Christina Stead and the Socialist Heritage

Christina Stead (1902–1983) was an Australian novelist and short-story writer acclaimed for her satirical wit and penetrating psychological characterizations. Stead enjoyed an international reputation in the 1930s and beyond, then went out of favor as a communist-affiliated writer, until she was rediscovered by feminist critics. Her standing is considerable, and in Australia she vies with Patrick White for the laurel of finest Australian novelist. In this book, author Michael Ackland argues that the single most important influence on Stead's life, socialism, has been seriously neglected in studies of her life and work. Ackland delves into Stead's political formation prior to her departure for London in 1928, arguing that considerable insights can be added to the known record by reviewing these years within a specifically political context, as well as by interrogating Stead's own accounts of key persons and events. He examines her novels, from Seven Poor Men of Sydney to I’m Dying Laughing and The Man Who Loved Children, and focuses on Stead’s conception of history, of capitalist finance, and on the significance of the key historical moments that frame her works. In tracing the trajectory of her work, Ackland illuminates how Stead was, as a well-informed Marxist critic underscored, a product of thirties. Steeped in socialist literature and steeled to withstand ideological adversity, Stead emerged at the end of the decade a strongly committed novelist, whose intellectual idealism and convictions could, as coming decades would show, long withstand privation, heartbreaks and the unwelcome lessons of history. This is an important book for collections in Australian literature, comparative literature, world literature, and women's studies

'Reclaiming the rubbish': outcasts, transformation and the topos of the painter-seer in the work of Patrick White and David Malouf

Settled by white convicts and often by people with few prospects in the Old World, Australia was sometimes thought of negatively as a dumping ground of miscreants and ne'er-do-wells. This paper traces how, post-war, this per ception was challenged in the fiction of Patrick White and David Malouf, which depicts local versions of the outcast artist in actual rubbish dumps and the creative, regenerative transformations that can occur there

Money is a steal:" Christina Stead's critique of finance capitalism in House of All Nations

Stead composed House of All Nations (1938) at a time of unprecedented economic and political crisis in the West, and the urgency of this situation is reflected in the speed and scope of this composition, and in the major target of her satire: finance capitalism. Her depiction of this Marxist concept, as well as specific allusions to the master's writings, are examined in detail to demonstrate her ideological position and putative aims

Introduction

Unlike many studies that focus on official, bilateral transactions and large-scale engagements, this volume explores the less publicised experiences of individuals and non-government groups within the Australia-Japan relationship. It represents diverse areas of involvement of men and women who moved geographically and vocationally as they pursued their special interests in the creative arts, media, business and international trade. It encompasses many aspects of personal life, such as travel, marriage, family dynamics and the experiences of children. It spans 150 years of peace, war, globalisation and terrorism, and examines how these issues have affected individuals. Rather than concentrating on the familiar chronicle dominated by military, political and trade milestones, these essays investigate how personal space and alien customs were negotiated, how foreign cultures were drawn on and selectively recast in accordance with particular needs, and how competing codes and loyalties have sometimes generated great emotional and psychological dilemmas in these little-known participants. A similar diversity characterises the contributors to the volume, who are based in Australia and Japan. Like the individual subjects of their research, some are expatriates, others are writing from the country of their birth. They include academics and non-academic researchers from history, cultural studies, social research, journalism, English and communications, arts and media studies

Understanding gastrointestinal perfusion in critical care: so near, and yet so far

An association between abnormal gastrointestinal perfusion and critical illness has been suggested for a number of years. Much of the data to support this idea comes from studies using gastric tonometry. Although an attractive technology, the interpretation of tonometry data is complex. Furthermore, current understanding of the physiology of gastrointestinal perfusion in health and disease is incomplete. This review considers critically the striking clinical data and basic physiological investigations that support a key role for gastrointestinal hypoperfusion in initiating and/or perpetuating critical disease

Novel biomarkers in critical care: utility or futility?

One of the holy grails of modern medicine, across a range of clinical sub-specialties, is establishing highly sensitive and specific biomarkers for various diseases. Significant success has been achieved in some of these clinical areas, most notably identifying high-sensitivity C-reactive peptide, troponin I/T and brain natriuretic peptide as significant prognosticators for both the acute outcome and the development of cardiovascular pathology. However, it is highly debatable whether this translates to complex, multi-system pathophysiological insults. Is critical care immune from the application of these novel biomarkers, given the numerous confounding factors interfering with their interpretation

Harold Stewart's Fear of Flying: poetry, homosexuality and the Ern Malley affair

Discussion of Harold Stewart's role in the Ern Malley affair

α2β1 integrin affects metastatic potential of ovarian carcinoma spheroids by supporting disaggregation and proteolysis

Background: Ovarian cancer is characterized by a wide-spread intra-abdominal metastases which represents a major clinical hurdle in the prognosis and management of the disease. A significant proportion of ovarian cancer cells in peritoneal ascites exist as multicellular aggregates or spheroids. We hypothesize that these cellular aggregates or spheroids are invasive with the capacity to survive and implant on the peritoneal surface. This study was designed to elucidate early inherent mechanism(s) of spheroid survival, growth and disaggregation required for peritoneal metastases.Methods: In this study, we determined the growth pattern and adhesive capacity of ovarian cancer cell lines (HEY and OVHS1) grown as spheroids, using the well established liquid overlay technique, and compared them to a normal ovarian cell line (IOSE29) and cancer cells grown as a monolayer. The proteolytic capacity of these spheroids was compared with cells grown as a monolayer using a gelatin zymography assay to analyze secreted MMP-2/9 in conditioned serum-free medium. The disaggregation of cancer cell line spheroids was determined on extracellular matrices (ECM) such as laminin (LM), fibronectin (FN) and collagen (CI) and the expression of &alpha;2, &alpha;3, &alpha;v, &alpha;6 and &beta;1 interin was determined by flow cytometric analysis. Neutralizing antibodies against &alpha;2, &beta;1 subunits and &alpha;2&beta;1 integrin was used to inhibit disaggregation as well as activation of MMPs in spheroids.Results: We demonstrate that ovarian cancer cell lines grown as spheroids can sustain growth for 10 days while the normal ovarian cell line failed to grow beyond 2 days. Compared to cells grown as a monolayer, cancer cells grown as spheroids demonstrated no change in adhesion for up to 4 days, while IOSE29 cells had a 2&ndash;4-fold loss of adhesion within 2 days. Cancer cell spheroids disaggregated on extracellular matrices (ECM) and demonstrated enhanced expression of secreted pro-MMP2 as well as activated MMP2/MMP9 with no such activation of MMP\u27s observed in monolayer cells. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated enhanced expression of &alpha;2 and diminution of &alpha;6 integrin subunits in spheroidsversus monolayer cells. No change in the expression of &alpha;3, &alpha;v and &beta;1 subunits was evident. Conversely, except for &alpha;v integrin, a 1.5&ndash;7.5-fold decrease in &alpha;2, &alpha;3, &alpha;6 and &beta;1 integrin subunit expression was observed in IOSE29 cells within 2 days. Neutralizing antibodies against &alpha;2, &beta;1 subunits and &alpha;2&beta;1 integrin inhibited disaggregation as well as activation ofMMPs in spheroids.Conclusion: Our results suggest that enhanced expression of &alpha;2&beta;1 integrin may influence spheroid disaggregation andproteolysis responsible for the peritoneal dissemination of ovarian carcinoma. This may indicate a new therapeutic targetfor the suppression of the peritoneal metastasis associated with advanced ovarian carcinomas.<br /