English in the prison services: a case of breaking the law?

In this paper we report on an investigation into the use of English in a prison in the Eastern Cape Province, run by the Department of Correctional Services (CS) five years after the declaration of an official multilingual policy. The investigation consisted of a range of interviews and observations in this institution, aimed at establishing the extent to which the national language policy is actually being implemented on the ground. Findings suggest that the use of English predominates in the high, official domains, that there is a marked avoidance of Afrikaans, and that Xhosa, the main language of the Eastern Cape Province, increasingly occupies the lower, unofficial domains. Tensions between policy and practice are discussed, and it is argued that the CS has shown that pragmatism is a much stronger force than ideology. While the roles of Xhosa and Afrikaans appear to be in the process of reversing in the Grahamstown prison, English has emerged as stronger there than it has ever been before. And because it will continue to be a necessary prerequisite for the mobility and promotion of staff in the country as a whole, and the lingua franca for an increasingly mobile criminal population (which means the prisons are likely to become increasingly linguistically diverse, rather than settling into regional patterns), everyone will have to have some proficiency in English, which, ironically, will promote and strengthen it even more

Pre-emigration reflections : Afrikaans speakers moving to New Zealand

This article reports on the pre-emigration reflections of 15 Afrikaans speakers, all of whom were in the final stages of preparing to emigrate to New Zealand. The study explores the linguistic histories of the participants, their attitudes to their mother tongue (Afrikaans) and to English, and their views on South Africa's language policy and how it has influenced their decisions to leave the country. The paper also offers a view on possible long-term linguistic outcomes for these families

Genetic overlap and causal associations between smoking behaviours and mental health

Cigarette smoking is a modifiable behaviour associated with mental health. We investigated the degree of genetic overlap between smoking behaviours and psychiatric traits and disorders, and whether genetic associations exist beyond genetic influences shared with confounding variables (cannabis and alcohol use, risk-taking and insomnia). Second, we investigated the presence of causal associations between smoking initiation and psychiatric traits and disorders. We found significant genetic correlations between smoking and psychiatric disorders and adult psychotic experiences. When genetic influences on known covariates were controlled for, genetic associations between most smoking behaviours and schizophrenia and depression endured (but not with bipolar disorder or most psychotic experiences). Mendelian randomization results supported a causal role of smoking initiation on psychiatric disorders and adolescent cognitive and negative psychotic experiences, although not consistently across all sensitivity analyses. In conclusion, smoking and psychiatric disorders share genetic influences that cannot be attributed to covariates such as risk-taking, insomnia or other substance use. As such, there may be some common genetic pathways underlying smoking and psychiatric disorders. In addition, smoking may play a causal role in vulnerability for mental illness

Interleukin‐12p70-dependent interferon‐γ production is crucial for resistance in African trypanosomiasis

African trypanosomiasis encompasses diseases caused by pathogenic trypanosomes, infecting both humans and animals. In the present article, we dissected the possible role of members of the interleukin ( IL)-12 family during infection with Trypanosoma brucei brucei and Trypanosoma evansi in mice. IL-12p35(-/-) , IL-12p40(-/-) , and IL-12p35(-/-)/p40(-/-) mice were susceptible to both pathogens, as was demonstrated by the increased mortality among these mice, compared with wild-type C57BL/6 mice. The different IL-12p70(-/-) mouse strains showed similar mortality kinetics, suggesting that IL-12p70 - but not the IL-12p80 homodimer or IL-23 plays a crucial role in survival. Although there were similar plasma levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG2a in IL-12-deficient mice and wild-type mice, interferon (IFN) - g production, especially during early infection, was severely impaired in all IL-12p70(-/-) mouse strains, demonstrating an IL-12p70 - dependent mechanism for IFN-gamma production. Because IFN-gamma receptor-deficient mice (IFN-gamma R-/(-)) were also highly susceptible to both Trypanosoma species, IL-12p70 - dependent IFN-gamma production seems to be the important mechanism involved in resistance against both pathogens

Pre-emigration reflections : Afrikaans speakers moving to New Zealand

This article reports on the pre-emigration reflections of 15 Afrikaans speakers, all of whom were in the final stages of preparing to emigrate to New Zealand. The study explores the linguistic histories of the participants, their attitudes to their mother tongue (Afrikaans) and to English, and their views on South Africa's language policy and how it has influenced their decisions to leave the country. The paper also offers a view on possible long-term linguistic outcomes for these families

Clinical Implications of Epigenetic Dysregulation in Perinatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Damage

Placental and fetal hypoxia caused by perinatal hypoxic-ischemic events are major causes of stillbirth, neonatal morbidity, and long-term neurological sequelae among surviving neonates. Brain hypoxia and associated pathological processes such as excitotoxicity, apoptosis, necrosis, and inflammation, are associated with lasting disruptions in epigenetic control of gene expression contributing to neurological dysfunction. Recent studies have pointed to DNA (de)methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNAs as crucial components of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). The understanding of epigenetic dysregulation in HIE is essential in the development of new clinical interventions for perinatal HIE. Here, we summarize our current understanding of epigenetic mechanisms underlying the molecular pathology of HI brain damage and its clinical implications in terms of new diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic tools.Fil: Bustelo, Martí. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Maastricht University Medical Center; Países Bajos. Universidad Católica de Cuyo - Sede San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Barkhuizen, Melinda. Maastricht University Medical Center; Países BajosFil: van den Hove, Daniel L. A.. Universiteit Maastricht.; Países BajosFil: Steinbusch, Harry Wilhelm. M.. Universiteit Maastricht.; Países BajosFil: Bruno, Martin. Universidad Católica de Cuyo - Sede San Juan; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Loidl, Cesar Fabian. Universidad Catolica de Cuyo - Sede San Luis; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: Gavilanes, Antonio W. Danilo. Maastricht University Medical Cente; Países Bajo

Examining intergenerational risk factors for conduct problems using polygenic scores in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study

The aetiology of conduct problems involves a combination of genetic and environmental factors, many of which are inherently linked to parental characteristics given parents' central role in children's lives across development. It is important to disentangle to what extent links between parental heritable characteristics and children's behaviour are due to transmission of genetic risk or due to parental indirect genetic influences via the environment (i.e., genetic nurture). We used 31,290 genotyped mother-father-child trios from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), testing genetic transmission and genetic nurture effects on conduct problems using 13 polygenic scores (PGS) spanning psychiatric conditions, substance use, education-related factors, and other risk factors. Maternal or self-reports of conduct problems at ages 8 and 14 years were available for up to 15,477 children. We found significant genetic transmission effects on conduct problems for 12 out of 13 PGS at age 8 years (strongest association: PGS for smoking, β = 0.07, 95% confidence interval = [0.05, 0.08]) and for 4 out of 13 PGS at age 14 years (strongest association: PGS for externalising problems, β = 0.08, 95% confidence interval = [0.05, 0.11]). Conversely, we did not find genetic nurture effects for conduct problems using our selection of PGS. Our findings provide evidence for genetic transmission in the association between parental characteristics and child conduct problems. Our results may also indicate that genetic nurture via traits indexed by our polygenic scores is of limited aetiological importance for conduct problems-though effects of small magnitude or effects via parental traits not captured by the included PGS remain a possibility

Rapid, progressive neuropathic arthropathy of the hip in a patient co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C virus and tertiary syphilis: case report

BACKGROUND: Syphilis is a chronic infection that is classified into three stages. In its tertiary stage, syphilis spreads to the brain, heart and other organs; the lesions may involve the skin, mucous membranes and bones. Neuropathic arthropathy associated with tertiary syphilis has rarely been described in Europe and its association with HIV-HCV co-infection has not been reported so far.This article reports the case of a man with tertiary syphilis presenting with rapidly evolving neuropathic arthropathy of the hip and extensive bone destruction. CASE PRESENTATION: On initial presentation, the patient complained of progressively worsening left-sided coxalgia without localized or generalized inflammation. The patient reported to have no history of previous infections, trauma or cancer. Plain x-ray films of the left coxofemoral joint showed marked degeneration with necrosis of the proximal epiphysis of femur and morphological alterations of the acetabulum without protrusion. Primary coxarthrosis was diagnosed and hip arthroplasty was offered, but the patient declined treatment. Three months later, the patient presented a marked deterioration of his general condition. He disclosed that he was seropositive for HCV and HIV, as confirmed by serology. Syphilis serology testing was also positive. A Girdlestone's procedure was performed and samples were collected for routine cultures for bacteria and acid fast bacilli, all resulting negative.Although histological findings were inconclusive, confirmed positive serology for syphilis associated with progressive arthropathy was strongly suggestive of tertiary syphilis, probably exacerbated by HIV-HCV co-infection. The patient partially recovered the ability to walk. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the resurgence of syphilis, this disease should be considered as a possible cause of neuropathic arthropathy when other infectious causes have been ruled out, particularly in patients with HIV and/or HCV co-infection