Information transformation : the structures of BSE and the strategic predetermination of information events.

How did stories about BSE and variant CJD come to be reported? The thesis takes the approach that news stories are one information event in a chain of dissemination that stretches back to the first formulated account. Information events are the material objects constructed at each stage in the chain. They are distinct from but related to, the first formulated account of an event or phenomenon. Structures and their mechanisms guide the construction and dissemination of information events. At each stage in the process of dissemination, information events are strategically predetermined to suit the communicative goals of sources. But resistance is possible, as this research demonstrates. The thesis explores three events: FSE in a cat in May 1990, the link between BSE and variant CJD in 1996 and the findings of a study on the prevalence of variant CJD in the UK population led by Dr David Hilton in May 2004. Through quantitative analysis I first explore two information events in the dissemination process: press releases and news reports. I then subject the 2004 event to qualitative analysis through interviews with sources and journalists, facilitating a deeper knowledge of the transformational stages posited. The study is underpinned by a realist assumption that some objective reality is being reported - the physical reality of disease - but applies a weak constructionist approach to the construction of information events. This thesis contends that reality is a crucial conception in the study of news but what that reality is constituted from should always remain elusive, ambiguous and open to question. I contend, however, that one has to know where and how to look for the nearest approximation of it. If we throw away the quest for and belief in reality then we have no defence against the reality constructed for us by powerful elites

'Stuff it': Respectability and the voice of resistance in letter to brezhnev

Exploring Letter to Brezhnev through concepts of respectability as feminine cultural capital this article suggests that the film’s affective impulse stems from its representation of a female, working class experience under Thatcherism. This experience is articulated through two structures of feeling derived from the intersecting conventions of social realism, and the consumerist and romantic tropes of the ‘woman’s film’. Through this intersection the daily abjection of women through degrading work or unemployment is traced, whilst being counterpointed to the escapist pleasures of a ‘night out’ constituted through the spatial and aesthetic shifts of the narrative, and the feminisation of the ‘jack the lad’ staple of British screen culture. In this way, Letter to Brezhnev exposes the centrality of respectability to women’s social mobility, or lack of it, thus offering a powerful critique of Thatcherite ideologies and women’s position as primary consumers within them. The article also offers a corrective to existing scholarship that has focussed on cinematic representations of a crisis of masculinity under Thatcherism to the neglect of its corrosive impact on feminine respectability

‘I’m not your mother’: British social realism, neoliberalism and the maternal subject in Sally Wainwright’s Happy Valley (BBC1 2014-2016)

This article examines Sally Wainwright's Happy Valley (BBC1, 2014–2016) in the context of recent feminist attempts to theorise the idea of a maternal subject. Happy Valley, a police series set in an economically disadvantaged community in West Yorkshire, has been seen as expanding the genre of British social realism, in its focus on strong Northern women, by giving it ‘a female voice’ (Gorton, 2016: 73). I argue that its challenge is more substantial. Both the tradition of British social realism on which the series draws, and the neoliberal narratives of the family which formed the discursive context of its production, I argue, are founded on a social imaginary in which the mother is seen as responsible for the production of the selves of others, but cannot herself be a subject. The series itself, however, places at its centre an active, articulate, mobile and angry maternal subject. In so doing, it radically contests both a tradition of British social realism rooted in male nostalgia and more recent neoliberal narratives of maternal guilt and lifestyle choice. It does this through a more fundamental contestation: of the wider cultural narratives about selfhood and the maternal that underpin both. Its reflective maternal subject, whose narrative journey involves acceptance of an irrecoverable loss, anger and guilt as a crucial aspect of subjectivity, and who embodies an ethics of relationality, is a figure impossible in conventional accounts of subject and nation. She can be understood, however, in terms of recent feminist theories of the maternal

Health Misinformation and the Power of Narrative Messaging in the Public Sphere

Numerous social, economic and academic pressures can have a negative impact on representations of biomedical research. We review several of the forces playing an increasingly pernicious role in how health and science information is interpreted, shared and used, drawing discussions towards the role of narrative. In turn, we explore how aspects of narrative are used in different social contexts and communication environments, and present creative responses that may help counter the negative trends. As traditional methods of communication have in many ways failed the public, changes in approach are required, including the creative use of narratives

Quantitative Analysis of Lipid Droplet Fusion: Inefficient Steady State Fusion but Rapid Stimulation by Chemical Fusogens

Lipid droplets (LDs) are dynamic cytoplasmic organelles containing neutral lipids and bounded by a phospholipid monolayer. Previous studies have suggested that LDs can undergo constitutive homotypic fusion, a process linked to the inhibitory effects of fatty acids on glucose transporter trafficking. Using strict quantitative criteria for LD fusion together with refined light microscopic methods and real-time analysis, we now show that LDs in diverse cell types show low constitutive fusogenic activity under normal growth conditions. To investigate the possible modulation of LD fusion, we screened for agents that can trigger fusion. A number of pharmacological agents caused homotypic fusion of lipid droplets in a variety of cell types. This provided a novel cell system to study rapid regulated fusion between homotypic phospholipid monolayers. LD fusion involved an initial step in which the two adjacent membranes became continuous (<10 s), followed by the slower merging (100 s) of the neutral lipid cores to produce a single spherical LD. These fusion events were accompanied by changes to the LD surface organization. Measurements of LDs undergoing homotypic fusion showed that fused LDs maintained their initial volume, with a corresponding decrease in surface area suggesting rapid removal of membrane from the fused LD. This study provides estimates for the level of constitutive LD fusion in cells and questions the role of LD fusion in vivo. In addition, it highlights the extent of LD restructuring which occurs when homotypic LD fusion is triggered in a variety of cell types

ACORN (A Clinically-Oriented Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network) II: protocol for case based antimicrobial resistance surveillance

Background: Antimicrobial resistance surveillance is essential for empiric antibiotic prescribing, infection prevention and control policies and to drive novel antibiotic discovery. However, most existing surveillance systems are isolate-based without supporting patient-based clinical data, and not widely implemented especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: A Clinically-Oriented Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (ACORN) II is a large-scale multicentre protocol which builds on the WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System to estimate syndromic and pathogen outcomes along with associated health economic costs. ACORN-healthcare associated infection (ACORN-HAI) is an extension study which focuses on healthcare-associated bloodstream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Our main aim is to implement an efficient clinically-oriented antimicrobial resistance surveillance system, which can be incorporated as part of routine workflow in hospitals in LMICs. These surveillance systems include hospitalised patients of any age with clinically compatible acute community-acquired or healthcare-associated bacterial infection syndromes, and who were prescribed parenteral antibiotics. Diagnostic stewardship activities will be implemented to optimise microbiology culture specimen collection practices. Basic patient characteristics, clinician diagnosis, empiric treatment, infection severity and risk factors for HAI are recorded on enrolment and during 28-day follow-up. An R Shiny application can be used offline and online for merging clinical and microbiology data, and generating collated reports to inform local antibiotic stewardship and infection control policies. Discussion: ACORN II is a comprehensive antimicrobial resistance surveillance activity which advocates pragmatic implementation and prioritises improving local diagnostic and antibiotic prescribing practices through patient-centred data collection. These data can be rapidly communicated to local physicians and infection prevention and control teams. Relative ease of data collection promotes sustainability and maximises participation and scalability. With ACORN-HAI as an example, ACORN II has the capacity to accommodate extensions to investigate further specific questions of interest

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Horror as Social Critique

Ridley Scott’s 1979 science fiction horror film Alien has become such a touchstone in popular culture that its influence is apparent in Anne Tibbets’s 2021 novel, Screams from the Void. Both set in the future, 2122 and 2231 respectively, and both taking place on commercial spacecraft that represent the modern workplace, each crew must battle a deadly alien. In addition to the primal terror of being slaughtered by a “foreign biologic,” the works also explore women’s fear of being sexually assaulted. These anxieties remain with women everywhere: in public, in their homes, and even in the workplace. There is no location in which women are completely safe. Using scenes that demonstrate film scholar Matt Glasby’s definition of “The Unexpected,” Alien and Screams from the Void shed light on violence against women in the workplace to decry the endless reign of the patriarchy and to expose the horror that these social issues are far from over

Monstrous Marriage: Re-Evaluating Consent, Coverture, and Divorce in Nineteenth-Century Women’s Gothic Fiction

This dissertation demonstrates that a study of nineteenth-century Gothic fiction can broaden our understanding of the ways in which women were imprisoned by period marriage laws. These novelists perpetuated women’s blossoming dissatisfaction with marriage and with ideals of gender encoded by law. My examination offers insight into how nineteenth-century authors of Gothic fiction used their literature as a feminist discourse to shift accepted social views of women’s position in marriage. This study concentrates on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, and Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I examine these works in light of consent and the law of coverture, as well as social expectations that create false narratives about ideal marriages. The intersection of matrimonial laws and Gothic conventions allowed women writers to imagine frightening scenarios in which consent is questioned, in which coverture is exposed as inhumane, and in which abuse, both physical and emotional, is detailed. Readers act as witnesses to abuse that the law does not acknowledge. Sometimes, the wedded ideal contradicts reality in these novels, portraying scenarios that the law needs to address. These novels transform the Gothic Romance into the Domestic Gothic, substituting Gothic monsters with cruel husbands, haunted castles with the home, and the horror, dread, and suspense, of living in an abusive marriage. They challenge the cultural belief that the institution is a haven for women and that self-sacrifice and submission are women’s most valued attributes. These novels disrupt the middle class domestic ideal that is so prevalent in women’s fiction and they challenge the logic behind the law of coverture. The authors used Gothic conventions because they offered a method to express those frustrations. The Gothic genre is also important because its popularity allowed the women’s social discourse to reach a wider audience and to capture the very real fear and horror and danger that marriage placed on women. I concentrate on their scenarios that reference matrimonial laws and their uses of Gothic devices to expose the limitations of consent laws, and the imprisonment of coverture. Ultimately, I argue that these novelists expose marriage as an institution that often fosters and perpetuates abuse, and that they showcase the legal foundation that enables such abuse. These novels become a highly effective means of addressing the need for women to maintain their legal status in marriage because the narratives spotlight the issues for those who either are not aware of these laws or do not fully understand their consequences. An examination of courtship and matrimony in these Gothic novels demonstrates their challenge to existing laws governing marriage and coverture. Reform begins, these novels insist, with an audience that is aware of the impact of social institutions on the individual. Through these texts, readers learn that women must be socially and legally valued as human beings and that marriage should not condemn women to a lifetime with a monster.English, Department o