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Includes bibliographical references (pages 90-99)., Includes abstract.

Cultural China is a unique annual publication for up-to-date, informed, and accessible commentary about Chinese and Sinophone languages, cultural practices, politics and production, and their critical analysis. It builds on the University of Westminster’s Contemporary China Centre Blog, providing additional reflective introductory pieces to contextualise each of the eight chapters. The articles in this Review speak to the turbulent year that was 2020 as it unfolded across Cultural China. Thematically, they range from celebrity culture, fashion and beauty, to religion and spirituality, via language politics, heritage, and music. Pieces on representations of China in Britain and the Westminster Chinese Visual Arts Project reflect our particular location and home. Many of the articles in this book focus on the People’s Republic of China, but they also draw attention to the multiple Chinese and Sinophone cultural practices that exist within, across, and beyond national borders. The Review is distinctive in its cultural studies-based approach and contributes a much-needed critical perspective from the Humanities to the study of Cultural China. It aims to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and debate about the social, cultural, political, and historical dynamics that inform life in Cultural China today, offering academics, activists, practitioners, and politicians a key reference with which to situate current events in and relating to Cultural China in a wider context.

Cultural China is a unique annual publication for up-to-date, informed, and accessible commentary about Chinese and Sinophone languages, cultural practices, politics and production, and their critical analysis. It builds on the University of Westminster’s Contemporary China Centre Blog, providing additional reflective introductory pieces to contextualise each of the eight chapters. The articles in this Review speak to the turbulent year that was 2020 as it unfolded across Cultural China. Thematically, they range from celebrity culture, fashion and beauty, to religion and spirituality, via language politics, heritage, and music. Pieces on representations of China in Britain and the Westminster Chinese Visual Arts Project reflect our particular location and home. Many of the articles in this book focus on the People’s Republic of China, but they also draw attention to the multiple Chinese and Sinophone cultural practices that exist within, across, and beyond national borders. The Review is distinctive in its cultural studies-based approach and contributes a much-needed critical perspective from the Humanities to the study of Cultural China. It aims to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and debate about the social, cultural, political, and historical dynamics that inform life in Cultural China today, offering academics, activists, practitioners, and politicians a key reference with which to situate current events in and relating to Cultural China in a wider context.

Prejudice and discriminatory behaviour remain significant barriers to positive intergroup relations. In a time in which global migration rates are at their highest (and continue to rise), recent emphasis has been placed on the negative perceptions of certain immigrant and refugee group members in Western media and political discourse. A prominent feature of these debates involves the perceived “humanness” of migrant individuals. The tendency to view culturally dissimilar others as less human compared to one’s own cultural group is not a novel social phenomenon however. In this chapter, we draw from the fields ofphilosophy, social and developmental psychology to examine the nature of dehumanisation in the context of migration. Through understanding the psychological processes by which dehumanising perceptions are acquired and expressed, this research ultimately hopes to inform strategies to foster the inclusion of newcomers within their host countries.

Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs) are malignancies of skin-homing lymphoid cells, which have so far not been investigated thoroughly for common oncogenic mutations. We screened 90 biopsy specimens from CTCL patients (41 mycosis fungoides, 36 Sézary syndrome, and 13 non-mycosis fungoides/Sézary syndrome CTCL) for somatic mutations using OncoMap technology. We detected oncogenic mutations for the RAS pathway in 4 of 90 samples. One mycosis fungoides and one pleomorphic CTCL harbored a KRAS(G13D) mutation; one Sézary syndrome and one CD30(+) CTCL harbored a NRAS(Q61K) amino acid change. All mutations were found in stage IV patients (4 of 42) who showed significantly decreased overall survival compared with stage IV patients without mutations (P = .04). In addition, we detected a NRAS(Q61K) mutation in the CTCL cell line Hut78. Knockdown of NRAS by siRNA induced apoptosis in mutant Hut78 cells but not in CTCL cell lines lacking RAS mutations. The NRAS(Q61K) mutation sensitized Hut78 cells toward growth inhibition by the MEK inhibitors U0126, AZD6244, and PD0325901. Furthermore, we found that MEK inhibitors exclusively induce apoptosis in Hut78 cells. Taken together, we conclude that RAS mutations are rare events at a late stage of CTCL, and our preclinical results suggest that such late-stage patients profit from MEK inhibitors.

This research includes theoretical analysis and experimental testing of terahertz systems operating in the w-band range. In modelling these long wavelength systems we use Gaussian beam mode analysis, a novel technique which can be efficiently used to predict optical behaviour of systems that borrow components from both traditionally established optical and radio receiver techniques. This analytical technique neatly includes diffraction, which dominates propagation in this wavelength range. We are currently investigating the most numerically efficient and stable ways of utilising these modes in optical analysis and present our findings. In parallel, in an experimental campaign, we are characterising standing waves or multiple reflections which occur within terahertz systems. We present the experimental arrangement and outline potential methods to reduce the influence of multiple reflections in terahertz systems.

This research includes theoretical analysis and experimental testing of terahertz systems operating in the w-band range. In modelling these long wavelength systems we use Gaussian beam mode analysis, a novel technique which can be efficiently used to predict optical behaviour of systems that borrow components from both traditionally established optical and radio receiver techniques. This analytical technique neatly includes diffraction, which dominates propagation in this wavelength range. We are currently investigating the most numerically efficient and stable ways of utilising these modes in optical analysis and present our findings. In parallel, in an experimental campaign, we are characterising standing waves or multiple reflections which occur within terahertz systems. We present the experimental arrangement and outline potential methods to reduce the influence of multiple reflections in terahertz systems.

This research includes theoretical analysis and experimental testing of terahertz systems operating in the w-band range. In modelling these long wavelength systems we use Gaussian beam mode analysis, a novel technique which can be efficiently used to predict optical behaviour of systems that borrow components from both traditionally established optical and radio receiver techniques. This analytical technique neatly includes diffraction, which dominates propagation in this wavelength range. We are currently investigating the most numerically efficient and stable ways of utilising these modes in optical analysis and present our findings. In parallel, in an experimental campaign, we are characterising standing waves or multiple reflections which occur within terahertz systems. We present the experimental arrangement and outline potential methods to reduce the influence of multiple reflections in terahertz systems.

The angiogenic activity of peptide adrenomedullin (AM) was first shown in 1998 . Since then, a number of reports have confirmed the ability of AM to induce the growth and migration of isolated vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells in vitro and to promote angiogenesis in xenografted tumours in vivo. In addition, knockout murine models point to an essential role for AM in embryonic vasculogenesis and ischaemic revascularisation. AM expression is upregulated by hypoxia (a typical feature of solid tumours) and a potential role as a regulator of carcinogenesis and tumour progression has been proposed based on studies in vitro and in animal models. Nevertheless, translational research on AM, and in particular, confirmation of its importance in the vascularisation of human tumours has lagged behind. In this commentary, we review current progress and potential directions for future research into the role of AM in tumour angiogenesis.

Successful refugee and migrant integration has been shown to generate novel opportunities for development, and to enrich countries economically, socially, and culturally. Nonetheless, integration is one of the most complex issues of our time. Here we review this problem from a behavioural science perspective. Behavioural science brings together insights from psychology, behavioural economics, neuroscience, and sociology to devise and improve population-level interventions and to develop more effective policies. One approach in behavioural science is commonly referred to as ‘nudging’. Recently there has been a growing interest in nudge strategies among both practitioners and academics, in part because the strategies are cheap to implement. Here we provide an overview of such strategies and their applicability to refugee integration. By addressing two sectors of society where behavioural science is currently applied (education and employment), we examine how behavioural evidence may be used to bypass barriers and facilitate drivers of integration. Our review (i) reveals that few interventions aimed at refugee integration use a behavioural science approach, (ii) highlights areas in which this approach could be especially effective, and (iii) identifies some behavioural science techniques that may be counterproductive.