A Christian Case for Racial Reparations

National healing for the persistent wounds of racism, America’s original sin, can be advanced through a national apology, reparations and forgiveness. The frequent practice of apologies and reparations around the world in the past generation provide precedent for such measures. Christianity’s teaching of reconciliation and accompanying notions of sin, repentance, forgiveness, and atonement provide a strong moral basis for these measures and resonate with the rationales through which the United States’s greatest champions of civil rights and equality have fought against racism and slavery. Because racism and slavery were supported with the sanction of the state, in the name of the collective body, measures of repair may now be performed by the state, in the name of the collective body. Questions of who pays, who receives, and what form reparations take are important ones and can be answered adequately. Through collective apology, reparations, and forgiveness, the United States would enact and renew its national covenant, acting in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Martin Luther King, Jr

The Catholic Church, Human Rights, and Democracy: Convergence and Conflict with the Modern State

This book chapter traces the history of the Catholic Church\u27s relationship to the modern state, focusing on the idea of sovereignty and the development of human rights and democracy. It argues that the Catholic Church\u27s relationship to human rights and democracy in the modern world can only be understood as reflective of both a historical convergence and a persistent tension and ambivalence. The first part argues for this dual theme in the development of Catholic doctrine, where today, as over the past several centuries, the Church\u27s conception of the common good yields both an embrace of human rights and democracy and a critique of certain aspects of their secular espousal. The second part illustrates how this parallel acceptance and tension is manifested in practice, showing that the Church\u27s efforts to advance its teachings on human rights and democracy sometimes succeed and sometimes encounter resistance, both on account of conceptual differences with modern states and international organizations as well as because of obstructing institutional realities

The Catholic Church, Human Rights, and Democracy: Convergence and Conflict with the Modern State

This book chapter traces the history of the Catholic Church\u27s relationship to the modern state, focusing on the idea of sovereignty and the development of human rights and democracy. It argues that the Catholic Church\u27s relationship to human rights and democracy in the modern world can only be understood as reflective of both a historical convergence and a persistent tension and ambivalence. The first part argues for this dual theme in the development of Catholic doctrine, where today, as over the past several centuries, the Church\u27s conception of the common good yields both an embrace of human rights and democracy and a critique of certain aspects of their secular espousal. The second part illustrates how this parallel acceptance and tension is manifested in practice, showing that the Church\u27s efforts to advance its teachings on human rights and democracy sometimes succeed and sometimes encounter resistance, both on account of conceptual differences with modern states and international organizations as well as because of obstructing institutional realities

[Policy Brief] FoRB – Recognising our differences can be our strength: enhancing transatlantic cooperation on promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief

As the global environment for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) continues to deteriorate and as more governments and organisations on both sides of the Atlantic step up their commitment to FoRB advocacy, increased coordination becomes more urgent. This policy brief seeks to build on current transatlantic cooperation on FoRB by suggesting a shift of policy emphasis: stressing the diversity of Europe and North America as a strategy to enhance transatlantic cooperation on the promotion of FoRB worldwide

The genetics of cholesteatoma study. Loss‐of‐function variants in an affected family

The aetiology of cholesteatoma remains elusive. In a recent systematic review, we discussed reports of multiple cases of cholesteatoma within families, which suggests a genetic predisposition in some cases (1). We have established a U.K. database and DNA sample bank that can be used to identify genetic variants that co‐segregate with cholesteatoma in multiply‐affected families. Recruitment to this Genetics of Cholesteatoma (GOC) Study is via the U.K. National Institute of Health Research Clinical Research Network. This preliminary communication describes the results of whole exome sequencing (WES) of DNA extracted from participants in the first fully sequenced family recruited to the study. Rare variants were filtered for co‐segregation with the cholesteatoma phenotype, and for their putative functional impact. We have identified loss of function variants in the genes EGFL8 and BTNL9 as candidate variants of interest. These are preliminary observations and the variants are of unknown significance to the disease pathology without replication or further investigation

Perspectives from those involved in healthy stadia

Healthy stadia is a growing agenda across industry and in turn academia. In this era of growth, much of the research literature is primarily sourced from academics with little contribution from applied and industry stakeholders. As such, the editors have sought to offer practitioners a platform to share novel projects, perspectives and preliminary intervention evaluation findings. This applied article intends to share evaluation and insight from applied practice, to encourage closer debate between the academic community and applied industry

Shirt sponsorship by gambling companies in the English and Scottish Premier Leagues: global reach and public health concerns

While the nature of gambling practices is contested, a strong evidence base demonstrates that gambling can become a serious disorder and have a range of detrimental effects for individuals, communities and societies. Over the last decade, football in the UK has become visibly entwined with gambling marketing. To explore this apparent trend, we tracked shirt sponsors in both the English and Scottish Premier Leagues since 1992 and found a pronounced increase in the presence of sponsorship by gambling companies. This increase occurred at the same time the Gambling Act 2005, which liberalized rules, was introduced. We argue that current levels of gambling sponsorship in UK football, and the global visibility it provides to gambling brands, is a public health concern that needs to be debated and addressed. We recommend that legislators revisit the relationship between football in the UK and the sponsorship it receives from the gambling industry

Dephosphorylation of the Proneural Transcription Factor ASCL1 Re-Engages a Latent Post-Mitotic Differentiation Program in Neuroblastoma.

Pediatric cancers often resemble trapped developmental intermediate states that fail to engage the normal differentiation program, typified by high-risk neuroblastoma arising from the developing sympathetic nervous system. Neuroblastoma cells resemble arrested neuroblasts trapped by a stable but aberrant epigenetic program controlled by sustained expression of a core transcriptional circuit of developmental regulators in conjunction with elevated MYCN or MYC (MYC). The transcription factor ASCL1 is a key master regulator in neuroblastoma and has oncogenic and tumor-suppressive activities in several other tumor types. Using functional mutational approaches, we find that preventing CDK-dependent phosphorylation of ASCL1 in neuroblastoma cells drives coordinated suppression of the MYC-driven core circuit supporting neuroblast identity and proliferation, while simultaneously activating an enduring gene program driving mitotic exit and neuronal differentiation. IMPLICATIONS: These findings indicate that targeting phosphorylation of ASCL1 may offer a new approach to development of differentiation therapies in neuroblastoma. VISUAL OVERVIEW: http://mcr.aacrjournals.org/content/molcanres/18/12/1759/F1.large.jpg.Work was supported by Cancer Research UK Programme Grant RG91505 (AP), Wellcome Trust Investigator Award 212253/Z/18/Z (AP), MRC Research Grant MR/L021129/1 (F.A, A.P); Neuroblastoma UK (D.M, T.P, A.P), CRUK Cambridge Centre Paediatric Programme (L.P), The Terry Fox Foundation (FA), MBRU College of Medicine Internal grant award MBRU-CM-RG2019-14 (FA), MBRU-ALMAHMEED Collaborative Research Award ALM1909 (FA) and core support from the Wellcome Trust and the MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (F.A, D.M, J.D., A.P.) and Cancer Research UK Cambridge Insititute (I.C, J.C)