Genome - wide association study identifies novel breast cancer susceptibility loci

Breast cancer exhibits familial aggregation, consistent with variation in genetic susceptibility to the disease. Known susceptibility genes account for less than 25% of the familial risk of breast cancer, and the residual genetic variance is likely to be due to variants conferring more moderate risks. To identify further susceptibility alleles, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study in 4,398 breast cancer cases and 4,316 controls, followed by a third stage in which 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were tested for confirmation in 21,860 cases and 22,578 controls from 22 studies. We used 227,876 SNPs that were estimated to correlate with 77% of known common SNPs in Europeans at r² > 0.5. SNPs in five novel independent loci exhibited strong and consistent evidence of association with breast cancer (P < 10^-7). Four of these contain plausible causative genes (FGFR2, TNRC9, MAP3K1 and LSP1). At the second stage, 1,792 SNPs were significant at the P < 0.05 level compared with an estimated 1,343 that would be expected by chance, indicating that many additional common susceptibility alleles may be identifiable by this approach.

The mystical theology of Michael Ramsey

Explains the tradition of Christian mystical theology and ecndevours to highlight its contemporary importance and relevance. Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1961-1974, was seriously concerned with mystical theology and argued for its greater appreciation within the Church in the West.

Study of 'post-critical' thought and religious epistemology : with special reference to Michael Polanyi, Paul Tillich and Thomas F. Torrance

Explores the foundational problem in epistemology posed by Immanuel Kant and illustrates, from the 'post-critical' position, with special reference to Michael Polanyi, Paul Tillich and Thomas F. Torrance, how they serve as alternative philosophical and religious responses to the Kantian critical philosophy.

All the animals are gone? The politics of contemporary hunter arcade games.

Recent proliferation and popularity of personal computer and console games has meant that scholarship around video arcade games has been largely ignored. Arcade games had their halcyon days during the 1970s and 1980s when 'Space Invaders', 'Pong' and 'Donkey Kong' were household names. The inception of scholarship into games occurred in the 1990s; a time when arcade games were writ small in the cultural imagination, at least compared to the newer home computer and video games. Thus in games theory they are typically discussed only in terms of their role as antecedents to their more popular kin. Moreover, they seem innocuous because they are so publicly accessible. Against this assumption, and lack of scholarship, this paper explores a selection of contemporary arcade games which we describe as 'hunting' games. Arcade hunting games are first-person shooter (FPS) involving one or more players shooting simulated wild animals. They are commonly situated in cinema foyers, hotels, and family entertainment centres. However, despite a presumption of institutional moderation afforded by the public accessibility of these spaces, this paper argues that this genre works through a range of political modalities that require more scholarly consideration than currently given.

Tradition in a free society : the fideism of Michael Polanyi and the rationalism of Karl Popper

Michael Polanyi and Karl Popper offer contrasting accounts of social tradition. Popper is steeped in the heritage of the Enlightenment, while Polanyi interweaves religious and diverse secular strands of thought. Explaining the liberal tradition, Polanyi features tacit knowledge of rules, standards, applications and interpretations being transmitted by “craftsmen” to “apprentices.” Each generation adopts the liberal tradition on “faith,” commits to creatively developing its art of knowledge-in-practice, and is drawn to the spiritual reality of ideal ends. Of particular interest to Popper is the rationality of social traditions. Likened by him to scientific theories, Popper’s traditions are criticizable and improvable, assisting agents to understand, and act in, the world as stable and predictable. Polanyi’s is the more informative rendering of tradition. Polanyi delves deeply into important areas where Popper only scratches their surface: the tacit dimension, transmission by way of apprenticeship, the meaning of tradition for those who participate in it, and the extent of its authority over them.

Domino Heck-Aza-Michael reactions : efficient access to 1-substituted tetrahydro-β-carbolines

A simple and efficient palladium-catalyzed domino reaction for the synthesis of a series of C1-substituted tetrahydro-β-carbolines is described. This domino process involves a Heck reaction at the indole 2-position of a halogenated tryptamine precursor, followed by intramolecular aza-Michael addition.

Unanimous night by Michael Brennan

Review of Michael Brennan's poetry collection Unanimous Night

C. P. Snow’s The two cultures : Michael Polanyi’s response and context

C. P. Snow’s “The Two Cultures” controversially contrasted science and literature, suggesting that neither scientists nor literary intellectuals have much in common with, and seldom bother speaking to, the other. Responding to Snow, Michael Polanyi argued that specialization has made modern culture, not twofold but manifold. In his major work, Personal Knowledge, Polanyi explained that branches of modern culture have personal knowing and knowledge in common, and there is extensive cross-pollination of ideas. He also, in this book, saw the branches of culture as disparate intellectual frameworks that are divorced from one another.

A general approach to N-heterocyclic scaffolds using domino Heck-aza-Michael reactions

Palladium-catalyzed domino Heck–aza-Michael reactions for the synthesis of a series of C1-substituted tetrahydro-β-carbolines, tetrahydroisoquinolines and isoindolines are described. The domino process involves the initial intermolecular Heck reaction of an aryl bromide with an electron deficient alkene, followed by an intramolecular aza-Michael reaction to form the new N-heterocycle in high yield.