Salvador Dalí's Dream of Venus at the 1939 New York world's fair: capitalist funhouse or surrealist landmark?

For the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, New York, Salvador Dalí created a surrealist funhouse called Dream of Venus. This installation, which included sound and performance, aimed at a controversial sensation, a truly surreal experience for its visitors. Labelled as “tacky, Oceanside amusement park attraction” and wrapped up by consumer commodity, however, Dalí’s surrealist funhouse is been said to have lost much of its provocative power. This contribution investigates to what extent the avant-garde aesthetics and politics became part and parcel of American consumer culture, commodity culture and capitalism. Gilles Deleuze’s and Félix Guattari’s poststructuralist analysis of the axiomatic regime of capitalism and their view on madness provides a toolbox for taking a closer look at surrealist (vain?) efforts to combat capitalist dominion

Detection strategies for bioassays based on liquid chromatography, fluorescence spectroscopy and mass spectrometry

New detection strategies for bioassays based on liquid chromatography,\ud fluorescence spectroscopy and mass spectrometry were developed and are\ud presented within this thesis

Transforming growth factor-beta targets Formin-like 2 for Angiopoietin-like 4 secretion during the epithelial mesenchymal transition

Epithelial to Mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a highly dynamic process that plays a crucial role in tumor progression and metastasis. While remodelling of the actin cytoskeleton is a hallmark of EMT, the responsible actin regulating factors are less well understood. Formins are involved in numerous cellular mechanisms, ranging from cytokinesis to cell adhesion and motility. The Rho-GTPase effectors of the formin family compromise the largest group of actin nucleators and are emerging as relevant pharmacological targets. A critical role of Formin-like 2 (FMNL2) in the assembly of junctional actin at newly forming cell-cell contacts in a 3D matrix has been described. This activity originates downstream of Rac1 and is in line with a physical association of FMNL2 and components of the cadherin-catenin complex. FMNL2 was further recently implicated in β1-integrin trafficking as a direct PKC target required for cancer cell invasion. Here we found that transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ)-driven EMT leads to an upregulation of PKC resulting in the phosphorylation and activation of FMNL2 in epithelial cells. Proteomic screening for TGFβ-mediated phospho-FMNL2 binding partners identified the tumor promotor ANGPTL4 as a specific binding partner. ANGPTL4 has important roles in cancer development and progression including promoting invasion and metastasis. We found that FMNL2 and ANGPTL4 directly interact under TGF-induced EMT. Our data show that FMNL2 is a critical regulator of ANGPTL4 secretion. Secretion of ANGPTL4 is diminished upon loss of FMNL2 and its phosphorylation. We further observed that ANGPTL4 is sequestered in the Golgi apparatus colocalizing with markers of the trans-Golgi network. Live imaging of vesicle secretion from the Golgi confirmed the transient co-localization of ANGPTL4 and FMNL2. Moreover, ANGPTL4 and FMNL2 modulate cell-cell contact integrity and ANGPTL4 silenced cells fail to disassemble their underlying cell-cell contacts to execute EMT. This effect was further enhanced upon FMNL2 knockout using FMNL2 CRISPR/Cas9 cell line. However, re-introduction of ANGPTL4 restored the mesenchymal phenotype and prompted the dissolution of cell-cell adhesions. Finally, we found that cellular invasion promoted by TGFβ depends on FMNL2 and is reduced upon ANGPTL4 silencing. Taken together, our data point towards a crucial role of FMNL2 for EMT via ANGPTL4 secretion

Changes in corporate governance of German corporations: convergence to the Anglo-American model?

This paper examines the many changes which have transformed the German system of corporate governance during the last seven odd years. It concludes that it is in the process of converging towards the Anglo-American system and that this has fundamentally affected the way strategic decisions are made in firms. Large, internationally oriented companies are particularly affected. But the notion of shareholder value and its many behavioural effects are gradually spreading also to other parts of the economy. Consequently, the distinctive logic, which had underpinned the German variety of capitalism during most of the post-war period, is eroding. This transformation is affecting also labour and industrial relations in negative ways. The argument is empirically substantiated with data about recent trends in capital markets, banks and firms. The paper theoretically examines institutional change, focussing on the notions of system logic and institutional complementarity. It examines both external sources of change and internal powerful actors who promote the process of transformation. The notion of hybridisation of the German business system is examined but is rejected in favour of a trend towards convergence. Convergence is not seen as a functional necessity, nor is it viewed as inevitable.Corporate governance, capital markets, German variety of capitalism, institutional change.

The Interpretation of the Convention Ground of `Membership of a Particular Social Group´ in the Context of Gender-related Claims for Asylum

Despite often making `conventional claims’ for asylum based on their political opinion, race, nationality or religion, many women also claim asylum in the United Kingdom (UK) on the basis that they fear persecution because of their gender. To be recognised as refugees, women asylum seekers must therefore often demonstrate that they fear persecution on account of their membership of a Particular Social Group (PSG). In the UK, the Refugee Convention ground of PSG is the most litigated, and women asylum seekers may face many obstacles to benefitting from the protection they require. This paper explores the development of the interpretation of the PSG ground in the context of gender-related claims for asylum and assesses its implication for the protection of women who fear gender-related persecution. In particular, it sets out a critical analysis of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal’s determination in SB (Moldova)1 in light of the House of Lords’ decision in Fornah.2 The paper demonstrates the Tribunal’s failure to follow the decision of the majority in Fornah that the two limbs of article 10(1)(d) Qualification Directive, setting out the definition of a PSG, are alternatives and not cumulative and why this determination is flawed. The paper also concludes that the Tribunal has developed a more rigorous test for the definition of PSG where the group is gender-based despite the absence of domestic and international jurisprudence and rules of interpretation that would support this approach. The analysis highlights the discriminatory approach by the Tribunal and demonstrates that this approach cannot stand