Mothers and monsters : Black female subjectivity in Black speculative fiction

textFor if, as literary theorist Barbara Christian argues "people of color have always theorized--but in forms quite different from the Western form of abstract logic" and "often in narrative forms," then it only makes sense that we should turn to Black speculative fiction, a genre that has always been just as rooted in diasporic pasts as it has been invested in creating diasporic future(s) as a new avenue for exploring the trope of (mother)loss in diaspora. I first argue that Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is a black speculative proto-text from which we can begin to consider the usefulness and necessity of the imagination in radical formation of black female subjectivity. I then engage black science fiction writer Nalo Hopkinson’s 2013 novel, Sister Mine, which addresses intersections of race gender and sexuality in in exciting ways. The ways that Jacobs and Hopkinson intentionally delve into mystery and imagination signify a unique opportunity for Black female writers to theorize themselves, to name themselves, and most importantly to claim what Hortense Spillers calls "the monstrosity (of a female with the potential to 'name')" and the potential to name herself. I choose to bring particular attention to the Black speculative literature of Nalo Hopkinson not solely because she theorizes black female subjectivity but because of the ways that Hopkinson literally embraces the "monstrosity" of Black female subjectivity by writing black women as mermaids, goddesses, monsters into her work, echoes of which are also seen in Jacobs' work. The literal mermaids and monsters found in Hopkinson's 21st century (re)imagining of Toronto and Lake Ontario or Jacobs' loophole of retreat provide new ways of understanding what it means to be diasporic Black/woman/mother/child in both the midst and aftermath of transatlantic slavery, striking a necessary balance between acknowledging contemporary and historical struggles of black people across the world, and drawing on the power of the imaginative to look towards the future.African and African Diaspora Studie

Student Teachers’ Opinions, Beliefs and Attitudes Concerning Faith-based Education and Identity

This report outlines and analyses the opinions, beliefs and attitudes of student teachers with regard to certain aspects of faith-based education and identity. The data were collected using a survey (Appendix 1) of student teachers who entered ACU in 2014. This summary sets out the profile of respondents and the main findings which are presented under the following headings: reasons for choice of secondary school; students’ perceptions of their knowledge of Catholic teaching; educational values; perceived purposes of Catholic education; perceptions of the characteristics of Catholic schools; main issues facing Catholic/faith-based education today

Pressures to perform : An interview study of Australian highperformance school-age athletes-perceptions of balancing their school and sporting lives

High performance school-age athletes struggle to balance the demands of their sporting and educational roles. They are like “hyphenated” individuals striving to deal with more than one life. This investigation examines the views of talented athletes who are full-time school students to elicit their perspectives of how they deal with the pressures to perform in these two different arenas. Previous published research on this topic has not included athletes’ views or “given voice” to school-age high performance athletes’ perceptions of how they balance two full-time lives. This study incorporated a cross-sectional design using qualitative techniques in an interpretivist paradigm. Data collection was through interviews using Livescribe™ pen. NVivo 9.2™ was used to analyse interviews from nine current and 10 former school-age high performance athletes (n = 19) across a range of sports. Findings were categorised into five themes: physical, social, educational, psychological and economic issues. In particular participants in this study identified specific problems they experienced with physical and social issues of: tiredness, nutritional awareness, procrastination, and personal sacrifices. All participants indicated they wanted to pursue both their education and sport, reinforcing the Elementtheoretical construct that doing both connects their sense of identity, purpose and well-being. Implications for policy and practice in schools and in sports are discussed with a view to identifying the characteristics that define an ‘athlete friendly school’. Research findings from this study also provide suggestions about how these young athletes, their parents, and teachers can optimise the dual-demands and pressures on these athletes’ lives

Nrf2 activation reprograms macrophage intermediary metabolism and suppresses the I interferon

To overcome oxidative, inflammatory, and metabolic stress, cells have evolved cytoprotective protein networks controlled by nuclear factor-erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and its negative regulator, Kelch-like ECH associated protein 1 (Keap1). Here, using high-resolution mass spectrometry we characterize the proteomes of macrophages with altered Nrf2 status revealing significant differences among the genotypes in metabolism and redox homeostasis, which were validated with respirometry and metabolomics. Nrf2 affected the proteome following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, with alterations in redox, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and innate immunity. Notably, Nrf2 activation promoted mitochondrial fusion. The Keap1 inhibitor, 4-octyl itaconate remodeled the inflammatory macrophage proteome, increasing redox and suppressing type I interferon (IFN) response. Similarly, pharmacologic or genetic Nrf2 activation inhibited the transcription of IFN-β and its downstream effector IFIT2 during LPS stimulation. These data suggest that Nrf2 activation facilitates metabolic reprogramming and mitochondrial adaptation, and finetunes the innate immune response in macrophages

Macrophage fumarate hydratase restrains mtRNA-mediated interferon production

Metabolic rewiring underlies the effector functions of macrophages1-3, but the mechanisms involved remain incompletely defined. Here, using unbiased metabolomics and stable isotope-assisted tracing, we show that an inflammatory aspartate-argininosuccinate shunt is induced following lipopolysaccharide stimulation. The shunt, supported by increased argininosuccinate synthase (ASS1) expression, also leads to increased cytosolic fumarate levels and fumarate-mediated protein succination. Pharmacological inhibition and genetic ablation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzyme fumarate hydratase (FH) further increases intracellular fumarate levels. Mitochondrial respiration is also suppressed and mitochondrial membrane potential increased. RNA sequencing and proteomics analyses demonstrate that there are strong inflammatory effects resulting from FH inhibition. Notably, acute FH inhibition suppresses interleukin-10 expression, which leads to increased tumour necrosis factor secretion, an effect recapitulated by fumarate esters. Moreover, FH inhibition, but not fumarate esters, increases interferon-β production through mechanisms that are driven by mitochondrial RNA (mtRNA) release and activation of the RNA sensors TLR7, RIG-I and MDA5. This effect is recapitulated endogenously when FH is suppressed following prolonged lipopolysaccharide stimulation. Furthermore, cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus also exhibit FH suppression, which indicates a potential pathogenic role for this process in human disease. We therefore identify a protective role for FH in maintaining appropriate macrophage cytokine and interferon responses

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

The mystery of mapness : the void between mind and map

This thesis explores how our notion of mapness is related to our knowledge, reading and understanding of the complex visual language of the map, through an investigation of how we relate to the way maps look and the structures that underpin them.The processes of creating map-like artifacts through the author's own practice are reported upon and inform a drawing forth of historical, theoretical and practical perspectives that act In conjunction to influence the artistic and design expression to communicate mapness.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo