The everyday experience of xenophobia: performing The Crossing from Zimbabwe to South Africa

Debates on the underlying causes of xenophobia in South Africa have proliferated since the attacks -between March and May 2008. Our article shows how exploring the everyday 'ordinariness' of xenophobia as performance can contribute additional insights not readily available in the public media or in works such as the recently published Go home or die here.- violence, xenophobia and the reinvention of difference (Hassim et al. 2009). The claim that as metaphor the meaning of performance is discovered in the dialectic established between the fictitious and actual context, provides a point of departure for a discussion of an autobiographical one-man play, The Crossing, in which Jonathan Nkala performs .his hazardous and 'illegal' rites of passage from Zimbabwe to South Africa. The play's aesthetic of 'witnessing', associated with the protest generation, intersects with and looks beyond a post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) aesthetic. To contextualise our discussion of Nkala's work we track trends in responses to xenophobia, including the suggestion that the attacks were underpinned by prevailing discourses of exceptianaJism and indigeneity. However, the intimacy of targeting those living close to you needs fuller anatysis. We will argue that the liminality of the performance event provides scope for making connections not directly 'there' at the moment of performance. This has a bearing on the 'return' to Fanon and claims about 'negrophobia' characterising many reports in the public domain on the events of 2008. In turn, this invites speculation about the re-alignments indicated here.DHE

Cooking and Meal Planning as Predictors of Fruit and Vegetable Intake and BMI in First-Year College Students

The objective was to determine if cooking skills and meal planning behaviors are associated with greater fruit and vegetable intake and lower body mass index (BMI) in first-year college students who are at risk for excessive weight gain. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using baseline data from a multi-state research project aimed at preventing weight gain in first-year college students. Cooking type, frequency and confidence, self-instruction for healthful mealtime behavior intention, self-regulation of healthful mealtime behavior, and cup equivalents of fruits and vegetables (FV) were measured using validated surveys. BMI was calculated from measured height and weight. First-year students (n = 1108) considered at risk for weight gain from eight universities completed baseline assessments within the first month of entering college. Multiple linear regression was used to determine associations among independent variables of cooking patterns, meal planning behaviors, and dependent variables of fruit and vegetable intake and BMI, after controlling for the influence of sex. Cooking more frequently, cooking with greater skills, and practicing meal planning behaviors are associated with greater fruit and vegetable intake and lower BMI in first-year college students. Interventions aimed at improving health in college students may be enhanced by incorporating cooking and meal planning components

XPS characterization of (copper-based) coloured stains formed on limestone surfaces of outdoor Roman monuments

Limestone basements holding bronzes or other copper alloys artefacts such as sculptures, decorations and dedicatory inscriptions are frequently met both in modern and ancient monuments. In outdoor conditions, such a combination implies the corrosion products of the copper based alloy, directly exposed to rainwater, will be drained off and migrate through the porous surfaces, forming stains of different colours and intensities, finally causing the limestone structures to deteriorate

An Evolutionary Approach to Class Disjointness Axiom Discovery

International audienceAxiom learning is an essential task in enhancing the quality of an ontology, a task that sometimes goes under the name of ontology enrichment. To overcome some limitations of recent work and to contribute to the growing library of ontology learning algorithms, we propose an evolutionary approach to automatically discover axioms from the abundant RDF data resource of the Semantic Web. We describe a method applying an instance of an Evolutionary Algorithm, namely Grammatical Evolution, to the acquisition of OWL class dis-jointness axioms, one important type of OWL axioms which makes it possible to detect logical inconsistencies and infer implicit information from a knowledge base. The proposed method uses an axiom scoring function based on possibility theory and is evaluated against a Gold Standard, manually constructed by knowledge engineers. Experimental results show that the given method possesses high accuracy and good coverage

Rivaroxaban compared to no treatment in ER-negative stage I–III early breast cancer patients (the TIP Trial): study protocol for a phase II preoperative window-of-opportunity study design randomised controlled trial

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-04-28, registration 2020-08-12, accepted 2020-08-12, pub-electronic 2020-08-27, online 2020-08-27, collection 2020-12Publication status: PublishedFunder: National Institute for Health Research; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000272; Grant(s): NIHR CS-11-014Abstract: Background: Breast cancer patients are at a four-fold increased risk of developing a venous thromboembolism (VTE), a major cause of death in this group. Conversely, coagulation factors promote tumour growth and metastasis. This has been evidenced in preclinical models, with an inhibitory effect of anticoagulants on cancer growth through proliferative, angiogenic, apoptotic, cancer stem cell and metastatic processes. The extrinsic clotting pathway is also more upregulated in patients in the relatively poorer prognosis oestrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer subgroup, with increased tumour stromal expression of the coagulation factors Tissue Factor and thrombin. Rivaroxaban (Xarelto®, Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany) is a direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC). It is a Factor Xa inhibitor that is routinely prescribed for the prevention of stroke in non-valvular atrial fibrillation and for both VTE prophylaxis and treatment. This trial will assess the anti-proliferative and other anti-cancer progression mechanisms of Rivaroxaban in ER-negative early breast cancer patients. Methods: This UK-based preoperative window-of-opportunity phase II randomised control trial will randomise 88 treatment-naïve early breast cancer patients to receive 20 mg OD Rivaroxaban treatment for 11 to 17 days or no treatment. Treatment will be stopped 24 h (range 18–36 h) prior to surgery or repeat core biopsy. All patients will be followed up for 2 weeks following surgery or repeat core biopsy. The primary endpoint is change in tumour Ki67. Secondary outcome measures include tumour markers of apoptosis and angiogenesis, extrinsic clotting pathway activation and systemic markers of metastasis, tumour load and coagulation. Discussion: Laboratory evidence supports an anti-cancer role for anticoagulants; however, this has failed to translate into survival benefit when trialled in patients with metastatic disease or poor prognosis cancers, such as lung cancer. Subgroup analysis supported a potential survival benefit in better prognosis advanced disease patients. This is the first study to investigate the anti-cancer effects of anticoagulants in early breast cancer. Trial registration: UK National Research Ethics Service (NRES) approval 15/NW/0406, MHRA Clinical Trials Authorisation 48380/0003/001-0001. The sponsor is Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, and the trial is co-ordinated by Cancer Research UK Liverpool Cancer Trials Unit (LCTU). EudraCT 2014-004909-33, registered 27 July 2015. ISRCTN14785273

A New Euler's Formula for DNA Polyhedra

DNA polyhedra are cage-like architectures based on interlocked and interlinked DNA strands. We propose a formula which unites the basic features of these entangled structures. It is based on the transformation of the DNA polyhedral links into Seifert surfaces, which removes all knots. The numbers of components , of crossings , and of Seifert circles are related by a simple and elegant formula: . This formula connects the topological aspects of the DNA cage to the Euler characteristic of the underlying polyhedron. It implies that Seifert circles can be used as effective topological indices to describe polyhedral links. Our study demonstrates that, the new Euler's formula provides a theoretical framework for the stereo-chemistry of DNA polyhedra, which can characterize enzymatic transformations of DNA and be used to characterize and design novel cages with higher genus

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in schizophrenia resistant to clozapine: a double blind randomised placebo controlled trial targeting negative symptoms

BACKGROUND: Clozapine is an effective treatment for a proportion of people with schizophrenia (SZ) who are resistant to the beneficial effects of other antipsychotic drugs. However, anything from 40-60&nbsp;% of people on clozapine experience residual symptoms even on adequate doses of the medication, and thus could be considered \u27clozapine resistant\u27. Agents that could work alongside clozapine to improve efficacy whilst not increasing the adverse effect burden are both desired and necessary to improve the lives of individuals with clozapine-resistant SZ. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) is one such possible agent. Previous research from our research group provided promising pilot data suggesting the efficacy of NAC in this patient population. The aim of the study reported here is to expand this work by conducting a large scale clinical trial of NAC in the treatment of clozapine-resistant SZ. METHODS: This study is an investigator initiated, multi-site, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. It aims to include 168 patients with clozapine-resistant SZ, divided into an intervention group (NAC) and a control group (placebo). Participants in the intervention group will receive 2&nbsp;g daily of NAC. The primary outcome measures will be the negative symptom scores of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Secondary outcome measures will include: changes in quality of life (QoL) as measured by the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile (LQoLP) and cognitive functioning as measured by the total score on the MATRICS. Additionally we will examine peripheral and cortical glutathione (GSH) concentrations as process outcomes. DISCUSSION: This large scale clinical trial will investigate the efficacy of NAC as an adjunctive medication to clozapine. This trial, if successful, will establish a cheap, safe and easy-to-use agent (NAC) as a \u27go to\u27 adjunct in patients that are only partly responsive to clozapine.<br /

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin