in regulatory volume decrease. We showed that regulatory volume decrease was hampered in lymphoblasts from patients with megalencephalic leucoencephalopathy. A similar trend was observed in astrocytes with decreased MLC1 expression; this effect was rescued by overexpression of normal MLC1. In the present study, we show that absence or mutations of the MLC1 protein negatively impact both volume-regulated anion channel activity and regulatory volume decrease, indicating that megalencephalic leucoencephalopathy is caused by a disturbance of cell volume regulation mediated by chloride transport. © 2011 The Author

What lies beneath: exploring links between asylum policy and hate crime in the UK

This paper explores the link between increasing incidents of hate crime and the asylum policy of successive British governments with its central emphasis on deterrence. The constant problematisation of asylum seekers in the media and political discourse ensures that 'anti-immigrant' prejudice becomes mainstr earned as a common-sense response. The victims are not only the asylum seekers hoping for a better life but democratic society itself with its inherent values of pluralism and tolerance debased and destabilised

A transfer network linking Earth, Moon, and the triangular libration point regions in the Earth-Moon system

In the near future, several space applications in the Earth-Moon system may require a spacecraft to hold a stable motion, but the transfer trajectory infrastructure to access such stable motions has not been fully investigated yet. The triangular libration points, L 4and L5, in the Earth-Moon system have long been thought of as ideal locations for a communications satellite. Recently, Distant Retrograde Orbits (DROs) and Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbits (NRHOs) near the Moon have been identified as motion of interest for manned and unmanned missions with a focus on operations in cislunar space. The triangular libration points, as well as lunar DROs and NRHOs describe special types of possible motion for a spacecraft/satellite that is influenced solely by the gravitational fields of the Earth and the Moon. What is common to the tree types of solutions is that they are practically stable, that is, a spacecraft/satellite can naturally follow the solution for extended periods of time without requiring significant course adjustment maneuvers. This investigation contributes to the infrastructure of a network of transfer trajectories connecting regions of stability located near the Earth, Moon, and the triangular libration points in the Earth-Moon system. Several transfer options between regions of stability are presented and discussed, including transfer options between Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and lunar DRO, lunar DRO and periodic orbits near L4 and L5, as well as lunar DRO and L 2 NRHOs

csal1 Is Controlled by a Combination of FGF and Wnt Signals in Developing Limb Buds

While some of the signaling molecules that govern establishment of the limb axis have been characterized, little is known about the downstream effector genes that interpret these signals. In Drosophila, the spalt gene is involved in cell fate determination and pattern formation in different tissues. We have cloned a chick homologue of Drosophila spalt, which we have termed csal1, and this study focuses on the regulation of csal1 expression in the limb bud. csal1 is expressed in limb buds from HH 17 to 26, in both the apical ectodermal ridge and the distal mesenchyme. Signals from the apical ridge are essential for csal1 expression, while the dorsal ectoderm is required for csal1 expression at a distance from the ridge. Our data indicate that both FGF and Wnt signals are required for the regulation of csal1 expression in the limb. Mutations in the human homologue of csal1, termed Hsal1/SALL1, result in a condition known as Townes–Brocks syndrome (TBS), which is characterized by preaxial polydactyly. The developmental expression of csal1 together with the digit phenotype in TBS patients suggests that csal1 may play a role in some aspects of distal patterning

The natural capital of temporary rivers: characterising the value of dynamic aquatic-terrestrial habitats. Valuing Nature Natural Capital Synthesis Reports, VNP12

Temporary rivers naturally transition between flowing, pool and dry states, creating aquatic–terrestrial habitat mosaics that change in space and time. These dynamic habitats are common in the UK's cool, wet climate. Here, they take many forms, from headwater streams that may dominate networks in remote uplands, to winterbourne rivers crossing the chalk of south England. We examine published and unpublished sources to provide an evidence-informed characterisation of the natural assets in temporary rivers

Anisotropy in mechanical properties and fracture behavior of an oxide dispersion Fe20Cr5Al alloy

Anisotropy of fracture toughness and fracture behavior of Fe20Cr5Al oxide dispersion-strengthened alloy has been investigated by means of compression tests, hardness tests, and wedge splitting test. The results show a small effect of the compression direction on yield strength (YS) and strain hardening. The YS is minimum for longitudinal direction and maximum for the tangential direction. The transverse plastic strain ratio is similar for tangential and longitudinal directions but very different from that in normal direction. Hardness depends on the indentation plane; it is lower for any plane parallel to the L-T plane and of similar magnitude for the other orthogonal planes, i.e., the L-S and T-S planes. Macroscopically, two failure modes have been observed after wedge-splitting tests, those of LS and TS specimens in which fracture deviates along one or two branches normal to the notch plane, and those of LT, TL, SL, and ST specimens in which fracture propagates along the notch plane. Besides LT and TL specimens present delaminations parallel to L-T plane. Both, the fracture surface of branching cracks and that of the delaminations, show an intergranular brittle fracture appearance. It is proposed that the main cause of the delamination and crack branching is the alignment in the mesoscopic scale of the ultrafine grains structure which is enhanced by the 〈110〉- texture of the material and by the presence in the grain boundaries of both yttria dispersoids and impurity contaminations. An elastoplastic finite element analysis was performed to study what stress state is the cause of the branches and delaminations. It is concluded that the normal to the crack branches and/or the shear stress components could determine the crack bifurcation mechanism, whereas the delamination it seems that it is controlled by the magnitude of the stress component normal to the delamination plane. © The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International 2014.Peer Reviewe