Consuming the Fractured Female: Lessons from MTV's The Real World

Using MTV's popular long-running program The Real World as a case study, this essay examines the interrelationship of the construction and consumption of bodies in an increasingly surveillance-based, commercial, hybrid media culture. This article is part of a larger project that employed a multi-method approach grounded in feminism combining textual data from The Real World with interviews with producers and female fans of The Real World. The author investigates how Real World viewers make sense of the series' claims to the real, using the body as the site of cultural production. Two key frames of bodies on The Real World are identified: the troubled body and the heteronormative body. The analysis is situated among studies of media realism to interrogate the context in which real women today are recreated as the “fractured female” in popular culture. The author argues that scholars should continue in a move toward interdisciplinary approaches that link the cultural with the capital and offers the body as a major site of cultural production and reception.     

Development of a magnetic immunosorbent for on-chip preconcentration of amyloid β isoforms: Representatives of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers

Determination of amyloid β (Aβ) isoforms and in particular the proportion of the Aβ 1-42 isoform in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients suspected of Alzheimer's disease might help in early diagnosis and treatment of that illness. Due to the low concentration of Aβ peptides in biological fluids, a preconcentration step prior to the detection step is often necessary. This study utilized on-chip immunoprecipitation, known as micro-immunoprecipitation (μIP). The technique uses an immunosorbent (IS) consisting of magnetic beads coated with specific anti-Aβ antibodies organized into an affinity microcolumn by a magnetic field. Our goal was to thoroughly describe the critical steps in developing the IS, such as selecting the proper beads and anti-Aβ antibodies, as well as optimizing the immobilization technique and μIP protocol. The latter includes selecting optimal elution conditions. Furthermore, we demonstrate the efficiency of anti-Aβ IS for μIP and specific capture of 5 Aβ peptides under optimized conditions using various subsequent analytical methods, including matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), capillary electrophoresis, microchip electrophoresis, and immunoblotting. Synthetic Aβ peptides samples prepared in buffer and spiked in human CSF were analyzed. Finally, on-chip immunoprecipitation of Aβ peptides in human CSF sample was performed.     

Do “Undocumented Aliens” Dream of Neoliberal Sheep?: Conditional DREAMing and Decolonial Imaginaries

Dreams have long been thought to be a space of fantasy and utopic hope. From Paulo Freire to Gloria Anzaldúa to Robin Kelley, many scholars have related the ability to dream with the ability to act collectively, to self-actualize, and to call into being worlds yet to be realized—dreaming as a radical political act. What happens, then, when dreams lose their ability to sense outside of the existing order? What happens when dreams become a mere recapitulation of that which already is? What happens when dreams become legislated and coerced? In conversation with contemporary literature on biopower and psychopower, this article acts as a dream interpretation of the DREAM Act (dreampower), analyzing how the assemblages of immigration, citizenship, and power come together by and through new technologies of governance. Focusing on the role dreams play in the political transformation of “undocumented aliens” into more terrestrial/palatable beings, we examine the ways material and symbolic forms of neoliberal life have been operationalized to patrol and condition what constitutes acceptable dreams and, therefore, who can be a DREAMer. We conclude with a call for a decolonial politics of ensueños: a call for a sleeping and a dreaming of alterity where we wake up in order to dream, and dream in order to wake up.     

The Franco-American book trade in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries

The Franco-American book trade played a vital role in the struggle for mutual understanding during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. That trade is exemplified by the work of three colorful individuals: Joseph Nancrede (1761–1841), who left his native France and became a publisher in Boston; John Hurford Stone (1763–1818), English supporter of the French Revolution who set up his English Press in Paris, issuing works of American interest; and Nicholas Gouin Dufief (1776–1834), who fled the French Revolution and set up as bookseller in Philadelphia. Thanks to the efforts of Nancrede and Dufief, the writings of French thinkers were made available to American readers, and thanks to the presswork of John Hurford Stone, the writings of Barlow, Paine, Jefferson and others were circulated in France. As publisher, printer, and bookseller, these three bookpeople reflected the ups and downs of Franco-American relations and became instruments of international understanding. Madeleine B. Stern, partner in the rare book firm of Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern, has written numerous books on publishing and bookselling history, includingImprints on History: Book Publishers and American Frontiers. She is the editor ofPublishers for Mass Entertainment in 19th-Century America and is currently completingStudies in the Franco-American Book Trade in the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries     

Education level explains participation in work and education later in life

A prolonged working life is crucial for sustaining social welfare and fiscal stability for countries facing ageing populations. The group of older adults is not homogeneous; however, differences within the group may affect the propensity to continue working and to participate in continuing education. The aim of this paper is to explore how participation in work and education vary with gender, age, and education level in a sample of older adults. The study was performed in Sweden, a context characterized by high female labour-market-participation rates and a high average retirement age. The participants were 232 members of four of the major senior citizens’ organizations. We found no differences in participation in work and education based on gender. People older than 75 years were found to be as active as people 65–75 years old in education, but the older group worked less. There were positive associations between education level and participation in both work and education. Hence, this study implies that socio-economic inequalities along these dimensions are widened later in life. This highlights the importance of engaging workers with lower education levels in educational efforts throughout life. It also emphasizes the need for true lifelong learning in society.