Adolescent men's attitudes in relation to pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes: A systematic review of the literature from 1980-2009

This review article reveals a long-standing gender bias in academic and policy research on adolescent pregnancy, which has led to the neglect of adolescent men's perspectives. The review summarizes the available literature on adolescent men's attitudes in relation to pregnancy occurrence and pregnancy outcomes in the context of addressing three questions: (1) What are adolescent men's attitudes to an adolescent pregnancy? (2) What are adolescent men's attitudes in relation to pregnancy outcomes? (3) What explanations are offered for the identified attitudes to adolescent pregnancy and resolution? The review establishes a foundation for future quantitative and qualitative research on adolescent men's perspectives. It emphasizes that a greater understanding of adolescent men's perspectives could lead to a re-framing of adolescent pregnancy away from being seen solely as a woman's issue. Furthermore, it is argued that the inclusion of adolescent men would lead to more effective adolescent pregnancy prevention and counseling programmes.

"All Have to Live in Me...": A Study of the Use of English Alongside Other African Languages in a Kenyan School

The purpose of this paper, which builds on an earlier paper published in this Journal (Vol. 20, No. 6), is to develop the discussion around how English has been taught, used and perceived in Kenya, using data gathered from a small second-level English-medium school in Kenya. The complex relationships between language and identity are at work in the everyday routines of both staff and pupils within such a context. The paper seeks to set out a clear methodology for gathering data which could help describe these relationships with more clarity while also subjecting the data to analysis informed by the growing body of research and theory that focuses on language policy in post-colonial and neo-colonial settings. Finally, these pieces of data are used as the basis of a further exploration of the implications for classroom practice in teaching English in this environment.

Modes of Griot Inscription in African Cinema

A recurring idea in criticism of African cinema has been that the films frequently deploy the narrative techniques of ‘the griot’, the storyteller of African tradition. In particular, Manthia Diawara (1989) has alerted us to the inscription of the oral narrator within the visual discourse of particular African films, while other critics have considered how the films recall the narrative forms of traditional oral tales. However, these critics’ exclusive attention to the visual track and/or narrative form overlooks another inscription of the griot - an inscription that exists at the level of music. Examining music and image relationships in an aesthetically diverse set of African films, this paper demonstrates how griot inscription emerges as a major variable, modulating between music and image within and between texts. This propels music, and the griot, to a status of primary importance in terms of understanding the ways in which the films engage with, and re-appropriate, notions of ‘African-ness’, while negotiating the tensions of address generated when oral forms of narrative meet the literate, industrial form of cinema.

Evidence for progressive Holocene aridification in southern Africa recorded in Namibian hyrax middens: Implications for African Monsoon dynamics and the

Presented here are stable nitrogen isotope data from a rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) middens from northwestern Namibia that record a series of rapid aridification events beginning at ca. 3800 cal yr BP, and which mark a progressive decrease in regional humidity across the Holocene. Strong correlations exist between this record and other terrestrial and marine archives from southern Africa, indicating that the observed pattern of climate change is regionally coherent. Combined, these data indicate hemispheric synchrony in tropical African climate change during the Holocene, with similar trends characterising the termination of the 'African Humid Period' (AHP) in both the northern and southern tropics. These findings run counter to the widely accepted model of direct low-latitude insolation forcing, which requires an antiphase relationship to exist between the hemispheres. The combined dataset highlights: 1) the importance of forcing mechanisms influencing the high northern latitudes in effecting low-latitude climate change in Africa, and 2) the potential importance of solar forcing and variations in the Earth's geomagnetic shield in determining both long-term and rapid centennial-scale climate changes, identifying a possible mechanism for the variations marking the AHP termination in both the southern and northern tropics. (C) 2010 University of Washington. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bereavement needs assessment in specialist palliative care: A review of the literature

Bereavement needs assessment for specialist palliative care services has been highlighted as important by NICE guidance on palliative care for adults with cancer. Identifying and implementing appropriate bereavement measurement tools has remained a challenge. This paper identifies and reviews bereavement measurement tools to determine their suitability for use within bereavement services and hospice settings. Cochrane, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and CINAHL, electronic databases were searched, yielding 486 papers. From fifty-nine full text papers appraised, 10 measurement tools were analysed in detail. Some tools had been tested on specific populations which limited transferability to specialist palliative care settings; some lacked adequate theoretical links and were not effective in discriminating between normal and complicated grief reactions; and some lacked clear evidence of validity or reliability. Based on these criteria, conclusions are drawn about the suitability of particular tools for UK bereavement services and hospice settings where intervention is delivered by both trained professionals and volunteers.

Kassorins: Novel innate immune system peptides from skin secretions of the African hyperoliid frogs, Kassina maculata and Kassina senegalensis

From defensive skin secretions acquired from two species of African hyperoliid frogs, Kassina maculata and Kassina senegalensis, we have isolated two structurally related, C-terminally amidated tridecapeptides of novel primary structure that exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activity. In reflection of their structural novelty and species of origin, we named the peptides kassorin M (FLEGLLNTVTGLLamide; 1387.8 Da) and kassorin S (FLGGILNTITGLLamide; 1329.8 Da), respectively. The primary structure and organisation of the biosynthetic precursors of kassorins M and S were deduced from cloned skin secretion-derived cDNA. Both open-reading frames encoded a single copy of kassorin M and S, respectively, located at the C-terminus. Kassorins display limited structural similarities to vespid chemotactic peptides (7/13 residues), temporin A (5/13 residues), the N-terminus of Lv-ranaspumin, a foam nest surfactant protein of the frog, Leptodactylus vastus, and an N-terminal domain of the equine sweat surfactant protein, latherin. Both peptides elicit histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells. However, while kassorin S was found to possess antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, kassorin M was devoid of such activity. In contrast, kassorin M was found to contract the smooth muscle of guinea pig urinary bladder (EC50 = 4.66 nM) and kassorin S was devoid of this activity. Kassorins thus represent the prototypes of a novel family of peptides from the amphibian innate immune system as occurring in defensive skin secretions.

Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor of Major Salivary Glands: Report of 1 Case and a Review of the Literature

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor is a rare malignant neoplasm mostly occurring in the vicinity of or within the peritoneal cavity, and is uncommon in the head and neck region. Tumor location within a major salivary gland is exceptional. We report a case of a 41-year-old Chinese man with a history of diabetes mellitus and end-stage renal failure on peritoneal dialysis with a desmoplastic small round cell tumor occurring in the left submandibular gland. Fine-needle aspiration cytology showed variably cohesive clusters of small cells with hyperchromatic nuclei and fine granular chromatin. On histology the neoplasm displayed classic features of a desmoplastic small round cell tumor with angulated nests of small round blue cells in a fibromyxoid/desmoplastic stroma. Neoplastic cells were immunoreactive for cytokeratins (AE1/3), desmin (paranuclear dot-like), WT-1 (nuclear), epithelial membrane antigen, and CD56. EWS gene translocation and EWS-WT1 gene fusion were detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, respectively. The case presented is the sixth case of and the oldest reported patient with a desmoplastic small round cell tumor occurring in a major salivary gland to date. Desmoplastic small round cell tumor should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a salivary gland neoplasm with a basaloid or small cell pattern on fine-needle aspiration cytology.