Is green a part of the rainbow? Sharia, homosexuality and LGBT rights in the Muslim world

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website through the link below.No abstract available

Warabandi in Pakistan's canal irrigation systems: Widening gap between theory and practice

Irrigation scheduling / Irrigation systems / Irrigation canals / Privatization / Water rights / Social aspects / Economic aspects / Watercourses / Water supply / Equity / Water distribution / Water users' associations / Pakistan / Punjab

Institutional perspectives of land reclamation operations in Punjab: A case study of the Lower Chenab Canal (East) Circle Area

Land reclamationSoil salinityIrrigated sitesIrrigation canalsIrrigation waterInstitutionsLegal aspectsIrrigation schedulingWater availabilityIrrigated farmingCase studies

Islamic financial outlook and the influence of religion on the law

This presentation was given as part of the Islamic Law and International Law Conference 2011 by Professor Javaid Rehman from Brunel Law School. The conference was hosted by the Brunel Law School on the 9th September 2011

An unusual cause of gynaecomastia in a male

Summary: Beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (βhCG) is normally produced by syncytiotrophoblasts of the placenta during pregnancy and aids embryo implantation. However, it is also secreted in varying amounts in non-pregnant conditions commonly heralding a neoplastic process. We present a case of 50-year-old man, who presented with bilateral gynaecomastia with elevated testosterone, oestradiol, suppressed gonadotropins with progressively increasing levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Biochemical and radiological investigations including ultrasonography of testes, breast tissue, MRI pituitary and CT scan full body did not identify the source of hCG. FDG PET scan revealed a large mediastinal mass with lung metastasis. Immunostaining and histological analysis confirmed the diagnosis of primary choriocarcinoma of the mediastinum. It is highly aggressive and malignant tumor with poor prognosis. Early diagnosis and management are essential for the best outcome. Learning Points: High βhCG in a male patient or a non-pregnant female suggests a paraneoplastic syndrome. In the case of persistently positive serum hCG, exclude immunoassay interference by doing the urine hCG as heterophilic antibodies are not present in the urine. Non-gestational choriocarcinoma is an extremely rare trophoblastic tumor and should be considered in young men presenting with gynaecomastia and high concentration of hCG with normal gonads. A high index of suspicion and extensive investigations are required to establish an early diagnosis of extra-gonadal choriocarcinoma. Early diagnosis is crucial to formulate optimal management strategy and to minimize widespread metastasis for best clinical outcome

Bioinspired electrohydrodynamic ceramic patterning of curved metallic substrates

Template-assisted electrohydrodynamic atomisation (TAEA) has been used for the first time to pattern curved metallic surfaces. Parallel lines of ceramic titania (TiO2) were produced on titanium substrates, convex and concave with diameters of ~25 mm, at the ambient temperature. Optimal results were obtained with 4 wt% TiO2 in ethanol suspension deposited over 300 s during stable cone-jetting at 20 µl/min, 10kV and collection distance 80 mm. A high degree of control over pattern line width, interline spacing and thickness were achieved. Nanoindentation load-displacement curves were continuous for the full loading and unloading cycle, indicating good adhesion between pattern and substrate. At a loading rate of 1 μN/s and a hold time of 1 s, pattern hardness decreased as load increased up to 7 μN and remained at 0·1 GPa up to higher loads. Elastic modulus behaved similarly, and both were not sensitive to loading rate. The effect of heat treatment to further consolidate the patterned deposits was also investigated. Hardness of the patterns was not markedly affected by heating. This work shows that TAEA is highly controllable and compatible on a range of substrate geometries. Extending TAEA capabilities from flat to curved surfaces, enabling the bioactive patterning of different surface geometries, takes this technology closer to orthopaedic engineering applications

Hawking radiation of scalar particles from accelerating and rotating black holes

Hawking radiation of uncharged and charged scalars from accelerating and rotating black holes is studied. We calculate the tunneling probabilities of these particles from the rotation and acceleration horizons of these black holes. Using the tunneling method we recover the correct Hawking temperature as well

Advanced optical microscopy methods for in vivo imaging of sub-cellular structures in thick biological tissues

Optical microscopy has become an indispensable tool for visualizing sub-cellular structures and biological processes. However, scattering in biological tissues is a major obstacle that prevents high-resolution images from being obtained from deep regions of tissue. We review common techniques, such as multiphoton microscopy (MPM) and optical coherence microscopy (OCM), for diffraction limited imaging beyond an imaging depth of 0.5 mm. Novel implementations have been emerging in recent years giving higher imaging speed, deeper penetration, and better image quality. Focal modulation microscopy (FMM) is a novel method that combines confocal spatial filtering with focal modulation to reject out-of-focus background. FMM has demonstrated an imaging depth comparable to those of MPM and OCM, near-real-time image acquisition, and the capability for multiple contrast mechanisms

Iron(III)-catalyzed chlorination of activated arenes

A general and regioselective method for the chlorination of activated arenes has been developed. The transformation uses iron(III) triflimide as a powerful Lewis acid for the activation of N-chlorosuccinimide and the subsequent chlorination of a wide range of anisole, aniline, acetanilide and phenol derivatives. The reaction was utilized for the late-stage mono- and di-chlorination of a range of target compounds such as the natural product nitrofungin, the antibacterial agent chloroxylenol and the herbicide chloroxynil. The facile nature of this transformation was demonstrated with the development of one-pot tandem iron-catalyzed dihalogenation processes allowing highly regioselective formation of different carbon-halogen bonds. The synthetic utility of the resulting dihalogenated aryl compounds as building blocks was established with the synthesis of natural products and pharmaceutically relevant targets