The Rhetoric of Prostitution in Victorian England

This dissertation interrogates the network of social ideas and agents that rhetorically constructed the female prostitute through configurations of space and identity while participating in rhetorics of professionalization. While considering genre as cultural artifact (product) and social action (process), selected texts from diverse genres are analyzed, making transparent their claims about prostitution as articulated through representations of identity and space. Quite often, these claims were postulated through invocations of "contagion," which, as a cultural screen, operated to direct an audience's attention and interpretation. In addition, during the Victorian period, disciplines employed points of reference, like the prostitute, that within the dominant cultural codes facilitated their professionalization and carved their niches in the cultural milieu. Each chapter of this work analyzes a different genre (newspaper articles, medical treatises, and fictional works, respectively) to demonstrate how contagion anxieties influenced what the prostitute represented and how she was used rhetorically. This study is one of process and product, as spaces and identities are defined by expectations, functions, and locations. The spatial rhetorics of a genre define the dynamics between text, location, and conceptions of identity. This interdisciplinary study examines how the deployment of these ideas performs a social mapping and uses the prostitute as a navigational marker to guide readers' internalization of textual worlds and subsequent formation of knowledge

Neural stem cells express melatonin receptors and neurotrophic factors: colocalization of the MT(1 )receptor with neuronal and glial markers

BACKGROUND: In order to optimize the potential benefits of neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, it is necessary to understand their biological characteristics. Although neurotrophin transduction strategies are promising, alternative approaches such as the modulation of intrinsic neurotrophin expression by NSCs, could also be beneficial. Therefore, utilizing the C17.2 neural stem cell line, we have examined the expression of selected neurotrophic factors under different in vitro conditions. In view of recent evidence suggesting a role for the pineal hormone melatonin in vertebrate development, it was also of interest to determine whether its G protein-coupled MT(1 )and MT(2 )receptors are expressed in NSCs. RESULTS: RT-PCR analysis revealed robust expression of glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) in undifferentiated cells maintained for two days in culture. After one week, differentiating cells continued to exhibit high expression of BDNF and NGF, but GDNF expression was lower or absent, depending on the culture conditions utilized. Melatonin MT(1 )receptor mRNA was detected in NSCs maintained for two days in culture, but the MT(2 )receptor was not seen. An immature MT(1 )receptor of about 30 kDa was detected by western blotting in NSCs cultured for two days, whereas a mature receptor of about 40 – 45 kDa was present in cells maintained for longer periods. Immunocytochemical studies demonstrated that the MT(1 )receptor is expressed in both neural (β-tubulin III positive) and glial (GFAP positive) progenitor cells. An examination of the effects of melatonin on neurotrophin expression revealed that low physiological concentrations of this hormone caused a significant induction of GDNF mRNA expression in NSCs following treatment for 24 hours. CONCLUSIONS: The phenotypic characteristics of C17.2 cells suggest that they are a heterogeneous population of NSCs including both neural and glial progenitors, as observed under the cell culture conditions used in this study. These NSCs have an intrinsic ability to express neurotrophic factors, with an apparent suppression of GDNF expression after several days in culture. The detection of melatonin receptors in neural stem/progenitor cells suggests involvement of this pleiotropic hormone in mammalian neurodevelopment. Moreover, the ability of melatonin to induce GDNF expression in C17.2 cells supports a functional role for the MT(1 )receptor expressed in these NSCs. In view of the potency of GDNF in promoting the survival of dopaminergic neurons, these novel findings have implications for the utilization of melatonin in neuroprotective strategies, especially in Parkinson's disease

The rhetoric of prostitution in Victorian England

This investigation of Victorian rhetorics—that is, the multiple genres making claims about prostitution—interrogates the network of social ideas and agents that rhetorically constructed the female prostitute through configurations of space and identity while participating in rhetorics of professionalization. While considering genre as cultural artifact (product) and social action (process), selected texts from diverse genres are analyzed, making transparent their claims about prostitution as articulated through representations of identity and space. Quite often, these claims were postulated through invocations of “contagion,” which, as a cultural screen, operated to direct an audience’s attention and interpretation. In addition, during the Victorian period, disciplines employed points of reference, like the prostitute, that within the dominant cultural codes facilitated their professionalization and carved their niches in the cultural milieu. Each chapter of this work analyzes a different genre (newspaper articles, medical treatises, and fictional works, respectively) to demonstrate how contagion anxieties influenced what the prostitute represented and how she was used rhetorically. My study is one of process and product, as spaces and identities are defined by expectations, functions, and locations. The spatial rhetorics of a genre define the dynamics between text, location, and conceptions of identity. This interdisciplinary study examines how the deployment of these ideas performs a social mapping and uses the prostitute as a navigational marker to guide readers’ internalization of textual worlds and subsequent formation of knowledge