Masters Research - Master of Creative Arts (Drama) / This thesis traces the process of creating a music-theatre piece. Initial investigations into solo performance, community theatre and popular political theatre prove to be unworkable and frustrating. The embryonic story begins to emerge from readings into human trafficking in South-east Asia. The research travels from traditional political theatre, through Dada, Surrealism and Brechtian techniques towards a postmodern / post-dramatic approach to theatre that sees boundaries between performative traditions dissolve and hybrid forms come into play. The work of Robert Wilson serves as a model of subversive theatre. Tensions between form and content shape the metamorphosis of the piece. Radical techniques inspire the work although the piece eventually adopts a relatively conventional narrative structure. The postmodern distrust of language and the embrace of a wider definition as to what constitutes politics lead the story into the field of new music-theatre. The composition utilises obsolete technologies to create an electronic soundtrack. Images and a scenario are drawn from research and the subconscious. The blueprint of soundtrack and script offers interpretative scope for director / choreographer / performers and in this sense the creative process is incomplete. The author concludes that in the process of creating the piece, the story dictated its own form. Further exploration would investigate where to perform the piece to achieve maximum political impact.

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2007. / Thesis Advisor(s): Olsen, Edward A. "December 2007." Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Apr 2, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-77).

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2007. / Thesis Advisor(s): Olsen, Edward A. "December 2007." Description based on title screen as viewed on January 24, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-77). Also available in print.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-12-21Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:58:17Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 graneraraujo_rce_me_assis.pdf: 513495 bytes, checksum: 4f0b16b53b2e90b6794cd511475b15d6 (MD5) / O envolvimento de adolescentes e até crianças como trabalhadores no tráfico de drogas vem aumentando nas últimas décadas no Brasil, e quiçá no mundo. A globalização contribuiu para que isto ocorresse, concomitante a organização dessa forma de crime, promovendo lucros consideráveis, a ponto de ser concebido como o segundo grande negócio mundial, atrás apenas do tráfico de armas. Decorrência: o tráfico contribuiu para que os jovens passassem a serem vítimas e também autores de ações de violência relacionadas a esta atividade. Com o presente trabalho, analisamos como se articulam, na constituição subjetiva, o trabalho dos adolescentes no tráfico de drogas e a função paterna. Tivemos a pretensão, ainda, de compreender se eles tiveram, ao longo de sua história, referências de autoridade que contribuíram para entrarem nela. Os adolescentes escolhidos foram os pertencentes às camadas sociais de baixa renda e que eram considerados trabalhadores do tráfico de drogas. Realizamos um estudo de casos múltiplos, por meio de entrevistas/conversas com tais adolescentes. Utilizamos, para a análise das informações, a teoria psicanalítica, na perspectiva da psicanálise extramuros, a qual prioriza a análise de um fenômeno social, considerando o contexto onde este ocorre e seus desdobramentos na subjetividade humana. Os resultados obtidos nos levaram a concluir que, para eles, tal atividade é o caminho mais provável, em nossa cultura para conquistarem reconhecimento social e sentimento de pertença ao mundo adulto e à sociedade... / The involvement of adolescents and even of children as workers in drug trafficking has been increasing in the last decades in Brazil, and perhaps in the world. Globalization has contributed for this to happen together with the organization of this type of crime, promoting considerable profit to such an extent that it is considered the world’s second greatest business, only staying behind weapon trafficking. Consequence: this kind of traffic contributed so that the youth has become not only the victim but also the author of violent actions related to this activity. With the present work we analyze the articulation, in the subjective constitution, between the adolescents works in drug trafficking and the paternal function. We also had the pretension to comprehend if they had, throughout their history, authority references that contributed to their entry in this business. The chosen adolescents were the ones that had a low income and were considered illegal drug trade workers. We realized an study of multiple cases through talks/interviews with these adolescents. We used, for the analysis of the informations, psychoanalytic theory, in the extended psychoanalysis perspective, which gives priority to the analysis of a social phenomenon, considering the context in which it occurs and its unfolding in human subjectivity. The results obtained led us to conclude that, for them, this activity is the likely way in our society to achieve social recognition and a sense of pertaining in the adult world and in a consumerist society. Drug trafficking works as a symbolic anchor for the boys... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Cellular pH homeostasis plays crucial roles in cellular functions, and it is now widely recognized that Na⁺/H⁺ exchangers are among the most prominent players in this process. Although recently described mammalian Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger NHE7 has attracted much attention, its biological functions remain largely unknown. Most proteins exist as protein complexes in the cell and elicit their unique functions in collaboration with their binding partners. Therefore, identification and characterization of binding proteins will often unveil unexpected functions of the protein of interest. To begin to elucidate biological roles of the novel class of Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger NHE7, yeast two-hybrid screening was conducted and several binding candidates were identified. Among these candidates, I show that Secretory Carrier Membrane Proteins (SCAMPs) are novel NHE7 binding proteins and that SCAMPs regulate endocytic trafficking of NHE7 from the recycling endosomes to the trans-Golgi network (TGN). In agreement with this finding, I found that NHE7 can also be targeted to the plasma membrane and then internalized. Caveolins, structural proteins for caveolae, were identified as NHE7-binding proteins and it was initially hypothesized that caveolins might regulate NHE7-internalization. Interestingly, caveolins bound to NHE7 through a novel binding domain and facilitated its association to caveolae/lipid rafts, but did not affect NHE7-internalization. I also show that SCAMP2 associates with the heterotrimeric G protein β subunit (Gβ) and regulates the ERK1/2 signaling. Moreover, NHE7 was found to associate with both SCAMP2 and Gβ in the cell, suggesting that ERK1/2 signaling mediated by the SCAMP2-Gβ complex might regulate NHE7. / Medicine, Faculty of / Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of / Graduate

Human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal, known to be an obscure and uncommon form of trafficking in persons, has since become a popular phenomenon across various countries of the world. The crime is recognized in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, which supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. A reason for the inclusion of this form of trafficking in this particular international instrument on transnational organized crime is because most forms of trafficking, and more particularly human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal, as well as organ trafficking are generally perpetrated by transnational organized criminal groups. This dissertation seeks to consider the crime in detail, from a human right-based approach. This approach acknowledges that trafficking in all its forms, is a violation of human rights and seeks to depart from the common debates surrounding the spread of organ trafficking over the years. A large proportion of these debates have attributed the shortage of organs to the spread of the organ black market and organ trafficking in general. These debates have therefore focused on addressing the shortage of organs by developing systems to promote altruistic donation of organs. Even though there is an international recognition and admittance of the fact that human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal constitutes a serious human right abuse, there is still a wide gap in the body of research that focuses on the human right abuses involved in this type of human trafficking, and the need to protect and promote the rights of victim-donors. The aforementioned gap will serve as the crux of this dissertation as efforts will be made to address the inherent human rights abuses that victim-donors face. This dissertation will begin by introducing the crime of human trafficking through a brief historical overview. It will then proceed to give a background information on human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal. Subsequent chapters will address in detail the trends and patterns of the crime, the modus operandi of organ traffickers, the role players in organ trafficking networks, the consequences of the crime on the victims involved, the inherent human right violations promoted through the continuous perpetration of the crime of human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal, and the responses that have been given to curbing the crime from different international, regional and national institutions. Case studies will be examined to buttress the facts and findings of the entire dissertation.

AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) play a critical role in mediating the majority of fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the brain, where alterations in receptor expression, distribution and trafficking have been shown to underlie synaptic plasticity and higher brain function. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating AMPAR surface expression and turnover are still not fully understood. We report that mammalian AMPARs are subject to post-translational modification by ubiquitin, and identify Nedd4 as the E3 ligase responsible for mediating this process. AMPAR ubiquitination enhanced receptor degradation and reduced AMPAR cell-surface expression; conversely, inhibition of proteasomal activity caused AMPAR accumulation. Using site-directed mutagenesis we replaced each of four lysine residues available as putative ubiquitination sites on the AMPAR subunit GluA1 C-terminal with an arginine and identified critical residues for ubiquitination and receptor degradation. Consistent with the role of protein ubiquitination, lysine mutation reduced the efficiency of AMPAR endocytosis. We further investigated the molecular mechanisms involved in the internalization of ubiquitinated AMPARs. We find that the endocytic adaptor protein Eps15 plays a critical role in this process. siRNA-mediated suppression or overexpression of Eps15 results in changes in AMPAR surface expression. Eps15 interaction with AMPARs requires Nedd4-mediated GluA1 ubiquitination along with the ubiquitin interacting motif (UIM) of Eps15. Consistent with ubiquitination-mediated receptor internalization, knockdown of Eps15 suppresses GluA1 internalization of wild-type GluA1, but not a mutant GluA1 lacking ubiquitination sites, indicating a crucial role for Eps15 in the trafficking of ubiquitinated AMPARs. These findings reveal novel regulatory mechanisms in the control of glutamate receptor amount and distribution dynamics, which are key factors implicated in higher brain functions and neurological disorders.

There are now numerous examples of post-translational modification with geranylgeranyl or farnesyl substituents. Once thought of as solely a mechanism for association of proteins with membranes, other functional aspects of protein prenylation have come to be appreciated. Although, in almost all instances, such proteins are membrane associated, they are often found to also engage in protein-protein interactions. In some instances, such interactions are critical aspects of prenylated protein trafficking. In this review, the role of prenylation in mediating protein-protein interactions will be considered. The hypothesis will be developed that such interactions occur through recognition of the prenyl group and a second domain, on the prenylated protein, by a heterodimeric protein partner.

Sex trafficking is a grossly misconstrued and increasing issue within the United States. The purpose of this study was to extend current knowledge regarding the public’s education on domestic sex trafficking and perceptions of domestic sex trafficking victims. The public’s awareness of domestic sex trafficking and perceptions of domestic sex trafficking victims were examined through the utilization of a 31 closed-ended question survey. The survey included questions about domestic sex trafficking and prostitution myths, domestic sex trafficking victim characteristics, domestic sex trafficking legislation, law enforcement’s involvement in domestic sex trafficking cases, and demographics. The sample consisted of 195 Criminal Justice and Criminology students at East Tennessee State University, located in Northeast Tennessee. The results showed that, despite having a mostly empirical based view on domestic sex trafficking, students misconceived domestic sex trafficking victims when comparing the age of victims, such as child victims versus adult victims.

No description available.