Muslimah: Decolonising and Re-Presenting Contemporary British Cinematic Representation of Black Muslim Women

Much discussion has surrounded the notion of decolonisation¹, particularly in the context of education, which calls for a widening of study texts to include creators and writers of colour. Organisations such as The Black Curriculum Project (Stennett, 2019) seek to broaden representation of the racialised other within education (Arday and Mirza, 2018); meanwhile in media and the creative industries, the reproduction of ‘reactive tropes’ at the hands of ‘industry lore’ is also being challenged (Saha, 2018). Alongside these discussions, particularly in the creative industries, are explorations into how far the reverberations of a previously colonised world manifest themselves in our creation, understanding and absorption of art (Lorde, 2018). With these questions in mind, this thesis postulates a dearth of Black Muslim women in British narrative cinema, theorising alongside cultural and critical race scholarship, to interpret culturally dominant representations of the ‘other’ on screen. It merges issues of both seeing and showing with regards to representation, and posits the value of conscious spaces in which to rehearse an interrogated, theoretical undoing of long-established colonial ideologies (Young, 1996, pp.183-184), conversing with the notion of decolonisation in the process. In the spirit of Saidiya Hartman’s Wayward Lives (2019) in literature and Fairview (Drury, 2018) in theatre, this study rehearses a decolonised approach to (screen)writing, theorising the conscious undoing of colonial gaze when representing the Black Muslim woman on screen

Needs-Based Standards Of Practice For The Use Of Forensic Genetic Genealogy In Investigations Of Violence Toward Marginalized Victims

The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to identify strategies by which forensic genetic genealogy can be applied to cases of unidentified decedents who are from marginalized populations. Three research questions guided this study: (1) What is each affected group most concerned about regarding the use of forensic genetic genealogy to identify marginalized unidentified decedents or perpetrators of violent crime against marginalized group members?, (2) How have the past experiences of individuals in the affected groups contributed to their stance on the use of forensic genetic genealogy?, And (3) How do stakeholders’ opinions on the use of forensic genetic genealogy change when applied to cases involving marginalized victims of violent crime versus white, heterosexual, cisgender European-descended victims? Dual process theory and terror management theory were the basis of the theoretical framework. Narrative surveys were used to gather data. Marginalized respondents were aware of the greater difficulties faced in resolving cases involving a marginalized victim, while non-marginalized respondents generally took a tone of asserting that there are not, or should not be, any differences in the difficulty of resolving these cases. Respondents were unaware of what can and cannot be done with an individual’s autosomal DNA, fueling anxiety and hesitation to contribute genetic genealogical information to forensic investigations. Marginalized respondents were also more likely to respond with empathy to prompts regarding hypothetical victims that belonged to their same marginalized communities, while non-marginalized respondents tended to respond with greater interest in their own personal genealogy following the prompts

The role of endoglin in cell-mediated heart repair

PhD ThesisDespite substantial advances in pharmacological and interventional strategies for the treatment of ischaemic heart disease and acute myocardial infarction (MI) many patients go on to develop dilated heart failure with high morbidity and mortality rates. Increasing evidence suggests that stem cells can augment re-vascularisation of the infarcted myocardium leading to improved cardiac function. However, the precise mechanisms involved are not completely understood and further work is required to realise optimised cell based therapy. The aim of this project was to investigate the role of endoglin, a pro-angiogenic TGF co-receptor, in bone marrow (BM)-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and in cardiac-resident cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) using mouse models. I hypothesised that endoglin acts as a key marker and functional regulator of the pro-angiogenic repair properties of these stem cells and that manipulating TGF signalling by controlling endoglin levels could provide a better understanding of the properties of these cells, with the longer term goal of developing more effective revascularisation therapies. My data show that inhibiting TGF /Alk5 signalling in vitro increases EPC yield from both endoglin heterozygous and wild-type BM cells. In addition, although endothelial specific knock-down of endoglin in vivo led to increased endoglin expression in cells from the BM, these cells did not incorporate into endoglin depleted heart or lung vasculature. I also showed that endoglin deficiency results in a significant reduction in EPC yield from BM cells and inducible endoglin depletion in CDCs (using a conditional endoglin knock-out mouse model) impairs cellular proliferation and migration in vitro alongside up-regulated TGF /Alk5 signalling. Furthermore, injection of wild-type CDCs into the ischaemic border zone of the heart, following coronary artery occlusion in a mouse MI model, led to an increased angiogenic response at 4 weeks. This response was significantly reduced when endoglin depleted cells were transplanted. However both wild-type and endoglin depleted CDCs were able to rescue heart function, as measured using cardiac MRI. In conclusion, the results of this thesis provide evidence of the important roles that endoglin and TGF signalling play in promoting angiogenesis in tissue repair. Further advances in this field could aid in the development of more effective cell therapies for MI patients

An Ancient Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

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Layered control architectures in natural and artificial systems

We review recent research in robotics and neuroscience with the aim of highlighting some points of agreement and convergence. Specifically, we compare Brooks’ [9] subsumption architecture for robot control with a part of the neuroscience literature that can be interpreted as demonstrating hierarchical control systems in animal brains. We focus first on work that follows the tradition of Hughlings Jackson [23] who, in neuroscience and neuropsychology, is particularly associated with the notion of layered competence. From this perspective we further argue that recent work on the defense system of the rat can be interpreted by analogy to Brooks’ subsumption architecture. An important focus is the role of multiple learning systems in the brain, and of hierarchical learning mechanisms in the rat defense system

Layered control architectures in natural and artificial systems

We review recent research in robotics and neuroscience with the aim of highlighting some points of agreement and convergence. Specifically, we compare Brooks’ [9] subsumption architecture for robot control with a part of the neuroscience literature that can be interpreted as demonstrating hierarchical control systems in animal brains. We focus first on work that follows the tradition of Hughlings Jackson [23] who, in neuroscience and neuropsychology, is particularly associated with the notion of layered competence. From this perspective we further argue that recent work on the defense system of the rat can be interpreted by analogy to Brooks’ subsumption architecture. An important focus is the role of multiple learning systems in the brain, and of hierarchical learning mechanisms in the rat defense system

Using Contract Terms to Get Ahead of Prospective eDiscovery Costs and Burdens in Commercial Litigation

During the course of the twentieth century, American and international businesses reacted to the increasing costs and uncertainties of the American civil legal system by trying to create certainty through contractual provisions wherever possible. In particular, businesses developed contractual provisions that set forth procedural boundaries to potential disputes for the purpose of providing greater certainty as to where the dispute would be heard, who would hear it, and what laws would apply. For example, choice of venue and choice of law provisions became commonplace. In addition, clauses dictating the use of alternative dispute resolution procedures were also widely adopted. Substantively, other clauses not only limited liabilities, warranties, and damages, but also attempted to establish the applicable burden of proof for any given dispute. While such provisions have been challenged as unenforceable in circumstances of unequal bargaining powerforexample contracts between a business and a consumeror inequitable conduct such as fraud, by and large courts have enforced these provisions, especially in commercial contracts between business enterprises

The basal ganglia: A vertebrate solution to the selection problem?

A selection problem arises whenever two or more competing systems seek simultaneous access to a restricted resource. Consideration of several selection architectures suggests there are significant advantages for systems which incorporate a central switching mechanism. We propose that the vertebrate basal ganglia have evolved as a centralized selection device, specialized to resolve conflicts over access to limited motor and cognitive resources. Analysis of basal ganglia functional architecture and its position within a wider anatomical framework suggests it can satisfy many of the requirements expected of an efficient selection mechanism

Is the short-latency dopamine response too short to signal reward error?

Unexpected stimuli that are behaviourally significant have the capacity to elicit a short-latency, short-duration burst of firing in mesencephalic dopaminergic neurones. An influential interpretation of the experimental data that characterize this response proposes that dopaminergic neurones have a crucial role in reinforcement learning because they signal error in the prediction of future reward. In this article we propose a different functional role for this ‘short-latency dopamine response’ in the mechanisms that underlie associative learning. We suggest that the initial burst of dopaminergic-neurone firing could represent an essential component in the process of switching attentional and behavioural selections to unexpected, behaviourally important stimuli. This switching response could be a crucial prerequisite for associative learning and might be part of a general short-latency response that is mediated by catecholamines and prepares the organism for an appropriate reaction to biologically significant events. Any act which in a given situation produces satisfaction becomes associated with that situation so that when the situation recurs the act is more likely than before to recur also. E.L. Thorndike (1911)