Mussafirs of the 21st Century: British South Asian Muslim women, higher education and the changing notions of ‘Britishness’

The South Asian Muslim community in Britain is one that has become increasingly ‘visible’ with what it means to be ‘British Muslim’ remaining a pertinent issue. Given that the British South Asian community is set to grow, it is necessary to engage with this community in order to understand how discourses around gender, ethnicity and identity affect how this community develops. The aim of this research was to engage with specific members of the British South Asian Muslim community, that of women and mothers. In undertaking this research aspects of identity, belonging and citizenship were explored, with particular emphasis placed on discourses around ‘identity’. Drawing on narratives expressed in focus groups and interviews this research analysed and explored the influences of higher education in shaping attitudes towards citizenship and belonging. Higher education was revealed to have a positive impact on Muslim women’s’ lives, whilst identities and the notions of ‘Britishness’ were increasingly areas of intense negotiation

‘Why has this guy got his foot in the sink?’: challenges, encounters and everyday geographies of practicing wudu

Wudu, an ablution performed (often multiple times) daily which is integral to the spiritual lives of many, has been somewhat neglected from the analysis of the everyday experiences and geographies of Muslims. The lack of general and academic knowledge around this practice can lead to misunderstandings amongst non-Muslims which may reinforce negative attitudes towards the Muslim population. This paper draws on questionnaires and interviews with Muslims, chaplains and organizations to explore the experience of wudu in public spaces such as educational institutions. It explores the experience of performing wudu in public spaces and contributes to existing Muslim geographies in three crucial ways. Firstly, it examines how wudu ablution can destabilize existing social relations. As an often-hidden act in which Muslims tactically use secular spaces for religious purposes, wudu refracts social anxiety and alienation into discourses of etiquette and the messiness of spaces. Secondly, it identifies the challenges related to performing wudu in public within dominant hegemonies of secular and non-Muslim spaces. Finally, the paper considers how the recent COVID-19 pandemic has modified and reinforced the meanings and experiences of wudu amongst its participants

Cosmological solutions with charged black holes

RB aknowledges support from the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan, which provided funding to visit QMUL while this work was performed. TC and JD are supported by the STFC

Effects of antibiotic resistance, drug target attainment, bacterial pathogenicity and virulence, and antibiotic access and affordability on outcomes in neonatal sepsis: an international microbiology and drug evaluation prospective substudy (BARNARDS)

Background Sepsis is a major contributor to neonatal mortality, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). WHO advocates ampicillin–gentamicin as first-line therapy for the management of neonatal sepsis. In the BARNARDS observational cohort study of neonatal sepsis and antimicrobial resistance in LMICs, common sepsis pathogens were characterised via whole genome sequencing (WGS) and antimicrobial resistance profiles. In this substudy of BARNARDS, we aimed to assess the use and efficacy of empirical antibiotic therapies commonly used in LMICs for neonatal sepsis. Methods In BARNARDS, consenting mother–neonates aged 0–60 days dyads were enrolled on delivery or neonatal presentation with suspected sepsis at 12 BARNARDS clinical sites in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa. Stillborn babies were excluded from the study. Blood samples were collected from neonates presenting with clinical signs of sepsis, and WGS and minimum inhibitory concentrations for antibiotic treatment were determined for bacterial isolates from culture-confirmed sepsis. Neonatal outcome data were collected following enrolment until 60 days of life. Antibiotic usage and neonatal outcome data were assessed. Survival analyses were adjusted to take into account potential clinical confounding variables related to the birth and pathogen. Additionally, resistance profiles, pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic probability of target attainment, and frequency of resistance (ie, resistance defined by in-vitro growth of isolates when challenged by antibiotics) were assessed. Questionnaires on health structures and antibiotic costs evaluated accessibility and affordability. Findings Between Nov 12, 2015, and Feb 1, 2018, 36 285 neonates were enrolled into the main BARNARDS study, of whom 9874 had clinically diagnosed sepsis and 5749 had available antibiotic data. The four most commonly prescribed antibiotic combinations given to 4451 neonates (77·42%) of 5749 were ampicillin–gentamicin, ceftazidime–amikacin, piperacillin–tazobactam–amikacin, and amoxicillin clavulanate–amikacin. This dataset assessed 476 prescriptions for 442 neonates treated with one of these antibiotic combinations with WGS data (all BARNARDS countries were represented in this subset except India). Multiple pathogens were isolated, totalling 457 isolates. Reported mortality was lower for neonates treated with ceftazidime–amikacin than for neonates treated with ampicillin–gentamicin (hazard ratio [adjusted for clinical variables considered potential confounders to outcomes] 0·32, 95% CI 0·14–0·72; p=0·0060). Of 390 Gram-negative isolates, 379 (97·2%) were resistant to ampicillin and 274 (70·3%) were resistant to gentamicin. Susceptibility of Gram-negative isolates to at least one antibiotic in a treatment combination was noted in 111 (28·5%) to ampicillin–gentamicin; 286 (73·3%) to amoxicillin clavulanate–amikacin; 301 (77·2%) to ceftazidime–amikacin; and 312 (80·0%) to piperacillin–tazobactam–amikacin. A probability of target attainment of 80% or more was noted in 26 neonates (33·7% [SD 0·59]) of 78 with ampicillin–gentamicin; 15 (68·0% [3·84]) of 27 with amoxicillin clavulanate–amikacin; 93 (92·7% [0·24]) of 109 with ceftazidime–amikacin; and 70 (85·3% [0·47]) of 76 with piperacillin–tazobactam–amikacin. However, antibiotic and country effects could not be distinguished. Frequency of resistance was recorded most frequently with fosfomycin (in 78 isolates [68·4%] of 114), followed by colistin (55 isolates [57·3%] of 96), and gentamicin (62 isolates [53·0%] of 117). Sites in six of the seven countries (excluding South Africa) stated that the cost of antibiotics would influence treatment of neonatal sepsis

Solution of the Einstein-Maxwell Equations with Anisotropic Negative Pressure as a Potential Model of a Dark Energy Star

We have obtained a new class of solutions for the Einstein-Maxwell field equations for static spherically symmetric spacetimes by considering the negative anisotropic pressures, which represents a potential model of a dark energy star. We take the equation of state pr = −ρ, where pr is the radial pressure and ρ is the density. We have also checked that for these solutions metric coefficients, mass density, radial pressure, transverse pressure, electric field, and current density are well defined for suitable values of the parameters involved in the solution. These exact solutions can be used to develop models of dark energy stellar interiors satisfying all physical constraints except for the causality condition, which cannot be satisfied for the equation of state considered here, and which is arguably not an applicable physical constraint for dark matter/energy.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS IN ADOLESCENTS PRESENTING WITH EXTERNALIZING BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS

The aim of this research was to assess impact of cognitive distortions, gender and age on presenting complaints of externalizing behavioural problems as assessed through How I Think Questionnaire,  and Youth Self Report respectively. A group of adolescents (n = 1258) were initially screened for presentation of problematic behaviours from colleges of Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Attock District of Pakistan. Result Analysis revealed that 17.17% (216/1258) scored high on self-centred;13.83 %( 174/1258) on Blaming others subscale; 11.48 % (148/1258) on the “assuming the worst” subscale and 14.1% in the minimizing/ mislabelling subscale in terms of cognitive distortions in adolescents presenting with behavioural problems. Gender difference analysis in terms of cognitive distortions revealed that males had higher mean scores on the HIT (M = 2.64, SD = 0.52) as compared to females (M = 2.41, SD = 0.53), d = .23.   Multiple analysis of variance however, indicated that gender, age, and cognitive distortions were significantly predictive of behavioural symptoms