Secondary education reform in Lesotho and Zimbabwe and the needs of rural girls: Pronouncements, policy and practice

Analysis of the educational needs of rural girls in Lesotho and Zimbabwe suggests a number of shortcomings in the current form of secondary education, and ways in which it might be modified so as to serve this sizeable group of students better. Several of the shortcomings, notably in relation to curricular irrelevance and excessive focus on examinations, have long been recognised, including by politicians. Yet political pronouncements are seldom translated into policy, and even where policy is formulated, reforms are seldom implemented in schools. This paper makes use of interviews with educational decision-makers in the two southern African countries and a range of documentary sources to explore why, despite the considerable differences between the two contexts, much needed educational reforms have been implemented in neither

The Nationalist movement in Zimbabwe A critique with special emphasis on the period 1975-1980

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D39730/82 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Religion, spirituality, and health care: Social, ethical, and practical considerations

The public has shown increasing interest in the interplay of religion, spirituality, and health, but many physicians are either openly skeptical or unsure how best to respond. Religion and medicine were once closely linked, but spiritual concerns have come to be seen as obstacles to scientific progress or, at best, sentimental attachments of little real value in the battle with disease. As a result, many patients and their families have been cut off from a vast storehouse of wisdom, and many physicians complain of being isolated and overburdened with intractable human dilemmas. Although it is crucial that spirituality and religious faith not be reduced to therapeutic nostrums, an emerging literature has demonstrated a salutary impact of religious belief and practice on patient well-being. Further, if spirituality is seen as the search for transcendent meaning, then all human beings, secular or religious, grapple with spiritual questions. Serious illness can therefore be viewed as both a biologic fact and a spiritual challenge for all patients. Physicians need to learn to be open to discussing spiritual concerns with their patients; to addressing these issues in a respectful, careful and professional way; and to knowing how and when to refer patients to other members of the health care team for spiritual support. Perhaps most important, if to care for a person one must first learn to be a person, physicians may wish to cultivate and deepen their own spiritual lives. © 2001 by Excerpta Medica, Inc

Large-Scale Screening and Molecular Characterization of EML4-ALK Fusion Variants in Archival Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Tumor Specimens Using Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Assays

Introduction: The objective of this study was to identify and characterize echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 anaplastic lymphoma kinase fusion (EML4-ALK+) cancers by variant-specific, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays in a large cohort of North American non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods: We developed a panel of single and multiplex RT-PCR assays suitable for rapid and accurate detection of the eight most common EML4-ALK+ variants and ALK gene expression in archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded NSCLC specimens. EGFR and KRAS genotyping and thymidylate synthase RNA level by RT-PCR assays were available in a subset of patients. Results: Between December 2009 and September 2012, 7344 NSCLC specimens were tested. An EML4-ALK+ transcript was detected in 200 cases (2.7%), including 109 V1 (54.5%), 20 V2 (10.0%), 68 V3 (34.0%), and three V5a (1.5%) variants. Median age was 54.5 years (range, 23-89), and 104 patients (52.0%) were women. The great majority (n=188, 94.0%) of EML4-ALK+ NSCLC tumors had adenocarcinoma histology. ALK expression level varied significantly among different EML4-ALK+ variants and individual tumors. Only one case each of concurrent EGFR or KRAS mutation was detected. The median thymidylate synthase RNA level from 85 EML4-ALK+ cancers was significantly lower compared with that of EML4-ALK-negative lung adenocarcinomas (2.02 versus 3.29, respectively, p<0.001). Conclusions: This panel of variant-specific, quantitative RT-PCR assays detects common EML4-ALK+ variants as well as ALK gene expression level in archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded NSCLC specimens. These RT-PCR assays may be useful as an adjunct to the standard fluorescence in situ hybridization assay to better understand biologic variability and response patterns to anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitors