The Role of Self-Help Efforts in the Reintegration of ‘Politically Motivated’ Former Prisoners: Implications from the Northern Irish experience

Self-help (or mutual aid) processes play a substantial role in the reintegration of stigmatized individuals, in particular, a substantial self-help movement has developed around addiction recovery. Prisoners and ex-prisoners have also established self-help groups around the world. This paper focuses in particular on the role of self-help principles and practices among “politically motivated” former prisoners from all sides of the Northern Irish conflict. The concept of self-help and its application to former prisoners are analysed theoretically, then applied to the Northern Irish case study through a series of interviews with ex-prisoners whose incarceration has been related to the conflict in Northern Ireland. We draw on the implications of this case study for wider issues of reintegration for politically motivated and ordinary prisoners.

Cough hypersensitivity syndrome is an important clinical concept:a pro/con debate

The major etiologies of chronic cough are generally accepted to consist of upper airway cough syndrome (formerly postnasal drip syndrome), eosinophilic airway inflammation (asthma, nonasthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, only a small percentage of patients with these very common conditions suffers from chronic cough. Furthermore, acute cough due to viral upper respiratory tract infection (URI) is almost always a transient, self-limited condition, yet in a small subgroup of patients, URI heralds the onset of chronic, refractory cough. The cough hypersensitivity syndrome has been proposed to explain the occurrence of chronic cough in a subgroup of patients exposed to the same putative triggers as the vast majority of the population in whom chronic cough does not result. Although conceptually the cough hypersensitivity syndrome may be intellectually satisfying, differences of opinion remain as to whether this newly recognized entity is of clinical significance, i.e., useful for the treatment of patients suffering from chronic cough. The Third American Cough Conference, held in New York in June 2011, provided an ideal forum for the debate of this issue between two internationally recognized authorities in the field of cough.

Work-worlds colliding: Self-reflexivity, power and emotion in organizational ethnography

While organizational ethnographers have embraced the concept of self-reflexivity, problems remain. In this article we argue that the prevalent assumption that self-reflexivity is the sole responsibility of the individual researcher limits its scope for understanding organizations. To address this, we propose an innovative method of collective reflection that is inspired by ideas from cultural and feminist anthropology. The value of this method is illustrated through an analysis of two ethnographic case studies, involving a ‘pair interview’ method. This collective approach surfaced self-reflexive accounts, in which aspects of the research encounter that still tend to be downplayed within organizational ethnographies, including emotion, intersubjectivity and the operation of power dynamics, were allowed to emerge. The approach also facilitated a second contribution through the conceptualization of organizational ethnography as a unique endeavour that represents a collision between one ‘world of work’: the university, with a second: the researched organization. We find that this ‘collision’ exacerbates the emotionality of ethnographic research, highlighting the refusal of ‘researched’ organizations to be domesticated by the specific norms of academia. Our article concludes by drawing out implications for the practice of self-reflexivity within organizational ethnography.

Concise Reviews: Cancer Stem Cells: From Concept to Cure

n 1953, noting a remarkable consistency between the agents causing mutations and those associated with cancer, Carl Nordling, a Finnish-born architect, proposed that cancer results from an accumulation of genetic mutations. It is now generally accepted that inherited mutations and environmental carcinogens can lead to the development of premalignant clones. After further mutations, one cell reaches a critical state which confers a survival or growth advantage over normal cells. Such cells have the ability to initiate a malignant tumour. They share many of the features of normal stem cells, including the capacity for self-renewal and differentiation, and are widely termed cancer stem cells (CSCs). Although CSCs have been well characterized in hematological malignancies, their existence in some other tissues has been questioned. Here, we review recent work in which stem cells and stem cell-like cells have been used to investigate the pathogenesis of cancer and potential anticancer treatment strategies, in the context of both hematological and somatic tissue disease.

Fulfilling the 3Rs: Galleria mellonella as an In Vivo Model to Assess the Antimicrobial Efficacy of Self-assembling Peptide Hydrogels

The concept of ‘The Three Rs’ (The 3Rs: reduction, refinement and replacement) is an important consideration in the development of alternatives to animal testing in medical research. Invertebrate models such as Galleria mellonella are advantageous both economically and ethically.1 Galleria have proven to be effective alternatives to assess the antimicrobial activity of novel therapeutics.2
In this study Galleria mellonella are validated and used as an in vivo infection model to determine the antimicrobial activity of a novel self-assembling antimicrobial peptide NapFFKK.3 The peptide was considered as being non-toxic to the Galleria with 100% survival 120 hours post inoculation with NapFFKK. Following inoculation with Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, Escherichia coli ATCC 11303, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 35984 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, the highest concentration allowing survival was selected and used as the test inoculum. Haemolymph was extracted from inoculated and peptide treated Galleria at either 24 or 72 hours post-treatment. Reduction in bacterial load was determined in comparison to a positive control. Bacterial load was decreased in all treated Galleria with decreasing antimicrobial activity demonstrated with a decreased concentration of peptide (2- log cycle reduction achieved in Escherichia coli inoculated Galleria treated with 2% NapFFKK). The results are promising regarding the use of Galleria mellonella as an infection model and NapFFKK as an effective novel antimicrobial.