Making room for faith in English dispute resolution proceedings

The case of Baby MB (An NHS Trust v MB (A child represented by the CAFCASS as Guardian ad Litem) [2006] EWHC 507 (Fam) [2006] 2FLR 319 reveals some of the difficulties faced by persons of faith when they are involved in legal proceedings in the English law courts. It raises the question of whether faith is relevant when decisions are taken in court, and if so how it is relevant. What high profile healthcare cases like this also illustrate is that there are legal cases that involve not just legal issues, but also ethical and faith issues. However, when these cases come to court they are framed as though they are primarily legal disputes that require a purely legal solution. While judges address the legal issues, they are reluctant to address the ethical and faith issues, and if they do address the ethical and faith issues, they address them in strictly legal terms. These difficulties are not restricted to one faith but encompass all faiths, and they are not restricted to litigants but also include representatives of Christian churches who make submissions to court. Although the difficulties are often revealed in healthcare cases they are not restricted to these cases but include other types of legal case and extend to employment tribunals. These cases raise important questions about how courts and tribunals deal with persons of faith, how we understand conflict and resolve disputes, the nature and aim of law, the relationship between law, ethics and religion, the role of judges, and how we perceive and deal procedurally with cases that involve issues of faith. This thesis will explore these issues, and discuss whether room can be made for faith in English Dispute Resolution proceedings, and if so, how this might be accomplished.A.H.R.C

A Nutritious bread

The data reported in this paper were taken from theses presented by Elizabeth R. Harding and Elizabeth Hamilton Bay to the Faculty of the Graduate school of the University of Missouri in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts and from a special problem by Dorothy Tyrrell, a graduate student--P. [3].Digitized 2007 AES.Includes bibliographical references (pages 23-24)

Muscle Atrophy Marker Expression Differs between Rotary Cell Culture System and Animal Studies

Muscular atrophy, defined as the loss of muscle tissue, is a serious issue for immobilized patients on Earth and for humans during spaceflight, where microgravity prevents normal muscle loading. In vitro modeling is an important step in understanding atrophy mechanisms and testing countermeasures before animal trials. The most ideal environment for modeling must be empirically determined to best mimic known responses in vivo. To simulate microgravity conditions, murine C2C12 myoblasts were cultured in a rotary cell culture system (RCCS). Alginate encapsulation was compared against polystyrene microcarrier beads as a substrate for culturing these adherent muscle cells. Changes after culture under simulated microgravity were characterized by assessing mRNA expression of MuRF1, MAFbx, Caspase 3, Akt2, mTOR, Ankrd1, and Foxo3. Protein concentration of myosin heavy chain 4 (Myh4) was used as a differentiation marker. Cell morphology and substrate structure were evaluated with brightfield and fluorescent imaging. Differentiated C2C12 cells encapsulated in alginate had a significant increase in MuRF1 only following simulated microgravity culture and were morphologically dissimilar to normal cultured muscle tissue. On the other hand, C2C12 cells cultured on polystyrene microcarriers had significantly increased expression of MuRF1, Caspase 3, and Foxo3 and easily identifiable multinucleated myotubes. The extent of differentiation was higher in simulated microgravity and protein synthesis more active with increased Myh4, Akt2, and mTOR. The in vitro microcarrier model described herein significantly increases expression of several of the same atrophy markers as in vivo models. However, unlike animal models, MAFbx and Ankrd1 were not significantly increased and the fold change in MuRF1 and Foxo3 was lower than expected. Using a standard commercially available RCCS, the substrates and culture methods described only partially model changes in mRNAs associated with atrophy in vivo

Polyphonic legality: power of attorney through dialogic interaction

Building on Bakhtin’s work on discourse, this paper uses the concept of polyphony to explore capacity law praxis. Drawing on everyday interaction about power of attorney, we demonstrate how legal, lay, and medical understandings of capacity operate dialogically, with each voice offering distinct expressions of legality. Analysing lay and medical interactions about Lasting Power of Attorney - the legal authority to make decisions on behalf of a person who loses the mental capacity to make their own decisions - we argue power of attorney holds a ‘polyphonic legality’. We argue that legal concepts (like power of attorney) are constructed not solely through official law, but through dialogic interaction in their discursive fields. We suggest ‘polyphonic legality’ offers an innovative approach to understanding how law works in everyday life, which is attentive to the rich texture of legality created by and through the multiple voices and domains of socio-legal regulation

Characterization of the Effects of Radiation on Skeletal and Smooth Muscle Cells

Muscular atrophy is a serious issue for extended spaceflight. Understanding and preventing the role of ionizing radiation in skeletal muscle loss would preserve the strength and endurance of astronauts and enable longer duration space travel and exploration. Irradiation was performed in the USU material physics group\u27s Space Suvivability Test Chamber. C2C12 and CRL-1999 cells were exposed to dosages ranging from 0.5 - 36.8 Gy. Cell viability and growth rate were measured immediately following irradiation

Characterizing the Effects of Radiation on Muscle Cells

One of the primary concerns for those spending time in low gravity and high radiation environments is muscle atrophy. A major cause of muscular atrophy is oxidative stress which is amplified by increased levels of ionizing radiation during spaceflight. Additionally, high levels of radiation can damage DNA, increasing the risk of cancer. Utah State University’s Space Environment Test Facility was used to irradiate C2C12 myoblasts and human vascular endothelial cells with a beta-radiation dosage mimicking that on the International Space Station and a 3-year deep space mission

Hospitality, healing and haints: african american indigenous religion and activism

Este texto é um trecho do livro Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism and Mothering, publicado por Duke University Press em 2015. Remnants é uma colaboração entre Rachel e sua finada mãe, Rosemarie. Atraves de memórias da vida de Rosemarie enquanto militante no movemento negro dos anos 60, e da história oral da familia Freeney-Harding, o Remnants examina o papel de compaixão, e uma espiritualidade mística, afroindigena do sul dos estados unidos como recursos para militância social e racial na communidade negra norteamericana. O texto está escrito na voz de Rosemarie.Palavras-chave: Ativismo. Negros Sul-americanos. Espiritualidade. Misticismo. Família

O acolhimento, a cura e os vultos: reflexões sobre a religião e a militância negra-norte-americana do sul dos Estados Unidos

Este texto, uma colaboração entre Rachel e sua falecida mãe, Rosemarie, reconta, por meio de memórias da vida de Rosemarie enquanto militante no movimento negro dos anos 60 e pela história oral da família Freeney-Harding, a experiência dos negros norte-americanos que migraram do sul do país para cidades do norte do país nas primeiras décadas do século vinte. O texto examina tradições de acolhimento, cura, e uma espiritualidade mística afro-indígena do sul dos Estados Unidos como recursos para militância social e racial na comunidade negra norte americana. O texto está escrita na voz de Rosemarie.Palavras-chave: Ativismo. Negros Sul-americanos. Espiritualidade. Misticismo. Família

Spatial memory deficits in mild cognitive impairment: a virtual reality study of hippocampal and entorhinal functioning

This thesis explores the topic of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the earlier clinical state of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), with a particular focus on early identification and therapeutic intervention. The first part comprises a systematic review of the literature base examining the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS; a form of non-invasive brain stimulation) in the treatment of MCI and AD. Specifically, this review focuses on the efficacy of tDCS for improving cognitive outcomes in MCI and AD patient groups. A database search identified fourteen studies that examined the relationship between tDCS and cognitive outcomes in these patient populations. The findings of these studies were summarised separately for MCI and AD patient groups. Results in both patient groups were found to be tentatively positive, however minimal research was carried out with MCI patient groups. Further, the heterogeneity of the identified research designs limited firm conclusions as to the factors associated with efficacy. Results are considered in tandem with an assessment of methodological quality. Consideration is given to the clinical implications of these findings, as well the areas that would benefit from further exploration in future research. In the second part of this thesis, an empirical paper is presented that examines the utility of a novel spatial memory task in the identification of early AD symptomatology. A virtual reality (VR) object-location memory task (OLT) was used to assess aspects of spatial memory that are underpinned by brain regions known to be affected in the earliest stages of AD: the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex (EC). In order to assess the utility of this task in a proof-of-concept study, the OLT was administered to patients diagnosed with amnestic MCI (aMCI), a diagnosis that represents a high-risk for conversion to AD, and healthy control participants. Alongside the OLT, a comparator battery of neuropsychological tests and a flat-screen measure of hippocampal function were administered as an index of the construct validity of the task. Results showed that there were significant group differences in performance on the OLT, and that task performance was able to predict group membership (aMCI or control) with a high degree of accuracy. Further, OLT performance was shown to be correlated with comparator measures of cognitive function. These results were interpreted as evidence for the utility of the OLT as a diagnostic measure. The implications of these findings were discussed in terms of the brain regions that the OLT may recruit, as well as the limitations of this study and how these might be addressed in future research. The third and final part of this thesis is a critical appraisal of the research process. This offers a reflective exploration of the experiential components of the OLT and how these might compare to more traditional measures of neuropsychological assessment. The emotional challenges associated with neuropsychological assessment are discussed, making use of quotes from the author and prominent AD spokesperson, Terry Pratchett. This section also includes reflections from the researcher on the process of carrying out this research, and the learning that took place as a result