Bodies out of place: Black queer students negotiating identity at the University of Cape Town

The issue of racial identity and belonging appears to be foregrounded in current struggles around the transformation of higher education in South Africa. However, current debates about belonging as well as critiques of the masculinist nature of sectors of the student movement have drawn stark attention to the complexities of subjectivity. Intersectional subjectivities have been highlighted. This paper attends to the narratives of seven black queer students and their negotiations of identity at an historically white university in South Africa amid struggles around transformation/decolonisation. We employ the Photovoice method where participants produce photo-narratives around their identities as black queer persons. Our analysis reveals not only the extent to which participants’ experiences illustrate their struggles around belonging in a space not historically ‘theirs’ but also the extent to which their narratives are potentially transformative and challenge representations of them and their lives

Special Issue Editorial: Youth, violence and equality: Perspectives on engaging youth toward social transformation

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Decoding the Interdependence of Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Reveal Patient Subgroups Correlated with Survivals

Glioblastoma is highly heterogeneous in microstructure and vasculature, creating various tumor microenvironments among patients, which may lead to different phenotypes. The purpose was to interrogate the interdependence of microstructure and vasculature using perfusion and diffusion imaging and to investigate the utility of this approach in tumor invasiveness assessment. A total of 115 primary glioblastoma patients were prospectively recruited for preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and surgery. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was calculated from diffusion imaging, and relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) was calculated from perfusion imaging. The empirical copula transform was applied to ADC and rCBV voxels in the contrast-enhancing tumor region to obtain their joint distribution, which was discretized to extract second-order features for an unsupervised hierarchical clustering. The lactate levels of patient subgroups, measured by MR spectroscopy, were compared. Survivals were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox regression analyses. The results showed that three patient subgroups were identified by the unsupervised clustering. These subtypes showed no significant differences in clinical characteristics but were significantly different in lactate level and patient survivals. Specifically, the subtype demonstrating high interdependence of ADC and rCBV displayed a higher lactate level than the other two subtypes (P = .016 and P = .044, respectively). Both subtypes of low and high interdependence showed worse progression-free survival than the intermediate (P = .046 and P = .009 respectively). Our results suggest that the interdependence between perfusion and diffusion imaging may be useful in stratifying patients and evaluating tumor invasiveness, providing overall measure of tumor microenvironment using multiparametric MRI

Indonesian Christian Young People Resisting the Dominant Discourses of Men as Desiring/Dangerous and Women as Non-sexual/Vulnerable

Contemporary feminist studies have demonstrated how the binary constitution of men as desiring/dangerous and women as non-sexual/vulnerable has enabled, normalised, and sustained intimate partner sexual violence against women. Such binary positioning has given rise to gendered religious and sexual subjectivities that severely constrain women’s sexual agency. However, only a few studies have explored the ways this binary might be contested in one’s becoming of a sexual subject, particularly the identification of alternative discourses one’s may draw upon to challenge the dominant one. Seeking to fill this gap, this chapter presents four vignettes of resistance which might rework this gendered positioning among young Indonesian Christians vis-à-vis intimate partner sexual violence. The analysis revealed that these young participants drew on various alternative discourses to which they have access – from feminist, religious, to same-sex sexuality – to give new meanings to men and women as sexual subjects and resist the normalisation of intimate partner sexual violence

Multi-parametric and multi-regional histogram analysis of MRI: modality integration reveals imaging phenotypes of glioblastoma

OBJECTIVES: Integrating multiple imaging modalities is crucial for MRI data interpretation. The purpose of this study is to determine whether a previously proposed multi-view approach can effectively integrate the histogram features from multi-parametric MRI and whether the selected features can offer incremental prognostic values over clinical variables. METHODS: Eighty newly-diagnosed glioblastoma patients underwent surgery and chemoradiotherapy. Histogram features of diffusion and perfusion imaging were extracted from contrast-enhancing (CE) and non-enhancing (NE) regions independently. An unsupervised patient clustering was performed by the multi-view approach. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relevance of patient clustering to survival. The metabolic signatures of patient clusters were compared using multi-voxel spectroscopy analysis. The prognostic values of histogram features were evaluated by survival and ROC curve analyses. RESULTS: Two patient clusters were generated, consisting of 53 and 27 patients respectively. Cluster 2 demonstrated better overall survival (OS) (p = 0.007) and progression-free survival (PFS) (p < 0.001) than Cluster 1. Cluster 2 displayed lower N-acetylaspartate/creatine ratio in NE region (p = 0.040). A higher mean value of anisotropic diffusion in NE region was associated with worse OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.40, p = 0.020) and PFS (HR = 1.36, p = 0.031). The seven features selected by this approach showed significantly incremental value in predicting 12-month OS (p = 0.020) and PFS (p = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: The multi-view clustering method can provide an effective integration of multi-parametric MRI. The histogram features selected may be used as potential prognostic markers

Exploring the intersection between violence against women and children from the perspective of parents convicted of child homicide

Violence against women and violence against children are distinct research fields. Quantitative studies have demonstrated their intersection, but qualitative data provides an opportunity for a comprehensive understanding of this interface. Interviews with 22 parents/caregivers convicted of child homicide provided an opportunity to explore the context of violent experiences in their lives including their use of violence and their experiences of it in their intimate and parenting relationships. Using a feminist framework, we found that patriarchal family structures, gender and power dynamics contribute to the use of violence. Revenge child homicide was common with distinct gendered differences. This study calls for closer collaboration between the two fields to assist in developing prevention interventions to address and eradicate both forms of violence

The isimodeni style: traditional beadwork, Zulu trinket or, South African sartorial tradition on Durban’s Golden Mile?

Beadwork is a well-documented aspect of the socio-political culture of isiZulu-speaking groupings in Southern Africa. Whilst scholarship on beadwork deals largely with the denotative and connotative value it offers wearers, this article’s contribution relates both to its commodification and apolitical value by confronting a general assumption that a beadwork style known as isimodeni (modern beadwork), produced as a trinket for tourists along Durban’s racially stratified Golden Mile since the 1960s, is an authentic representation of a Zulu material culture. The paper probes how traditional beadwork and rickshaw rides (with both highly decorated carts and pullers) were earmarked by tourism officials of the time as commodities that could serve a demand for colourful exoticism and accessible “Zulu” culture. Methodologically, the article draws on the visual analysis of beaded artefacts and photographs, in addition to ethnographic data derived from unstructured interviews with beadworkers on the Durban beachfront, to examine how a beadwork tradition transformed into a “Zulu” tourism commodity, and then transmuted into a nationalised form of ethnic identity and sartorial tradition

Young lesbian and bisexual women resisting discrimination and negotiating safety: A photovoice study

With the increasing focus on the problem of ‘corrective rape’ in South Africa, representations of black lesbian women have largely become about victimhood. The increasing media focus on ‘corrective rape’ has also resulted in the ‘hyper-visibility’ of black lesbian bodies. These representations of victimhood can be problematic, as they erase the agency, political activism, pleasure and multidimensionality of black lesbian lives. Furthermore, although there has been increased attention on the lives of black lesbian women, the experiences of black lesbian youth remain marginal. In this paper we present findings from a participatory, photovoice project with young, black lesbian women in the Western Cape. The project involved the development of photo stories and the collection of interview and focus group data from 14 young women between the ages of 13 and 17 years who identify as lesbian or bisexual. We discuss the young women’s experiences of violence and discrimination at school, and how they resist that discrimination. We also discuss how the young women construct and negotiate safety in their community, zoning in on the young women’s agency in their resistance and negotiation of safety, and their defiance of dominant narratives of victimhood. We further discuss how the photovoice methodology can be used as an empowering method to research issues around violence and safety with young people and those who may be stigmatised or marginalised.Keywords: photovoice, black lesbian youth, discrimination, resistance, safety