Joining together or pushing apart? Building relations and exploring difference through shared education in Northern Ireland

In divided societies, the promotion of cross-cultural contact through the education system has been central to efforts to improve intergroup relations. This approach is informed by an understanding of the contact hypothesis, which suggests that positive contact with a member of a different group should contribute to improvements in attitudes towards the group as a whole. While a substantial body of research provides support for contact theory, critics have argued that its emphasis on harmonious encounters can result in the neglect of group differences and associated issues of conflict and discrimination during contact. The research discussed in this article explores this tension with reference to two shared education projects in Northern Ireland. Research data, gathered primarily through interviews with pupils, confirms that divisive issues are rarely addressed during contact and explores several influences on this: the nature of pupils’ relationships, the programme structure, and the prevailing social norms of avoidance.

Temporary Places > Community Garden > Peaspark

Temporary Places is a community and art project in North Belfast at two interface areas, New Lodge and Skegoneill/ Glandore. This project (Jan 2013-ongoing) is a collaboration between New Lodge Arts
(lead administrative partner), PS2 (project curators) and Skegoneill & Glandore Common Purpose (community organisation). ‘Temporary Places’ was and still is a project about social and urban regeneration, partly through familiar strategies and activities and partly through more unorthodox, direct and creative interventions. It is an art and community project for all residents and the wider community.

There are several components to the project, but the key and ongoing element is to activate the empty spaces at the Skegoniell / Glandore Interface, by making a 'garden space' of creative activity - now known as Peaspark

Abundant genetic overlap between blood lipids and immune-mediated diseases indicates shared molecular genetic mechanisms

Epidemiological studies suggest a relationship between blood lipids and immune-mediated diseases, but the nature of these associations is not well understood. We used genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to investigate shared single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between blood lipids and immune-mediated diseases. We analyzed data from GWAS (n~200,000 individuals), applying new False Discovery Rate (FDR) methods, to investigate genetic overlap between blood lipid levels [triglycerides (TG), low density lipoproteins (LDL), high density lipoproteins (HDL)] and a selection of archetypal immune-mediated diseases (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, psoriasis and sarcoidosis). We found significant polygenic pleiotropy between the blood lipids and all the investigated immune-mediated diseases. We discovered several shared risk loci between the immune-mediated diseases and TG (n = 88), LDL (n = 87) and HDL (n = 52). Three-way analyses differentiated the pattern of pleiotropy among the immune-mediated diseases. The new pleiotropic loci increased the number of functional gene network nodes representing blood lipid loci by 40%. Pathway analyses implicated several novel shared mechanisms for immune pathogenesis and lipid biology, including glycosphingolipid synthesis (e.g. FUT2) and intestinal host-microbe interactions (e.g. ATG16L1). We demonstrate a shared genetic basis for blood lipids and immune-mediated diseases independent of environmental factors. Our findings provide novel mechanistic insights into dyslipidemia and immune-mediated diseases and may have implications for therapeutic trials involving lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory agents.

Shared common variants in prostate cancer and blood lipids

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological and clinical studies suggest comorbidity between prostate cancer (PCA) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. However, the relationship between these two phenotypes is still not well understood. Here we sought to identify shared genetic loci between PCA and CVD risk factors.

METHODS: We applied a genetic epidemiology method based on conjunction false discovery rate (FDR) that combines summary statistics from different genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and allows identification of genetic overlap between two phenotypes. We evaluated summary statistics from large, multi-centre GWA studies of PCA (n=50 000) and CVD risk factors (n=200 000) [triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, waist-hip ratio and type 2 diabetes (T2D)]. Enrichment of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with PCA and CVD risk factors was assessed with conditional quantile-quantile plots and the Anderson-Darling test. Moreover, we pinpointed shared loci using conjunction FDR.

RESULTS: We found the strongest enrichment of P-values in PCA was conditional on LDL and conditional on TG. In contrast, we found only weak enrichment conditional on HDL or conditional on the other traits investigated. Conjunction FDR identified altogether 17 loci; 10 loci were associated with PCA and LDL, 3 loci were associated with PCA and TG and additionally 4 loci were associated with PCA, LDL and TG jointly (conjunction FDR <0.01). For T2D, we detected one locus adjacent to HNF1B.

CONCLUSIONS: We found polygenic overlap between PCA predisposition and blood lipids, in particular LDL and TG, and identified 17 pleiotropic gene loci between PCA and LDL, and PCA and TG, respectively. These findings provide novel pathobiological insights and may have implications for trials using targeting lipid-lowering agents in a prevention or cancer setting.

Molecular subtyping of primary prostate cancer reveals specific and shared target genes of different ETS rearrangements

This work aimed to evaluate whether ETS transcription factors frequently involved in rearrangements in prostate carcinomas (PCa), namely ERG and ETV1, regulate specific or shared target genes. We performed differential expression analysis on nine normal prostate tissues and 50 PCa enriched for different ETS rearrangements using exon-level expression microarrays, followed by in vitro validation using cell line models. We found specific deregulation of 57 genes in ERG-positive PCa and 15 genes in ETV1-positive PCa, whereas deregulation of 27 genes was shared in both tumor subtypes. We further showed that the expression of seven tumor-associated ERG target genes (PLA1A, CACNA1D, ATP8A2, HLA-DMB, PDE3B, TDRD1, and TMBIM1) and two tumor-associated ETV1 target genes (FKBP10 and GLYATL2) was significantly affected by specific ETS silencing in VCaP and LNCaP cell line models, respectively, whereas the expression of three candidate ERG and ETV1 shared targets (GRPR, KCNH8, and TMEM45B) was significantly affected by silencing of either ETS. Interestingly, we demonstrate that the expression of TDRD1, the topmost overexpressed gene of our list of ERG-specific candidate targets, is inversely correlated with the methylation levels of a CpG island found at -66 bp of the transcription start site in PCa and that TDRD1 expression is regulated by direct binding of ERG to the CpG island in VCaP cells. We conclude that ETS transcription factors regulate specific and shared target genes and that TDRD1, FKBP10, and GRPR are promising therapeutic targets and can serve as diagnostic markers for molecular subtypes of PCa harboring specific fusion gene rearrangements.

Nuclear cataract shows significant familial aggregation in an older population after adjustment for possible shared environmental factors.

PURPOSE: To quantify the association between siblings in age-related nuclear cataract, after adjusting for known environmental and personal risk factors. METHODS: All participants (probands) in the Salisbury Eye Evaluation (SEE) project and their locally resident siblings underwent digital slit lamp photography and were administered a questionnaire to assess risk factors for cataract including: age, gender, lifetime sun exposure, smoking and diabetes history, and use of alcohol and medications such as estrogens and steroids. In addition, blood pressure, body mass index, and serum antioxidants were measured in all participants. Lens photographs were graded by trained observers masked to the subjects' identity, using the Wilmer Cataract Grading System. The odds ratio for siblings for affectedness with nuclear cataract and the sibling correlation of nuclear cataract grade, after adjusting for covariates, were estimated with generalized estimating equations. RESULTS: Among 307 probands (mean age, 77.6 +/- 4.5 years) and 434 full siblings (mean age, 72.4 +/- 7.4 years), the average sibship size was 2.7 per family. After adjustment for covariates, the probability of development of nuclear cataract was significantly increased (odds ratio [OR] = 2.07, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30-3.30) among individuals with a sibling with nuclear cataract (nuclear grade > or = 3.0). The final fitted model indicated a magnitude of heritability for nuclear cataract of 35.6% (95% CI: 21.0%-50.3%) after adjustment for the covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Findings in this study are consistent with a genetic effect for age-related nuclear cataract, a common and clinically significant form of lens opacity.

Cortical, but not posterior subcapsular, cataract shows significant familial aggregation in an older population after adjustment for possible shared environmental factors.

PURPOSE:

To quantify the risk for age-related cortical cataract and posterior subcapsular cataract (PSC) associated with having an affected sibling after adjusting for known environmental and personal risk factors.

DESIGN:

Sibling cohort study.

PARTICIPANTS:

Participants in the ongoing Salisbury Eye Evaluation (SEE) study (n = 321; mean age, 78.1+/-4.2 years) and their locally resident siblings (n = 453; mean age, 72.6+/-7.4 years) were recruited at the time of Rounds 3 and 4 of the SEE study. INTERVENTION/TESTING METHODS: Retroillumination photographs of the lens were graded for the presence of cortical cataract and PSC with the Wilmer grading system. The residual correlation between siblings' cataract grades was estimated after adjustment for a number of factors (age; gender; race; lifetime exposure to ultraviolet-B light; cigarette, alcohol, estrogen, and steroid use; serum antioxidants; history of diabetes; blood pressure; and body mass index) suspected to be associated with the presence of cataract.

RESULTS:

The average sibship size was 2.7 per family. Multivariate analysis revealed the magnitude of heritability (h(2)) for cortical cataract to be 24% (95% CI, 6%-42%), whereas that for PSC was not statistically significant (h(2) 4%; 95% CI, 0%-11%) after adjustment for the covariates. The model revealed that increasing age, female gender, a history of diabetes, and black race increased the odds of cortical cataract, whereas higher levels of provitamin A were protective. A history of diabetes and steroid use increased the odds for PSC.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study is consistent with a significant genetic effect for age-related cortical cataract but not PSC.

The Exclusive Brethren ‘Doctrine of Separation’: An Anthropology of Theology

Why do the Exclusive Brethren attend church ten times a week? Why do they shun excommunicated members, including immediate family? Why do they refuse to eat with outsiders? Why will they employ outsiders in their businesses, but never be employed by them? Why do they reject modern media as “pipelines of filth”? Why do they refuse to vote, while simultaneously campaigning for Conservative Party candidates? Why do they only live in detached houses, and build churches entirely without windows? How, in other words, do the Exclusive Brethren try to live good lives? And what can we learn anthropologically from these models of ‘the good’, and from the objections they provoke? Drawing inspiration from Keane’s (2014) suggestion that ‘we shouldn’t decide in advance what ethics will look like’, this paper seeks to critically contribute to new scholarship within the anthropology of morality and detachment by constructing, in a very literal sense, an anthropology of theology via an analysis of the Exclusive Brethren ‘doctrine of separation’.

Bringing down the walls: Is the notion of ‘promoting shared space’ commensurate with effective transformation of contested places in Belfast?

This article is a reflexive and critical examination of recent empirical research on effective practice in the management and ‘transformation’ of contested urban space at sectarian interfaces in Belfast. By considering the development of interfaces, the areas around them and policy responses to their persistence, the reality of contested space in the context of ‘peace building’ is apparent; with implications for local government as central to the statutory response. Belfast has developed an inbuilt absence of connectivity; where freedom of movement is particularly restricted and separation of contested space is the policy default position. Empirical research findings focus attention on the significance of social and economic regeneration and fall into three specific areas that reflect both long-term concerns within neighbourhoods and the need for adequate policy responses and action ‘on the ground’. Drawing on Elden and Sassen we reconfigure the analytical framework by which interfaces are defined, with implications for policy and practice in post-conflict Belfast. Past and current policy for peace-building in Northern Ireland, and transforming the most contested space, at interfaces in Belfast, is deliberately ambiguous and offers little substance having failed to advance from funding-led linguistic compliance to a sustainable peace-building methodology.