Permissibility of organ donation in Islam - The opinion of lay Muslims in Britain

This Masters thesis follows on from the 2019/20 undergraduate research dissertation by the same author which documented the interview responses of non-scholarly (lay) Muslims in relation to their opinions about the permissibility of organ donation in Islam. The undergraduate primary research study findings broadly concluded that Muslims in Britain are grappling with their positionality regarding the permissibility of posthumous organ donation because there is an absence of absolute divine decree from the Qur’an and Sunnah. There is however a spectrum of permissibility in Islam derived from the Qur’an and Sunnah based on methodological reasoning within the scholarly Sharia framework as expressed by numerous scholars. Thus, theological, social, and ethical debates amongst Muslims were commonplace with the advent of the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019, which came into effect in England in May 2020. The study found that at individual level, Muslims face multifaceted forums of theological discourse ranging from the opinions of known scholars, respected elders, their own interpretation of ancient scholarly text and a booming global online community of scholars and commentators, which is why lay Muslims were inclined to opt out of deemed consent. The discussion is pertinent because British Muslims are disproportionately represented through Black, Asian, and other Minority Ethnic (BME) people, who are under-represented organ donors. According to 2019 NHS statistics; 408 patients needing an organ transplant died while awaiting a suitable donor. In this ethnographical research, volunteer participants from multi-generational households are interviewed about their views on posthumous organ donation in Islam. The study highlights intergenerational trends between three generations of mainly labour migrants owing to the demography of those participants who volunteered to take park in this study. This primary research demonstrates a paradigm of moral dilemmas; adherence to customary practice vis-à-vis making informed choices while achieving sharia (doctrinal legal) compliance. This deeply contextual analysis considers the esoteric through societal discourse to develop an understanding of the ethical deliberations for Muslims in Britain who are straddling between cultures and interpretations of religious text

Análisis musical y contextual de los Sikuris de la Ciudad de Yunguyo

El presente trabajo aborda el sikuris de la ciudad de Yunguyo en su contexto considerando el análisis musical a partir de sus elementos e indicadores como son: el timbre en los fragmentos musicales de los sikuris (basto, malta y chili), la orquestación, que tienen por lo general la misma distribución instrumental, es decir compuestas por sikus chilis (arca e ira), maltas (arca e ira), bastos (arca e ira), bombo, platillos y tambor; la tesitura-afinación de los sikuris generalmente están en la tonalidad de Solb Mayor, las composiciones musicales tienen un ritmo irregular, el tempo es variado, mantienen una sola estructura formal como parte de su tradición, estableciéndose preguntas y respuesta afirmativas, la armonía de los sikuris de la ciudad de Yunguyo se distinguen dos partes: una región menor y una región mayor, interpretados a intervalos de octavas paralelas, por otro lado, la orientación dinámica de los conjuntos musicales coincide con los reguladores. Destaca en los conjuntos musicales la variedad rítmica que esta relacionado con la coreografía de la danza, así mismo, la aplicación de variaciones musicales en función a la marcha. Se ejecutan generalmente: introducción del huayño, huayño, marcha, variaciones de la marcha, en contadas ocasiones temas alusivos a la procesión y la festividad religiosa de San Francisco de Borja.Tesi

SUPERMAT – A virtual center for sustainable development of advanced materials operating under extreme conditions

The expertise, main experimental facilities and some selected results of the EU SUPERMAT Consortium are described, showing the importance of integrating modelling and simulation, fast sintering and coating technologies and specific characterisation techniques for obtaining high temperature ceramics, oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels or Li-ion batteries with controlled properties for extreme environmental applications

Etude de vitrocéramiques optiques pour le doublement de fréquence

Le développement des lasers de puissance engendre un intérêt pour la recherche de matériaux présentant des propriétés optiques non linéaires (ONL). Les matériaux vitreux sont de très bons candidats puisqu ils peuvent être transparents et élaborés en grandes dimensions. La précipitation de particules non centro-symétrique dans un verre permet d engendrer cette propriété en volume, et d ingérer facilement ce matériau dans les dispositifs lasers. Dans ce contexte, cette thèse présente les résultats obtenus sur la précipitation de la phase LiNO3 dans la matrice vitreuse 35 Li2O- 25 Nb2O5- 40 SiO2. Le mécanisme de cristallisation de cette phase est étudié par analyse thermique, imagerie optique et électronique ainsi que par une analyse in-situ. Ces analyses mettent en évidence une cristallisation sphérolitique du niobate de lithium dans ce verre, conduisant à l obtention de vitrocéramiques. Les propriétés optiques non linéaires d ordre deux sont mesurés sur ces matériaux. Un signal original et isotrope de Génération de Second Harmonique a été mesuré. Une analyse multi-échelle permet une meilleure compréhension et une corrélation entre la structure des sphérolites et l origine de la génération d un tel signal. Le modèle développé suite à ces analyses permet d entrevoir le développement de nouveaux matériaux micro-composites à propriétés ONL isotropes.The high power laser development required the need of materials with nonlinear properties. Glass materials can be considered as ideal materials as they can be transparent and elaborated in very large dimension. Precipitation of non-centro symmetric crystalline particles in bulk glass leads to a material with bulk nonlinear properties. This glass-ceramic should be then easily integrated in such laser facilities. In this thesis, the results concerning the precipitation of the LiNO3 phase in the glassy-matrix 35 Li2O- 25 Nb2O5- 40 SiO2 are detailed. The crystallization mechanism of this phase is studied through thermal analysis, optical and electronic microscopy as well as in-situ analyses. These studies reveal glass-ceramics are obtained through a precipitation of the lithium niobate crystalline phase in spherulite shape. The nonlinear optical properties are investigated on this materials and an original, isotropic Second Harmonic Generation signal (SHG) is registered in the bulk glass-ceramic. A complete study using a multi-scale approach allows the correlation between the spherulite structure and the nonlinear optical properties. A mechanism at the origin of the SHG signal is proposed. This leads to a new approach for transparent inorganic materials development for isotropic SHG conversion.BORDEAUX1-Bib.electronique (335229901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Impact of storage induced outgassing organic contamination on laser induced damage of silica optics at 351 nm

International audienceThe impact of storage conditions on laser induced damage density at 351 nm on bare fused polished silica samples has been studied. Intentionally outgassing of polypropylene pieces on silica samples was done. We evidenced an important increase of laser induced damage density on contaminated samples demonstrating that storage could limit optics lifetime performances. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) have been used to identify the potential causes of this effect. It shows that a small quantity of organic contamination deposited on silica surface is responsible for this degradation. Various hypotheses are proposed to explain the damage mechanism. The more likely hypothesis is a coupling between surface defects of optics and organic contaminants

Second-order nonlinear optical properties induced by thermal poling in photonic oxide glasses and transparent glass-ceramics

In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in oxide glasses due to advances in lasers for information transport. Oxide glasses combine low cost of fabrication and good compatibility with silica glass fibers, which offer the opportunity for developing structures with nonlinear optical properties in integrated optical devices. The creation of an axial symmetry under thermal poling is currently necessary to induce Second-Order NonLinear (SONL) optical properties in glasses. A description of theoretical models which have been proposed for charge migration during thermal poling is presented. A review of SONL efficiencies which have been obtained for different glass compositions by this method is reported. Correlations between SONL properties and structural modifications under poling are also presented. Finally, we focus on the challenging fabrication of transparent glass-ceramic composites, especially when they are obtained by the precipitation of ferroelectric nanoparticle phases in the glassy matrix which adds the advantageous SONL properties of ferroelectric crystals

Endothelial Dysfunction in Human Essential Hypertension

Although the endothelium has a number of important functions, the term endothelial dysfunction is commonly used to describe impairment in its vasodilatory capacity. It is increasingly recognized that this is related to hypertension, although whether it predates essential hypertension or is a consequence of it is still unknown. In this review, we explore the mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction in essential hypertension, its prognostic significance and methods of pharmacological reversal

A short history of the 5-HT2C receptor: from the choroid plexus to depression, obesity and addiction treatment

This paper is a personal account on the discovery and characterization of the 5-HT2C receptor (first known as the 5- HT1C receptor) over 30 years ago and how it translated into a number of unsuspected features for a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and a diversity of clinical applications. The 5-HT2C receptor is one of the most intriguing members of the GPCR superfamily. Initially referred to as 5-HT1CR, the 5-HT2CR was discovered while studying the pharmacological features and the distribution of [3H]mesulergine-labelled sites, primarily in the brain using radioligand binding and slice autoradiography. Mesulergine (SDZ CU-085), was, at the time, best defined as a ligand with serotonergic and dopaminergic properties. Autoradiographic studies showed remarkably strong [3H]mesulergine-labelling to the rat choroid plexus. [3H]mesulergine-labelled sites had pharmacological properties different from, at the time, known or purported 5-HT receptors. In spite of similarities with 5-HT2 binding, the new binding site was called 5-HT1C because of its very high affinity for 5-HT itself. Within the following 10 years, the 5-HT1CR (later named 5- HT2C) was extensively characterised pharmacologically, anatomically and functionally: it was one of the first 5-HT receptors to be sequenced and cloned. The 5-HT2CR is a GPCR, with a very complex gene structure. It constitutes a rarity in theGPCR family: many 5-HT2CR variants exist, especially in humans, due to RNA editing, in addition to a few 5-HT2CR splice variants. Intense research led to therapeutically active 5-HT2C receptor ligands, both antagonists (or inverse agonists) and agonists: keeping in mind that a number of antidepressants and antipsychotics are 5- HT2CR antagonists/inverse agonists. Agomelatine, a 5-HT2CR antagonist is registered for the treatment of major depression. The agonist Lorcaserin is registered for the treatment of aspects of obesity and has further potential in addiction, especially nicotine/ smoking. There is good evidence that the 5-HT2CR is involved in spinal cord injury-induced spasms of the lower limbs, which can be treated with 5-HT2CR antagonists/inverse agonists such as cyproheptadine or SB206553. The 5-HT2CR may play a role in schizophrenia and epilepsy. Vabicaserin, a 5-HT2CR agonist has been in development for the treatment of schizophrenia and obesity, but was stopped. As is common, there is potential for further indications for 5-HT2CR ligands, as suggested by a number of preclinical and/or genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on depression, suicide, sexual dysfunction, addictions and obesity. The 5-HT2CR is clearly affected by a number of established antidepressants/antipsychotics and may be one of the culprits in antipsychotic-induced weight gain