Annie Ernaux, 1989: diaries, photographic writing and self-vivisection

A broad and inclusive account of the multiple manifestations of photography in contemporary French and francophone societies and cultures As part of the recent turn towards visual culture in French studies, photography has begun to receive increased attention from scholars in the field. This volume of eight orignial essays and an interview with the Director of one of France's leading photographic institutions (the Maison européenne de la photographie). Key Features A wide-ranging treatment of the multi-faceted reality of photography in French and francophone contexts Addresses individual photographers and writers (including Bruno Boudjelal, Stéphane Couturier, Raymond Depardon, Valerie Jouve and Roland Barthes, Sophie Calle, J.M.G. Le Clézio, Annie Ernaux, Hervé Guibert, Denis Roche) Includes an original interview with Jean-Luc Monterosso, Director of the Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris Includes 15 colour and black/white illustration

Assumptions or accurate justifications? A critical analysis of the Select Committee report on the Manukau City Council (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill 2010

In 2010 the then Manukau City Council proposed a local Bill to Parliament, the Manukau City Council (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill. This Bill targeted the perceived negative consequences of street-based prostitution that existed within Manukau City. The Bill authorised the Manukau City Council to make bylaws that would specify certain places in the district where street-soliciting of prostitution could not occur. The Bill failed at its Second Reading, following a report by the Local Government and Environment Select Committee recommending that it not be passed. The three main justifications given by the Select Committee to this result are discussed in this paper and are determined as to whether they were accurate and appropriate, or if they were rather mere assumptions. These justifications are that existent laws provided a sufficient solution, the Bill would be an implicit amendment to the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, and that the Bill would face enforcement problems if enacted. This paper finds that while the majority of the justifications given by the Select Committee were accurate, this did not stand true for all their reasoning. Ultimately it is argued that greater scrutiny must be given to Select Committee reports

Characterisation of an immune-modulating peptide secreted by a helminth worm

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Science.Parasitic worms (helminths) have evolved mechanisms to potently modulate the mammalian immune response to ensure their long-term survival, while concomitantly preventing excessive tissue pathology within the host. The outcome of this activity is a potent suppression of mammalian pro-inflammatory Th1 and Th17 immune responses. This immune-modulatory phenomenon is attributable to the molecules excreted/secreted by helminths as they migrate through their human hosts. The identification of these molecules has the potential to contribute to the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of autoimmune diseases as these diseases are mediated by pro-inflammatory Th1 and Th17 immune responses. It has previously been shown that the delivery of a single peptide, FhHDM-1, which is excreted/secreted from the helminth, Fasciola hepatica, prevented the development of murine type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. The aetiological similarity between these two diseases, is the establishment of the pro-inflammatory environment by macrophages and neutrophils. Therefore, it was hypothesised that FhHDM-1 likely mediated its protective effect through anti-inflammatory mechanisms directed at these cells. In this study, it was confirmed that FhHDM-1, specifically interacted with both murine and human neutrophils and macrophages. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that FhHDM-1 modulated the activity of these cells, by inhibiting the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines, which, in turn, prevented further activation of pro-inflammatory T cells and dendritic cells. The use of transcriptional profiling revealed that, of the 41,436 genes analysed in macrophages, treatment with FhHDM-1 altered the expression levels of only 6 of these. Of these, only the expression level of SerpinB2 was increased, and this was shown to subsequently mediate the suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion by T cells. In the context of an inflammatory stimulus, FhHDM-1 regulated the expression of numerous pro-inflammatory genes in macrophages. Pathway analysis predicted that this anti-inflammatory activity was mediated through the activation of PPAR-γ pathways. This is the first report of a PPAR-γ agonist being secreted by a helminth parasite as a mechanism of modulating mammalian innate immune responses. Importantly, a homologous parasite peptide from a related trematode parasite demonstrated the same activity suggesting a conserved mechanism of action among parasite helminths. Analysis of the sequence of the FhHDM-1 peptide, combined with immunological assays of peptide derivatives, supported the discovery of the minimally active sequence, FhHDM-1.C2. This peptide contained both the amphipathic C-terminus region, previously identified as functional, and a sequence of 5 amino acids (KARDR), which was newly identified as essential for the binding and internal localisation of FhHDM-1. This C2 derivative mimicked the activity of the full length peptide in every way, such as the ability to bind and be internalised by macrophages, to increase macrophage lysosomal pH, to induce the expression of SerpinB2, and to inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In summary, this thesis has newly identified the binding and active domains of the parasite immune-modulatory peptide, FhHDM-1, and discovered the novel mechanisms by which the peptide regulates pro-inflammatory innate immune responses. Combined, these findings have significantly advanced the progress towards translation of the FhHDM-1 peptide for therapeutic use in immune-mediated diseases

Estimating topological entropy of multidimensional nonlinear cellular automata

Cellular automata are discrete dynamical systems whose configurations are determined by local rules acting on each cell in synchronous. Topological entoropy is a tool for measuring the complexity of these dynamical systems. In this paper we estimate topological entropy of a two-dimensional nonlinear cellular automaton. The method we use is that a one-dimensional cellular automaton with positive topological entoropy is “naturally” embedded into the twodimensional cellular automaton. Hence we obtain a multidimensional cellular automaton with infinite topological entoropy

Women looking at women, women looking at men

Akane Kanai, an MSc student at the LSE’s Gender Institute studying Gender, Media and Culture. Here she muses over differing utilisations and perceptions of masculine and feminine beauty, the diverging experiences of presenting the self and experiencing the presentation of others