Queering the grammar school boy: class, sexuality and authenticity in the works of Colin MacInnes and Ray Gosling

In 1959 Colin MacInnes published the fourth in his series of social issue novels, Absolute Beginners. In it the unnamed protagonist is constructed as the iconic teenager, slick, cool, creative, with his ex-lover Crépe Suzette as the object of his art and as his Achilles heel. The novel is framed over one summer, against a backdrop of racial tension, which ultimately led the Boy towards adulthood. MacInnes’s protagonist has been dismissed as an emblem rather than a character, and MacInnes himself derided by George Melly as a perpetual teenager. However in this chapter, we will suggest that taken as a whole MacInnes’ work constructs a complex understanding of The Boy’s political possibilities intersecting with sexuality, gender, race and class. By integrating his novelistic work with his journalistic and activist writing, we will demonstrate the complexity of MacInnes’ Boy as an autonomous, queer political agent, embodied in the ultimate Boy; Ray Gosling. Gosling’s own writing becomes a lens through which to root historical understanding of teenagers and teenage cultures as sexual and racial constructs

The Interlayer Formed Between Iron and an Acrylic Latex.

The anti-corrosive nature of steels coated with a commercially available acidic water-borne latex primer has been demonstrated to be considerably enhanced by the formation of an interfacial film between the coating and metal substrate. Novel sample preparation has enabled microtomed cross-sections of latex polymer coated metals to be analysed by TEM to establish the morphology and structure of the interlayer. Combined EDX and electron diffraction presents evidence for a chlorine containing mixed valence iron oxide/hydroxide - a pyroaurite-type compound, green rust I - existing in this region and attributes this formation to the observed enhanced anti-corrosive properties. Modifications to the latex polymer by soluble ionic pigment additions was performed to attempt to enhance the anti-corrosive nature of the coating by formation of different pyroaurite-type compounds based on the formula Mg6Fe2(OH)16CO3.4H2O, where Mg may be substituted by a suitable divalent cation and likewise Fe substituted by a suitable trivalent cation. Analysis of these modified coatings by TEM, XPS and A.C. impedance spectroscopy has elucidated their anti-corrosive action and identified the presence of polymer/metal and polymer/air films formed by ionic additions. In particular, the ionic addition of Mg(II) is found to considerably increase corrosion resistance in these latex coatings immersed in 3% NaCl. Models are presented for green rust formation and corrosion protection enhancement by soluble ionic additions

An examination of service user satisfaction in forensic mental health settings

High levels of service user satisfaction are viewed as a reliable indicator of a service providing good care and treatment. There has been limited research looking into levels of satisfaction in forensic mental health settings with most work focused on staff satisfaction in these settings. This study examined service users' levels of satisfaction with a forensic mental health service in the UK. The service covered two sites; one a purpose-built secure unit and the other based in an old cottage hospital. Thirty-nine in-patients completed a 60-item validated forensic satisfaction scale. The scale measured seven domains of satisfaction as well as reporting an overall satisfaction score. The results indicated the service users were reasonably satisfied with the care and treatment they received. The domains of rehabilitation, safety, staff interaction and overall care showed the highest level of satisfaction. The high rehabilitation satisfaction score demonstrated the importance of meaningful activities for users accessing forensic services and may have been influenced by the security measures on the wards. The high safety domain score indicated respondents felt safe and secure within the wards and likely to be influenced by positive interpersonal interactions. Good staff interaction was also an important factor in helping service users feel safe on the wards. These interactions are likely to be associated with the longer periods of admission in secure services allowing therapeutic relationships to develop. Financial advice/support was the one domain that recorded negative satisfaction levels. Financial literacy training may help develop money management skills

Metabolic adaptations to repeated periods of contraction with reduced blood flow in canine skeletal muscle

BACKGROUND: Patients suffering from Intermittent Claudication (IC) experience repeated periods of muscle contraction with low blood flow, throughout the day and this may contribute to the hypothesised skeletal muscle abnormalities. However, no study has evaluated the consequences of intermittent contraction with low blood flow on skeletal muscle tissue. Our aim was to generate this basic physiological data, determining the 'normal' response of healthy skeletal muscle tissue. We specifically proposed that the metabolic responses to contraction would be modified under such circumstances, revealing endogenous strategies engaged to protect the muscle adenine nucleotide pool. Utilizing a canine gracilis model (n = 9), the muscle was stimulated to contract (5 Hz) for three 10 min periods (separated by 10 min rest) under low blood flow conditions (80% reduced), followed by 1 hr recovery and then a fourth period of 10 min stimulation. Muscle biopsies were obtained prior to and following the first and fourth contraction periods. Direct arterio-venous sampling allowed for the calculation of muscle metabolite efflux and oxygen consumption. RESULTS: During the first period of contraction, [ATP] was reduced by ~30%. During this period there was also a 10 fold increase in muscle lactate concentration and a substantial increase in muscle lactate and ammonia efflux. Subsequently, lactate efflux was similar during the first three periods, while ammonia efflux was reduced by the third period. Following 1 hr recovery, muscle lactate and phosphocreatine concentrations had returned to resting values, while muscle [ATP] remained 20% lower. During the fourth contraction period no ammonia efflux or change in muscle ATP content occured. Despite such contrasting metabolic responses, muscle tension and oxygen consumption were identical during all contraction periods from 3 to 10 min. CONCLUSION: repeated periods of muscle contraction, with low blood flow, results in cessation of muscle ammonia production which is suggestive of a dramatic reduction in flux through AMP deaminase

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REview of WOMEN, WORK AND THE LABOUR MOVEMENT IN AUSTRALIA AND AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND and MULTINATIONAL BANKS AND THEIR SOCIAL AND LABOUR PRACTICE