The Scylla State. A gendered understanding of the experiences of marginalised women in the United Kingdom

Since the formation of the 2012 Coalition government, the UK has been subject to 12 years of neoliberal policy enacted with ferocity and vigour. This has comprised austerity measures including the retrenchment of welfare via the reshaping of the welfare state and public services according to business practices, ideals of individual responsibilisation and overwhelmingly, the notion of reducing the state's ideological and fiscal responsibility for equity and social welfare. The neoliberal state has been conceptualised by Loic Wacquant as a Centaur, boasting a liberal head, yet one atop an authoritarian body whose focus is the designated ‘underclasses’, the socially and economically non-compliant. The Centaur takes away with one hand while ruling punitively with the other, specifically via ‘prisonfare’ and ‘workfare’ to compel submission to precarious and sub-par employment. Although compelling, the Centaur State is justifiably critiqued for its blindness to gender and focus upon the manifestation of neoliberalism in the States. By exploring the stories of 23 women in the UK with histories of survival sex working and problematic drug use, a distinct gendered alternative reality emerges of the operation and machinations of the neoliberal state. Rather than a Centaur, marginalised women experience the Scylla State, a covert, hydra-headed beast motivated by neo-Victorian ideals of ‘womanfare’. The operations of the Scylla State are unpredictable, replicate traumatising interpersonal experiences and variously involve surveillance, coercion, conditionality and the responsibilisation of victimhood to justify increasingly punitive responses to women's survival strategies in the face of increasing trauma and deprivation

The Scylla state: an alternative understanding of survival sex work and addiction

This thesis explores women’s addiction (PDU) and survival sex working (SSW) through a socioeconomic lens that focuses on the exacerbation of deprivation and consequent multidimensional trauma that correlates with neoliberal policies. Instead of bolstering the dominant yet problematic medical, moral or behavioural models, I take an alternative route. I examine PDU and SSW as survival strategies in response to the inequality and distress that emanates from responsibilising, individualising discourse and practice. This began in earnest from 1951 with socioeconomic upheaval and challenges to the welfare state. While the history of socioeconomic deprivation in marginalised communities is long, this thesis focuses particularly on the practices and associated structural changes of neoliberal politics prominent from the tenure of Thatcher and which reached new heights following the 2010 election of the Coalition government. I argue that the associated policies and practices, and their reinforcement by individualising, responsibilising models of PDU and SSW, have contributed to the exacerbation of poverty and multidimensional trauma. Therefore, the impact of these policies and practices is to exacerbate SSW and PDU as women’s struggles for survival become amplified. I conducted in-depth biographical interviews with twenty-three women from post-industrial cities across England and Scotland, including Yorkshire, Lanarkshire and the South-West. All the women have experienced addiction to substances and thirteen identified as having taken part in sex working in order to survive during this period. The research provides several original contributions to knowledge: First, echoing the academic literature that connects women’s PDU and SSW with self- Page | 4 medication and survival strategies it advances this position, using it to directly query dominant individualising and responsibilising models. As a result of these models’ ill fit, I argue that policy and practice is inappropriately underpinned and thus ineffective. My thesis also indicates how policy and practice underpinned by these models can further exacerbate SSW and PDU by responding inappropriately and even adding to women’s deprivation and trauma. I advance the concept of multidimensional trauma to describe the harms that act as drivers behind addiction and barriers to recovery for women, denoting trauma of individual, community and systemic iterations. Finally, I propose the concept of the Scylla State to complement Wacquant’s Centaur State (2009) and provide a much-needed gendered understanding of the consequences of living in neoliberal post-industrial society as a marginalised woman

Deciphering chemotaxis pathways using cross species comparisons

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chemotaxis is the process by which motile bacteria sense their chemical environment and move towards more favourable conditions. <it>Escherichia coli </it>utilises a single sensory pathway, but little is known about signalling pathways in species with more complex systems.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To investigate whether chemotaxis pathways in other bacteria follow the <it>E. coli </it>paradigm, we analysed 206 species encoding at least 1 homologue of each of the 5 core chemotaxis proteins (CheA, CheB, CheR, CheW and CheY). 61 species encode more than one of all of these 5 proteins, suggesting they have multiple chemotaxis pathways. Operon information is not available for most bacteria, so we developed a novel statistical approach to cluster <it>che </it>genes into putative operons. Using operon-based models, we reconstructed putative chemotaxis pathways for all 206 species. We show that <it>cheA-cheW </it>and <it>cheR-cheB </it>have strong preferences to occur in the same operon as two-gene blocks, which may reflect a functional requirement for co-transcription. However, other <it>che </it>genes, most notably <it>cheY</it>, are more dispersed on the genome. Comparison of our operons with shuffled equivalents demonstrates that specific patterns of genomic location may be a determining factor for the observed <it>in vivo </it>chemotaxis pathways.</p> <p>We then examined the chemotaxis pathways of <it>Rhodobacter sphaeroides</it>. Here, the PpfA protein is known to be critical for correct partitioning of proteins in the cytoplasmically-localised pathway. We found <it>ppfA </it>in <it>che </it>operons of many species, suggesting that partitioning of cytoplasmic Che protein clusters is common. We also examined the apparently non-typical chemotaxis components, CheA3, CheA4 and CheY6. We found that though variants of CheA proteins are rare, the CheY6 variant may be a common type of CheY, with a significantly disordered C-terminal region which may be functionally significant.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We find that many bacterial species potentially have multiple chemotaxis pathways, with grouping of <it>che </it>genes into operons likely to be a major factor in keeping signalling pathways distinct. Gene order is highly conserved with <it>cheA-cheW </it>and <it>cheR-cheB </it>blocks, perhaps reflecting functional linkage. CheY behaves differently to other Che proteins, both in its genomic location and its putative protein interactions, which should be considered when modelling chemotaxis pathways.</p

Understanding recovery from a family perspective: a survey of life in recovery for families

A growing body of research describes how the lives of dependent drinkers can change as they move from active addiction to recovery. The Life in Recovery surveys in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and South Africa all reveal marked improvements in physical and psychological health, family functioning, employment and education, reductions in crime and community engagement (Best, 2014; Best et al, 2015). However, no surveys have, until now, assessed the experience of recovery from the perspective of family members. For family members, recovery is experienced in two senses. They observe the journey of the recovering drinker; however, they also embark on their own journey of change as a consequence of their experiences. The work presented here attempts to describe both aspects

Predicting Inter-Species Cross-Talk in Two-Component Signalling Systems

Phosphosignalling pathways are an attractive option for the synthetic biologist looking for a wide repertoire of modular components from which to build. We demonstrate that two-component systems can be used in synthetic biology. However, their potential is limited by the fact that host cells contain many of their own phosphosignalling pathways and these may interact with, and cross-talk to, the introduced synthetic components. In this paper we also demonstrate a simple bioinformatic tool that can help predict whether interspecies cross-talk between introduced and native two-component signalling pathways will occur and show both in vitro and in vivo that the predicted interactions do take place. The ability to predict potential cross-talk prior to designing and constructing novel pathways or choosing a host organism is essential for the promise that phosphosignalling components hold for synthetic biology to be realised

Associations of device-measured physical activity across adolescence with metabolic traits: prospective cohort study

Background: Multiple occasions of device-measured physical activity have not been previously examined in relation to metabolic traits. We described associations of total activity, moderate-tovigorous physical activity (MVPA), and sedentary time from three accelerometry measures taken across adolescence with detailed traits related to systemic metabolism. Methods and Findings: 1826 male and female participants recruited at birth in 1991-92 via mothers into the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children offspring cohort who attended clinics in 2003-05, 2005-06, and 2006-08 were included in ≥ 1 analysis. Waist-worn uniaxial accelerometers measured total activity (counts/min), MVPA (min/day), and sedentary time (min/day) over ≥ 3 days at age 12y, 14y, and 15y. Current activity (at age 15y), mean activity across occasions, interaction by previous activity, and change in activity were examined in relation to systolic and diastolic blood pressure, insulin, C-reactive protein, and 230 traits from targeted metabolomics (nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy) including lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, amino and fatty acids, glycoprotein acetyls, and others, at age 15y. Mean current total activity was 477.5 counts/min (SD=164.0) while mean MVPA and sedentary time durations were 23.6 min/day (SD=17.9) and 434.5 min/day (SD=64.7), respectively. Mean body mass index at age 15y was 21.4 kg/m2 (SD=3.5). Withinmeasure correlations between first and last activity measurement occasions were low (e.g. r=0.40 for counts/min). Current activity was most strongly associated with cholesterol and triglycerides in HDL and VLDL particles (e.g. -0.002 mmol/l or -0.18 SD-units; 95% CI=-0.24, -0.11 for triglycerides in chylomicrons and XL-VLDL) and with glycoprotein acetyls (-0.02 mmol/l or -0.16 SD-units; 95% CI=-0.22, -0.10), among others. Associations were similar for mean activity across 3 occasions. Attenuations were modest with adjustment for fat mass index based on dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. In mutually adjusted models, higher MVPA and sedentary time were oppositely associated with cholesterol and triglycerides in VLDL and HDL particles; MVPA more strongly with glycoprotein acetyls and sedentary time more strongly with amino acids. Associations appeared less consistent for sedentary time than for MVPA based on longer-term measures and were weak for change in all activity types from age 12-15y. Evidence was also weak for interaction between activity types at age 15y and previous activity measures in relation to most traits (minimum P=0.003; median P=0.26 for counts/min) with interaction coefficients mostly positive. Study limitations include modest sample sizes and relatively short durations of accelerometry measurement on each occasion (3-7 days) and of time lengths between first and last accelerometry occasions (< 4 years) which can obscure patterns from chance variation and limit description of activity trajectories. Activity was also recorded using uniaxial accelerometers which predated more sensitive triaxial devices. Conclusions: Our results support associations of physical activity with metabolic traits that are small in magnitude and more robust for higher MVPA than lower sedentary time. Activity fluctuates over time, but associations of current activity with most metabolic traits do not differ by previous activity. This suggests that the metabolic effects of physical activity, if causal, depend on most recent engagement

Psychological and psychophysiological effects of recuperative music post-exercise

Purpose: Few studies have examined the psychological and psychophysiological effects of recuperative music following exhaustive exercise. The main purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of two music conditions compared with a no-music control on psychological and psychophysiological recovery processes post-exercise. Methods: A randomized, fully counterbalanced, crossover design was used. Core affect, salivary cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure were measured before exhaustive exercise, immediately after, and in 10-, 20-, and 30-min intervals during passive recovery (21 women and 21 men; 20.9 ± 1.7 yr) over three separate trials (slow, sedative music; fast, stimulative music; no-music control). The exercise task entailed incremental cycle ergometry performed at 75 rpm with a 22.5 W.min-1 increase in intensity at the end of each minute until exhaustion. Data were analyzed using mixed-model 3 (condition) x 4 (time) x 2 (gender) MANOVA/ANCOVA. Results: The largest decline in affective arousal between active and passive recovery phases was evident in the slow, sedative condition (ηp 2 = 0.50). Women had a more pronounced reduction in arousal than men in the slow, sedative music condition. Heart rate measures showed that fast, stimulative music inhibited the return of heart rate toward resting levels (ηp 2 = 0.06). Similarly, salivary cortisol levels tended to be lower in response to slow, sedative music (ηp 2 = 0.11). There was a main effect of condition for affective valence indicating that the slow, sedative condition elicited more positive affective responses than the control and fast, stimulative conditions (ηp 2 = 0.12). Conclusions: The present findings support the notion that slow, sedative music can expedite the recovery process immediately after strenuous exercise