"Prelude to the School to Come. . ." Introduction to the Special Issue

First paragraph: In several interviews, Michel Foucault expressed a dislike of any polemics that insists on making those who disagree into enemies, silencing other possibilities by invoking an authority that undercuts the authority and right to speak of others. A problematisation, for Foucault, is the opposite of a polemic (see Foucault 1985). A problematisation raises questions; it focuses on the problem at hand rather than insisting on a party line. It takes risks, questions rights and disrupts legitimacy. Polemics often leads to an impasse, as polemicists focus on the consolidation of established truth claims or on negating the argument of their opponent. Problematization, however, can open up the potential for a rethinking of the very terms and grounds of argument, knowledge and understanding

Discourse and identity in a corpus of lesbian erotica

This article uses corpus linguistic methodologies to explore representations of lesbian desires and identities in a corpus of lesbian erotica from the 1980s and 1990s. We provide a critical examination of the ways in which “lesbian gender,” power, and desire are represented, (re-)produced, and enacted, often in ways that challenge hegemonic discourses of gender and sexuality. By examining word frequencies and collocations, we critically analyze some of the themes, processes, and patterns of representation in the texts. Although rooted in linguistics, we hope this article provides an accessible, interdisciplinary, and timely contribution toward developing understandings of discursive practices surrounding gender and sexuality

Performative embodiment and unravelling grandparent-grandchild relationships

This article seeks to intertwine women’s embodied experiences of wartime, dancing, and chronic illness. The author introduces “Granny” through the unraveling rhythms of grandparent–grandchild relationships. Through narrative poems, the author shares Granny’s dramatic stories of World War II. Bodies are socially and historically located, which therefore illuminates the ways in which her past is sedimented into her body and provides an understanding into the multi-layered ways her wartime, her performing bodily experiences, and asthma, encompass the past, the present, and the anticipated future. The author reflects on how some of these stories echo the breathless battle weary heroes referred to by Homer in the Illiad, which is where asthma can be traced back to

Seasonal variation in diagnosis of invasive cutaneous melanoma in Eastern England and Scotland.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, the incidence of cutaneous melanoma has been reported to be highest in the summer and lowest in the winter. Northern Irish data suggested seasonal variation for women only, especially those with thinner melanomas, sited on limbs. We interrogated two larger UK cancer registries for temporal differences in melanoma diagnosis and associated patient characteristics. METHODS: Melanomas diagnosed from 2006 to 2010 in the Eastern England and Scottish cancer registries (n=11,611) were analysed by month of diagnosis, patient demographics and melanoma characteristics, using descriptive and multivariate modelling methods. RESULTS: More patients with melanoma were diagnosed in the summer months (June 9.9%, July 9.7%, August 9.8%) than the winter months (December 7.2%, January 7.2%, February 7.1%) and this pattern was consistent in both regions. There was evidence that the seasonal patterns varied by sex (p=0.015), melanoma thickness (p=0.002), body site (p=0.006), and type (superficial spreading melanomas p=0.005). The seasonal variation was greatest for diagnosis of melanomas occurring on the limbs. CONCLUSION: This study has confirmed seasonal variation in melanoma diagnosis in Eastern England and Scotland across almost all population demographics and melanoma characteristics studied, with higher numbers diagnosed in the summer months, particularly on the limbs. Seasonal patterns in skin awareness and related help-seeking are likely to be implicated. Targeted patient interventions to increase sun awareness and encourage year-long skin inspection are warranted.The paper was materially supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR-CS-012-030), supporting FMW through a Clinician Scientist award. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health. During this project, GL was supported by a post-doctoral fellowship by the National Institute for Health Research (PDF-2011-04-047) to the end of 2014; and by a Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist Fellowship award (A18180) from March 2015.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2015.06.00

Enhanced cell deconvolution of peripheral blood using DNA methylation for high-resolution immune profiling

DNA methylation microarrays can be employed to interrogate cell-type composition in complex tissues. Here, we expand reference-based deconvolution of blood DNA methylation to include 12 leukocyte subtypes (neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes, naïve and memory B cells, naïve and memory CD4 + and CD8 + T cells, natural killer, and T regulatory cells). Including derived variables, our method provides 56 immune profile variables. The IDOL (IDentifying Optimal Libraries) algorithm was used to identify libraries for deconvolution of DNA methylation data for current and previous platforms. The accuracy of deconvolution estimates obtained using our enhanced libraries was validated using artificial mixtures and whole-blood DNA methylation with known cellular composition from flow cytometry. We applied our libraries to deconvolve cancer, aging, and autoimmune disease datasets. In conclusion, these libraries enable a detailed representation of immune-cell profiles in blood using only DNA and facilitate a standardized, thorough investigation of immune profiles in human health and disease

Causes of mortality and pathological lesions observed post-mortem in red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in Great Britain

Background: The red squirrel population in Great Britain has declined dramatically in recent decades, principally due to squirrelpox. Concern exists that red squirrels may become extinct nationally and, as there has been limited research in to diseases other than squirrelpox, this study aimed to identify additional causes of mortality. Results: Post-mortem examinations on 163 red squirrels found dead on Isle of Wight (IoW) England, in Scotland and at other locations in Great Britain showed that 41.7% (n = 68) were killed by road traffic and 9.2% (n = 15) by predators, principally domestic cats and dogs. The overall male/female ratio was 1.08/1. Fleas were recorded on 34.9% of IoW squirrels and on 43.8% of Scottish squirrels but sucking lice and ixodid ticks were only seen on Scottish squirrels. Bacterial infections were significant, particularly in association with respiratory disease (n = 16); two squirrels died of Bordetella bronchiseptica bronchopneumonia. Cases of fatal exudative dermatitis (n = 5) associated with a lukM-positive clone of Staphylococcus aureus occurred only on the IoW. Toxoplasmosis (n = 12) was also confined to IoW where it was responsible for almost one tenth (9.5%) of all deaths. Hepatozoonosis was common, especially in IoW squirrels, but was not considered a primary cause of mortality. Hepatic capillariasis affected four IoW squirrels and one from Scotland. Fungal infections included oral candidiasis, adiaspiromycosis and pulmonary phaeohyphomycosis. Neoplastic conditions diagnosed were: pulmonary carcinoma, gastric spindle cell tumour, renal papillary adenoma and trichoepithelioma. Epidermal hyperplasia of unknown aetiology was seen in squirrels showing crusty lesions of the ear pinnae on IoW (n = 3) and Brownsea Island (n = 1), associated in two cases with cutaneous wart-like growths. Miscellaneous diagnoses included chylothorax, electrocution, intussusception, suspected cholecalciferol rodenticide poisoning and foetal death and mummification. No cases of squirrelpox were diagnosed. Conclusions: Red squirrels in Britain suffer premature or unnatural mortality due to a number of conditions in addition to squirrelpox, many of which result, directly or indirectly, from human activities: road traffic trauma, pet predation, toxoplasmosis, trap injuries, rodenticide poisoning and electrocution accounted for 61% of all recorded mortality in this study. Red squirrels are also affected by several diseases of unknown aetiology which merit further research

Why do we need (another) special issue on gender and VET?

The Journal of Vocational Education and Training last had a special issue on gender and vocational education and training (VET) in 2006. In the intervening 8 years, the journal has published 264 research papers, of which just 10 - that is, less than 4% - addressed the issue of gender in any substantive way. This is something of a disappointment, as editors always hope that a special issue will provoke increased discussion and debate in the journal about its theme as well as providing a focused resource. Is the problem that, compared to the effects of global labour migration flows, constantly rising youth unemployment figures or emerging skills gaps in an aging society, gender issues have lost their relevance as just one category of social inequalities among many others? This can hardly be the case, since it is obviously a most thorough-going and persistent one. Despite over 30 years of gender studies, and numerous policy initiatives to address gender inequalities, gender segregation persists in VET as well as in the labour market. Women still earn less, hold the majority of part-time contracts, tend to be stereotyped into caring and personal service work, and are largely under-represented in leadership positions. Is the problem then that there is nothing new to be said about gender and VET? We do not agree that that is the case either: gender injustice remains a central issue in VET and the labour market; and as the social, political and economic landscape changes rapidly in today's world, it is inevitable that gender inequalities are produced and reproduced in new and different ways. So we felt the need to call once again for a collection of papers dedicated specifically to this topic, and one that would reflect this evolution

Recurrent mutation of IGF signalling genes and distinct patterns of genomic rearrangement in osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is a primary malignancy of bone that affects children and adults. Here, we present the largest sequencing study of osteosarcoma to date, comprising 112 childhood and adult tumours encompassing all major histological subtypes. A key finding of our study is the identification of mutations in insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signalling genes in 8/112 (7%) of cases. We validate this observation using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in an additional 87 osteosarcomas, with IGF1 receptor (IGF1R) amplification observed in 14% of tumours. These findings may inform patient selection in future trials of IGF1R inhibitors in osteosarcoma. Analysing patterns of mutation, we identify distinct rearrangement profiles including a process characterized by chromothripsis and amplification. This process operates recurrently at discrete genomic regions and generates driver mutations. It may represent an age-independent mutational mechanism that contributes to the development of osteosarcoma in children and adults alike