Sacred Spaces, Sacred Words: Religion and Same-Sex Marriage in England and Wales

This article provides an analysis of the ways in which the spatial and illocutionary requirements of English marriage law – which regulate the spaces in which marriages may be solemnized and the words the parties being married must speak – have been used to maintain distinctions between same-sex and opposite-sex couples. It shows how religious opponents of same-sex partnership recognition have relied upon historically entrenched differences between the spatial and illocutionary aspects of ‘civil marriage’ and ‘religious marriage’ to argue in favour of the enactment of law that enables organized religions to exclude same-sex couples from religious premises and ceremonies that are open to opposite-sex couples for the purpose of solemnizing marriage. It extends recent international debates about how faith-based discrimination against same-sex couples is accommodated by legislators and legitimized by law. The article concludes with a consideration of how English law could be amended to end discrimination based on sexual orientation

Reading Barbara Köhler's Niemands Frau as a Radical Poetic Response to Homer's Odyssey

This thesis presents the first sustained analysis of Niemands Frau (2007), Barbara Köhler’s radical poetic engagement with Homer’s Odyssey. Köhler weaves together a vast web of intertextual references including Ovid’s Metamorphoses, T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and a biography of Alan Turing, and subjects including quantum mechanics, computers and cloning. To provide a coherent structure and facilitate navigation of the potentially overwhelming network of references, I anchor analysis to Köhler’s engagement with classical tradition and the major Odyssean figures that feature in the cantos. Key to my methodology is close reading, essential to gain access to complex and often syntactically irregular cantos. As Niemands Frau resists the total application of a single theoretical or philosophical approach, I draw selectively on the work of thinkers including Deleuze, Barthes, Freud, Cavarero, and Adorno and Horkheimer, in order to elucidate specific aspects. While the introduction provides a review of secondary literature and discussion of the physical construction of Niemands Frau, the first chapter examines Köhler’s text as a feminist critical and creative response to the German tradition of Odyssey translation and reception, as a radical, ‘minor’ translation. Subsequent chapters analyse the literary traditions surrounding Penelope, Helen of Troy, Tiresias and Odysseus to show how Köhler has used elements for her own poetic purposes. I argue that Niemands Frau calls for a close engagement with the literary canon to rehabilitate its ‘other’: the women, monsters and queer figures repressed by (patriarchal) cultural reception. Köhler’s poetic reworking of marginalised figures is political in making marginalised voices heard and, furthermore, derives an ethics from them. She criticises the political, scientific, philosophical and cultural traditions that she perceives as – currently and historically – repressive, and strives for an embodied and differentiated appreciation of life

The potential use of single-particle electron microscopy as a tool for structure-based inhibitor design

Recent developments in electron microscopy (EM) have led to a step change in our ability to solve the structures of previously intractable systems, especially membrane proteins and large protein complexes. This has provided new opportunities in the field of structure-based drug design, with a number of high-profile publications resolving the binding sites of small molecules and peptide inhibitors. There are a number of advantages of EM over the more traditional X-ray crystallographic approach, such as resolving different conformational states and permitting the dynamics of a system to be better resolved when not constrained by a crystal lattice. There are still significant challenges to be overcome using an EM approach, not least the speed of structure determination, difficulties with low-occupancy ligands and the modest resolution that is available. However, with the anticipated developments in the field of EM, the potential of EM to become a key tool for structure-based drug design, often complementing X-ray and NMR studies, seems promising

Childhood pneumonia at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin Nigeria

Background/Objectives: Pneumonia is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children and thus this study was designed to document the sociodemographic, clinical features as well as the bacterial agents  responsible for pneumonia in children seen at University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.Methodology: A descriptive cross -sectional study of children aged one month to 14 years with features of pneumonia admitted between July 1st 2010 and June 31st, 2011 was carried out. Sociodemograpic data, clinical features, complications and outcome were obtained. Chest radiographs and blood samples for culture of bacterial organism and full bloodcounts were obtained in all children.Results: Pneumonia accounted for 13.3% (167 out of 1254) of the all admissions during this period. The male: female ratio was 1.5:1, and 101(60.5%) of the children were infants. Bronchopneumonia was identified in 147(88%) children, lobar pneumonia in 15 (9%) while 5(3%) had a combination of both. Cough, fever, difficulty in breathing, tachypnoea andchest wall recessions were recognised as clinical features in the study population. Bacteraemia was present in 46(27%)children and Staphylococcus aureus was the most common organism cultured from the blood of children with pneumonia present in 11 (23.9%) out of the 46 (100.0%) isolates. Heart failure was associated complication present in 52 of the 60 children with one or more complications accounting for over 30% of all patients. Eleven out of the 15 children with lobar pneumonia hadpneumonia-related complications which was significantly higher compared to 46 of 157 children with bronchopneumonia, p=0.003. The case fatality was 6.6%. Eight (72.7%) of the children that died were infants while the remaining three (27.3%) were aged between 12 and 60 months. The mean duration of hospitalization among those who survived of 6.5 ±5.0 days was significantly lower than the corresponding value of 10.2 ±12.3 days in those that died, p= 0.042. Conclusion: Pneumonia-related mortality and morbidity is high in under-five children, with the infant age group most affected. Bronchopneumonia is the most prevalent ALRI diagnosis but lobar pneumonia is associated with a higher mortality

Vaccines and immunization: The past, present and future in Nigeria

Vaccines are arguably the most important public health tools available today. Since the successful eradication of smallpox with the use of the vaccine, many vaccines have become available to man. Of great importance to public and child health are the vaccines against the so-called six killer diseases of childhood-measles, pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis and poliomyelitis. In the last 2 decades, effective vaccines against the major causes of pneumonia, another childhood killer, have become available. Data from many parts of the world including African countries have shown the benefits of the pneumococcal and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines. The scientific world is still searching for appropriate candidate vaccines for malaria and HIV infection. Despite the availability and effectiveness of many vaccines, the benefits to a country is highly dependent on a viable and sustainable health system which include adequate financing, dynamic and motivated workforce, strong partnerships and effective community participation. If well deployed, available vaccines as elucidated in this discourse can accelerate the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria and many other developing countries.Key words: Vaccines, Immunizations, Nigeria

A biomechanical assessment of superior shoulder translation after reconstruction of anterior glenoid bone defects: The Latarjet procedure versus allograft reconstruction

BACKGROUND: The coracoacromial ligament (CAL) is an important restraint to superior shoulder translation. The effect of CAL release on superior stability following the Latarjet is unknown; therefore, our purpose was to compare the effect of two Latarjet techniques and allograft reconstruction on superior instability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight cadaveric specimens were tested on a simulator. Superior translation was monitored following an axial force in various glenohumeral rotations (neutral, internal, and external) with and without muscle loading. Three intact CAL states were tested (intact specimen, 30% glenoid bone defect, and allograft reconstruction) and two CAL deficient states (classic Latarjet (classicLAT) and congruent-arc Latarjet (congruentLAT)). RESULTS: In neutral without muscle loading, a significant increase in superior translation occurred with the classicLAT as compared to 30% defect (P = 0.046) and allograft conditions (P = 0.041). With muscle loading, the classicLAT (P = 0.005, 0.002) and the congruentLAT (P = 0.018, 0.021) had significantly greater superior translation compared to intact and allograft, respectively. In internal rotation, only loaded tests produced significant results; specifically, classicLAT increased translation compared to all intact CAL states (P < 0.05). In external rotation, only unloaded tests produced significant results with classicLAT and congruentLAT allowing greater translations than intact (P ≤ 0.028). For all simulations, the allograft was not significantly different than intact (P > 0.05) and no differences (P = 1.0) were found between classicLAT and congruentLAT. DISCUSSION: In most simulations, CAL release with the Latarjet lead to increased superior humeral translation. CONCLUSION: The choice of technique for glenoid bone loss reconstruction has implications on the magnitude of superior humeral translation. This previously unknown effect requires further study to determine its clinical and kinematic outcomes

LAT1 (SLC7A5) and CD98hc (SLC3A2) complex dynamics revealed by single-particle cryo-EM

Solute carriers are a large class of transporters that play key roles in normal and disease physiology. Among the solute carriers, heteromeric amino-acid transporters (HATs) are unique in their quaternary structure. LAT1–CD98hc, a HAT, transports essential amino acids and drugs across the blood–brain barrier and into cancer cells. It is therefore an important target both biologically and therapeutically. During the course of this work, cryo-EM structures of LAT1–CD98hc in the inward-facing conformation and in either the substrate-bound or apo states were reported to 3.3–3.5 Å resolution [Yan et al. (2019), Nature (London), 568, 127–130]. Here, these structures are analyzed together with our lower resolution cryo-EM structure, and multibody 3D auto-refinement against single-particle cryo-EM data was used to characterize the dynamics of the interaction of CD98hc and LAT1. It is shown that the CD98hc ectodomain and the LAT1 extracellular surface share no substantial interface. This allows the CD98hc ectodomain to have a high degree of movement within the extracellular space. The functional implications of these aspects are discussed together with the structure determination

Serum zinc levels as a predictor of clinical features and outcome of paediatric acute lower respiratory infections in Nigeria

Background: Malnutrition, especially macronutrient deficiency, has been shown to be interrelated with ALRI-related morbidity and mortality. However the import of zinc deficiency has only recently become the focus of research attention.Objective: The current study was carried out in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria to determine the relationship between serum zinc levels, clinical features and outcome in hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory infections(ALRI).Method: A descriptive crosssectional hospital-based study involving 120 children aged two months to five years with ALRI. Socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory data were obtained. The serum zinc was analyzed with a Jenway™ spectrophotometer after initial preparation with theQuantiChrom™ zinc assay kit.Results: Children with tachypnoea and crepitations had significantly lower mean serum zinc levels compared to the corresponding values in those without these features (each p&lt;0.05). Significantly higher mean serum zinc level was recorded in children with grunting respiration compared with thosewithout grunting (p=0.028). Agerelated tachypnoea, grunting, and crepitations remained significant (each p&lt;0.05) following a linear  regression analysis. The mean serum zinc level in children with multiple complications was significantly lower than the corresponding level recorded in children who had one complication, p=0.020. No significant differencewas found between the mean serum zinc level of the children who were discharged compared with the corresponding level recorded in those that died, p=0.589.Conclusion: The presence of crepitations had the strongest clinical association with a low serum zinc level. Children managed for ALRI would benefit from post-treatment zinc supplements and appropriate zinc-rich sources of food at discharge.Keywords: Children zinc respiratory infection