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MXene-Reinforced Composite Cryogel Scaffold for Neural Tissue Repair
Get PDFThe development of effective materials for neural tissue repair remains a major challenge in regenerative medicine. In this study, we present a novel MXene-reinforced composite cryogel scaffold designed for neural tissue regeneration. MXenes, a class of two-dimensional materials with high conductivity and biocompatibility, were integrated into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix via cryopolymerization to form a macroporous, mechanically stable scaffold. The morphology, mechanical properties, and swelling behavior of the cryogel with different MXene contents have been assessed. The effects of MXene on the viability/proliferation and differentiation of neural cells (PC-12) cultured in the composite cryogel were elucidated. The MXene/PVA cryogel demonstrated excellent cell-supporting potential, with MXene not only showing no toxicity but also promoting the proliferation of cultured PC-12. Additionally, MXene induced a neuritogenesis-like process in the cells as evidenced by morphological changes and the enhanced expression of the neural marker β-III-tubulin. The neuroprotective properties of the MXene component were revealed by the alleviation of oxidative stress and reduction of intracellular ROS levels. These findings highlight the potential of MXene-embedded PVA cryogel as a promising material that can be further used in conjunction with electrostimulation therapy for advancing strategies in neural tissue engineering
Internal Flashing Flow of Ammonia
Get PDFAmmonia is considered a carbon-free alternative fuel for energy systems. Its low boiling point makes liquid ammonia prone to flash boiling, especially under standard temperature and pressure. The phase change occurs on a timescale similar to the nozzle’s flow-through time, requiring finite-rate modeling. This study presents a numerical simulation of internal flashing flow in superheated ammonia using a multidimensional thermal nonequilibrium model. The model was validated against experimental data, with simulations at two different back pressures showing a significant increase in vapor formation as back pressure decreased.<br/
Cold War Photographic Diplomacy:Darren Newbury in Conversation with Kylie Thomas
No full textThis interview focuses on Cold War Photographic Diplomacy, a detailed study of the United States Information Agency (USIA) and the vast archive of photographs it produced as part of its work in crafting political and social relations between the United States and newly decolonized African countries in the 1950s and 1960s. Newbury’s book illuminates the central place of race in the Cold War imagination in the time of anti-colonial struggle and decolonization in Africa, and the civil rights movement in the United States. When the USIA was shut down at the end of the Cold War, its photographic collection was transferred to the US National Archives, and effectively disappeared from view. In this interview, Kylie Thomas speaks with Darren Newbury about the material his study has brought to the surface, and about what it means to consider these images in the present
Academic perspectives on bibliometrics in a leading UK research university
No full textIn today’s information-driven society, researchers often face challenges when navigating the vast resources available to support their careers. They typically rely on bibliographic databases while conducting literature reviews or searching for potential publication venues. However, they often overlook additional opportunities for publishing, finding collaborative partners, and exploring relevant topics. Bibliometrics, the field that analyses publications, employs various techniques to evaluate research trends, assess scientific impact, and discover funding and grant opportunities that can help researchers go beyond their needs. Bibliometrics methods can be instrumental in the career development of researchers, enhancing the impact, visibility, and quality of their work. Despite the significant benefits of bibliometrics for researchers, many of them do not fully utilise bibliometric tools. A fear of an over-reliance on quantitative data is one of the main reasons for this. To gain a deeper understanding of researchers’ perceptions of bibliometrics, this study conducted ten online interviews with academics and research staff at the University of Leeds, a research-intensive university. NVIVO software was used for qualitative data analysis and coding. Based on the analysis of the interviews, participants discussed three key themes: Journal Impact Factor, bibliometric concerns, and the use of bibliometrics for publication analysis. According to the responses, there is a significant polarisation between the potential and concerns of bibliometrics. Promoting the benefits of bibliometrics for researchers requires raising awareness through education and training. It is important to emphasise how bibliometrics can support career development and to combine bibliometrics with other metrics. Utilising real-world scenarios in bibliometrics training sessions can engage researchers and empower them to become active learners. Additionally, sharing case studies or success stories of researchers and institutions that have effectively used bibliometrics can illustrate its positive impact on career advancement, research output, and collaborative efforts. Highlighting these examples can motivate others to leverage bibliometrics in their own work
Turkiye Fintech Report
No full textThe report analyzes the fintech ecosystem of Turkiye under 6 headings; fintech services and products, value propositions, use of technology, growth strategies, access to finance, and regulations
Impact of Psychological Stress and Spontaneous Tumour Regression on the Hippocampal Proteome in a Mouse Model of Breast Cancer
No full textCognitive impairment is common in people diagnosed with breast cancer, but the molecular mechanisms that underlie maladaptive changes in the brain are unknown. The psychological stress of a cancer diagnosis is certainly a contributing factor. Here, we investigated alterations in the hippocampal proteome in response to both cancer and psychological stress using label‐free quantitative mass spectrometry techniques. An orthotopic syngeneic model of triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) was established by injecting Py230 cells into the mammary fat pads of female C57Bl/6 mice. Half of the mice were subjected to a daily restraint stress paradigm. Mice that experienced both cancer and restraint stress lost weight and displayed larger tumours compared to non‐stressed mice. Their urinary corticosterone levels were also elevated, as measured by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Non‐stressed tumour‐bearing mice displayed higher levels of TNFα in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared to stressed mice with cancer. Flow cytometry results suggested that the CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratios were also raised in non‐stressed tumour‐bearing mice compared to both controls and stressed mice with TNBC. Bioinformatic analysis of hippocampal proteomes indicated that cancer alone causes reduced mitochondrial respiration and ATP synthesis, as well as impaired glutamate recycling and synaptic plasticity. Moreover, daily stress in TNBC mice caused further mitochondrial dysfunction, increased oxidative phosphorylation, and altered lipid metabolism. Importantly, over half of the mammary tumours that initially developed spontaneously regressed after 7–9 weeks in these young immunocompetent mice. Tumour regression inhibited TNFα increases in the PFC. However, the hippocampal proteomes of tumour‐bearing mice were largely similar to mice in which tumours regressed, suggesting that spontaneous regression of breast cancer confers lasting physiological dysregulations that impact hippocampal protein expression. This study in mice may help to identify molecular mechanisms responsible for long‐term memory impairments in cancer survivors and reveal novel drug targets for cancer‐related cognitive impairment. imag
Domestic Dusters:Exploring threat in vulnerable communities. An investigation of isolation and dislocation through embroidery of a duster.
No full textThis paper presents work from my award-winning collaborative research project Domestic Dusters, which invites women from across the globe to embroider their domestic experiences onto yellow dusters. Established in 2015, the 800+ ever growing collection is exhibited internationally in arts, community and academic contexts (fig. 1) alongside publications that explore the duster as a research tool through drawing with thread (Marr 2019), storytelling through craft as a feminist practice (Marr 2021), domesticated experiences of academia (Marr, 2023), and stitch-drawing into a duster as an autoethnographic practice for personal wellbeing (2025). Collectively, these dusters display perspectives on home and its often-gendered expectations, capturing experiences of both privilege and hardship as embroidered words and images, with humour, sadness, anger, frustration and joy.Dusters were selected as a metaphor for domesticity because of their cultural associations with invisible gendered labour (Kirkham 1996), whilst the use of hand embroidery women’s legacy of working with cloth (Barber, 1996), its association with oppression (Parker 1984) and more recent empowerment (Greer 2014). Participants are invited via an open call or through funded initiatives with community partners, addressing domestic issues from everyday discrimination through to unpaid care, gender-based violence, and asylum seeking. In each instance, the gendered inequalities of domestic labour that serve to threaten every aspect of women’s lives are at the fore, positioning this mundane domestic object to give women a voice where they are silenced, ignored and unheard.In line with the conference theme, it shares dusters embroidered by women whose domestic circumstances are under threat due to two contrasting situations, capturing the lived experience of enforced home confinement by unpaid carers, and dislocation from their own homes by asylum seekers living in temporary accommodation. Produced through community partnerships with We Care who campaign for the rights of unpaid carers, and Makani who work for the empowerment of refugee women, this research ‘strives for social justice’ (Adams, Holman Jones and Ellis, 2015, p.2) and offers insights into domesticity under siege through the lens of a humble yellow duster
Anchoring disablement: social definitions and social ontology in Britain’s Disabled People’s Movement
No full textIntervening in debates around the ‘social model of disability’ (or the claim that biological/mental impairment is distinct from social processes of disablement,and that the latter constitutes a form of social oppression), this chapter argues that academic literature has mischaracterised variants of the claim emerging from social movement activity, and that an analysis of the social movement literature reveals competing and incompatible variants of it. Using Brian Epstein’s (2015a;2015b) distinction between grounding and anchoring definitions of social phenomena; I distinguish between the ontological assumptions of Disability Studies-type research, and the social ontological claims mobilised by competing variants of the social model. I conclude that much of the critical literature presumes social models to make grounding claims about the experience of disabled individuals, a presumption which is false when applied to what I believe is the theoretically strongest and best developed version in the social movement literature—the definition of disablement as a ‘by-product’ of capitalism’s unfolding, formulated by the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation
Environmental sustainability in intensive care:An international survey of intensive care professionals‘views, practices and proposals to the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine
No full textThe intensive care unit (ICU) is a high-resource area, generating more waste and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than standard hospital wards. Environmental sustainability is important for healthcare professionals worldwide, prompting scientific societies to call for urgent action. To respond to this global need, the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) conducted an international survey assessing intensive care professionals' attitudes and practices towards environmental sustainability. Intensive care professionals completed an online survey between 21 October 2023, and 5 January 2024. The survey, featuring 21 questions assessing attitudes and practices towards environmental sustainability and proposals for actions from ESICM, was disseminated during the 36th ESICM Congress via National Intensive Care Societies and ESICM's social media. We received 635 responses from 48 countries. Four hundred seventy (80 %) respondents acknowledged a responsibility to be aware of the environmental impact of intensive care practice, and 372 (63.5 %) disagreed or were uncertain about their knowledge level to guide practice. Four hundred thirty-seven (84 %) lacked formal training on making sustainable choices. Ninety-five per cent used non-sterile gloves in ICUs, and 63 % were willing to reduce use to support sustainable practices. Two proposed actions for ESICM to improve environmental sustainability were increasing knowledge on ecology (91/187, 49 %) and raising awareness in the field (36/187,20 %). This survey highlighted the need for scientific societies, notably ESICM, to provide robust support and structured education on environmental sustainability. Intensive care professionals acknowledged the environmental impact of intensive care and seemed eager to invest in their education on this topic. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Chinese Individuals in Dilemma:Rethinking China’s Path to Individualisation in the New Era
No full textChina Perspectives Special Issue Call for Paper