A moral education? British Values, colour-blindness, and preventing terrorism

The Prevent strategy tasks the British education sector with preventing radicalisation and extremism. It defines extremism as opposition to fundamental British Values and requires schools to promote these values and refer students and staff believed to be vulnerable to radicalisation. Little research examining the enactment of the Prevent and British Values curriculum has included students. To fill this gap, we investigated how students, teachers and Prevent/British Values trainers engage with this curriculum by conducting individual interviews in two multicultural secondary schools in England, framing the study in recent work on colour-blindness. We found that whilst multiculturalism was celebrated, discussion about everyday structural racism was avoided. Critical thinking was performed strategically, and classrooms were securitised as sites for identifying potential safeguarding referrals. Moral education, colour-blindness and safeguarding intersected to negate racialised experiences, whilst exposing students and teachers to racialised Prevent referrals

Pain from a Bullet Lingers on: An Uncommon Case of Lead Toxicity

Lead toxicity from a retained bullet as a cause for abdominal pain is rarely considered. Given its unpredictable latent period and nonspecific clinical symptoms, such cases are difficult to diagnose but may be fatal if unrecognized. We present the case of a 48-year-old man who presented with complaints of abdominal pain, weight loss and constipation. His past history was significant for a gunshot wound to the left hip about 20 years before. Radiographic studies confirmed the same with the presence of numerous intra-articular bullet fragments and a calcified hemarthrosis surrounding the left femoral head. Blood lead levels were elevated following which the patient was started on chelation therapy with succimer which resulted in symptomatic improvement. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of considering lead toxicity from a retained bullet as a cause of abdominal pain and to review the relevant literature

Cytomegalovirus Infection of the Colon Presenting as a Mass-Like Lesion

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is responsible for the most common opportunistic infections in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The colon is a common site for these infections in patients positive for human immunodeficiency virus. CMV rarely presents as an intraluminal inflammatory mass in the colon. Here we report the case of a CMV infection presenting as a mass-like lesion in an AIDS patient. The clinical diagnosis of CMV infection is largely based on the characteristic endoscopic appearance. Endoscopic procedures are encouraged early in the course of CMV infection in immunocompromised patients. CMV pseudotumors along with malignancy should be part of the endoscopic evaluation in patients with AIDS

GOLPH2 protein expression as a novel tissue biomarker for prostate cancer: implications for tissue-based diagnostics

GOLPH2 is coding the 73-kDa type II Golgi membrane antigen GOLPH2/GP73. Upregulation of GOLPH2 mRNA has been recently reported in expression array analyses of prostate cancer. As GOLPH2 protein expression in prostate tissues is currently unknown, this study aimed at a comprehensive analysis of GOLPH2 protein in benign and malignant prostate lesions. Immunohistochemically detected GOLPH2 protein expression was compared with the basal cell marker p63 and the prostate cancer marker α-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) in 614 radical prostatectomy specimens. GOLPH2 exhibited a perinuclear Golgi-type staining pattern and was preferentially seen in prostatic gland epithelia. Using a semiquantitative staining intensity score, GOLPH2 expression was significantly higher in prostate cancer glands compared with normal glands (P<0.001). GOLPH2 protein was upregulated in 567 of 614 tumours (92.3%) and AMACR in 583 of 614 tumours (95%) (correlation coefficient 0.113, P=0.005). Importantly, GOLPH2 immunohistochemistry exhibited a lower level of intratumoral heterogeneity (25 vs 45%). Further, GOLPH2 upregulation was detected in 26 of 31 (84%) AMACR-negative prostate cancer cases. These data clearly suggest GOLPH2 as an additional ancillary positive marker for tissue-based diagnosis of prostate cancer

Improvement of renal oxidative stress markers after ozone administration in diabetic nephropathy in rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several complications of diabetes mellitus (DM) e.g. nephropathy (DN) have been linked to oxidative stress. Ozone, by means of oxidative preconditioning, may exert its protective effects on DN.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>The aim of the present work is to study the possible role of ozone therapy in ameliorating oxidative stress and inducing renal antioxidant defence in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Six groups (n = 10) of male Sprague Dawley rats were used as follows: Group C: Control group. Group O: Ozone group, in which animals received ozone intraperitoneally (i.p.) (1.1 mg/kg). Group D: Diabetic group, in which DM was induced by single i.p. injections of streptozotocin (STZ). Group DI: Similar to group D but animals also received subcutaneous (SC) insulin (0.75 IU/100 gm BW.). Group DO: In which diabetic rats received the same dose of ozone, 48 h after induction of diabetes. Group DIO, in which diabetic rats received the same doses of insulin and ozone, respectively. All animals received daily treatment for six weeks. At the end of the study period (6 weeks), blood pressure, blood glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA_1c), serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), kidney tissue levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxide (GPx), aldose reductase (AR) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration were measured.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Induction of DM in rats significantly elevated blood pressure, HbA_1c, BUN, creatinine and renal tissue levels of MDA and AR while significantly reducing SOD, CAT and GPx activities. Either Insulin or ozone therapy significantly reversed the effects of DM on all parameters; in combination (DIO group), they caused significant improvements in all parameters in comparison to each alone.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Ozone administration in conjunction with insulin in DM rats reduces oxidative stress markers and improves renal antioxidant enzyme activity which highlights its potential uses in the regimen for treatment of diabetic patients.</p

Bank level stability factors and consumer confidence – a comparative study of Islamic and conventional banks’ product mix

This study examines the behaviour of key bank level stability factors of liquidity, capital, risk-taking and consumer confidence in Islamic and conventional banks which operate in the same market. Using fixed effect sample of 194 banks of Gulf Cooperating Countries between 2000 and 2007, we found that liquidity is not determined by bank’s product mix but rather attributed to systematic factors. However, non performing assets (representing loans to sub prime borrowers) have positive and significant relationship with liquidity implying that during the crisis, Islamic banks tend to take stringent risk strategies compared to conventional banks. Furthermore, Islamic banks generally tend to provide higher consumer confidence levels as they were more capitalized than conventional banks, although conventional banks had carried higher averages of liquidity compared to Islamic banks. Consumer confidence levels or depositors’ discipline as proxied by deposits and customer funding over liabilities generally appear to be higher in Islamic banks than conventional banks