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We formulate a general Kuramoto model on weighted simplicial complexes where phases oscillators are supported on simplices of any order $k$. Crucially, we introduce linear and non-linear frustration terms that are independent of the orientation of the $k+1$ simplices, providing a natural generalization of the Sakaguchi-Kuramoto model. In turn, this provides a generalized formulation of the Kuramoto higher-order parameter as a potential function to write the dynamics as a gradient flow. With a selection of simplicial complexes of increasingly complex structure, we study the properties of the dynamics of the simplicial Sakaguchi-Kuramoto model with oscillators on edges to highlight the complexity of dynamical behaviors emerging from even simple simplicial complexes. We place ourselves in the case where the vector of internal frequencies of the edge oscillators lies in the kernel of the Hodge Laplacian, or vanishing linear frustration, and, using the Hodge decomposition of the solution, we understand how the nonlinear frustration couples the dynamics in orthogonal subspaces. We discover various dynamical phenomena, such as the partial loss of synchronization in subspaces aligned with the Hodge subspaces and the emergence of simplicial phase re-locking in regimes of high frustration.

Aberrant neural oscillations hallmark numerous brain disorders. Here, we first report a method to track the phase of neural oscillations in real-time via endpoint-corrected Hilbert transform (ecHT) that mitigates the characteristic Gibbs distortion. We then used ecHT to show that the aberrant neural oscillation that hallmarks essential tremor (ET) syndrome, the most common adult movement disorder, can be noninvasively suppressed via electrical stimulation of the cerebellum phase-locked to the tremor. The tremor suppression is sustained after the end of the stimulation and can be phenomenologically predicted. Finally, using feature-based statistical-learning and neurophysiological-modelling we show that the suppression of ET is mechanistically attributed to a disruption of the temporal coherence of the oscillation via perturbation of the tremor generating a cascade of synchronous activity in the olivocerebellar loop. The suppression of aberrant neural oscillation via phase-locked driven disruption of temporal coherence may represent a powerful neuromodulatory strategy to treat brain disorders.

In this paper I discuss the strategies developed by the Liverpool Regional Museum in conjunction with the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, to engage with the diverse communities of their region. The case studies analysed offer specific, localised inflections of issues that arose from trading in cultural difference. I suggest that some of the strategies developed by the Museum to assist in the trade of cultural difference include: - Prioritising diversity in the Business Plan and Museum policies; - Establishing community cultural development (ccd) processes for exhibitions; - Exhibiting Aboriginal and established non-Aboriginal histories in the region as well as showcasing emerging communities on a community-by-community basis; - Encouraging cross-cultural links; and - Initiating and developing intercultural projects where the dominant histories presented embrace a variety of groups including those historically marginalized because of issues such as gender, religion, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability or class. Driving the development of these curatorial strategies was the need to both represent diversity and facilitate self-representation. Self-representation by communities did not automatically mean diversity was engaged with, given the various asymmetrical power relations at play. The interaction between the Museum and the communities in negotiating this dual discursive, resulted in what I term the co-representation of exhibitions. Co-representation acknowledges that complex interactions between museums and communities take place which affect the development and outcome of exhibitions.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Australia had the world’s first gay film festival at the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op in June 1976, part of a larger commemoration of the Stonewall Riots in New York City of 1969. In 1994, South Africa became the first country in the world to prohibit discrimination in its constitution on the basis of sexual orientation, whilst allowing for positive discrimination to benefit persons disadvantaged by unfair discrimination. South Africa and Australia, both ex-British colonies, are used in this analysis to explore the way local Queer Cinematic Cultures have negotiated and continue to negotiate dominant social forces in post-colonial settings. It is rare to have analyses of Queer Cinematic Cultures and even rarer to have texts dealing with cultures outside those of Euro-America. This study offers a unique window into the formations of Queer Cinematic Cultures of two nations of the ‘South’. It reveals important new information on how sexual minorities from nations outside the Euro-American sphere have dealt with and continue to deal with longstanding Queer cinematic oppressions. A pro-active relationship between Queer representation in film and social-political action is considered by academics such as Dennis Altman to be essential for significant social and judicial change. The existence of Queer and other independent films in Sydney from the 1960s onward, impacted directly on sexuality, race and gender activism. In South Africa, the first major Queer film festival, The Out In Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 1994, was instrumental in developing and maintaining a post-Apartheid Queer public sphere which fostered further legal change. Given the significant histories of activism through Queer Cinematic Cultures in both Australia and South Africa, I propose in this thesis the existence of a new genus of cinema, which I term Fifth Cinema. Fifth Cinema includes Feminist Cinema, Queer Cinema and Immigrant/Multicultural Cinema and deals with the oppressions which cultures engage with within their own cultural boundaries. It can be informed by First Cinema (classical, Hollywood), Second Cinema (Art House or dual national cinemas), Third and Fourth Cinema (cinemas dealing with the decolonisation of Third World and Fourth World people), but it develops its unique characteristics by countering internal cultural colonisation. Fifth Cinema functions as a heterognosis, where multi-dimensional representations around sexuality, race and gender are used to assist in broader cultural liberation.