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This paper focusses on peer education and specifically on young women peer educators working within the charity Home-Start in the north of England. This work is undertaken in a social context where educational achievement is increasingly measured by certification and occupational hierarchies have been 'professionalised' whilst notions of professionalism have been drained of meaning in ways which can be potentially democratising. State educational imperatives in the UK have focussed on concepts such as academic excellence and the promotion of vocational opportunities (for those from 'hard-working families'). Within this paper, the peer educator is positioned as generally similar to the individuals and groups with which they work in that they are likely to share characteristics including age, gender, ethnicity, social class and educational attainment. The peer educators who participated in the study support each other in circumstances that lead to mutual benefits which are largely outside the educational mainstream. The paper considers motivations for involvement as a peer educator, peer educators' perspectives on the benefits/value of this work, the impact on confidence and aspiration, as well as their experiences of engagement and encounters with professionals. The paper, which focusses on empowerment, is informed by thinking on the importance of recognition and suggests that peer education holds potential for propagating forms of pedagogy which are relatively free of the authoritative relationships typically associated with 'teaching.'

This article draws on a small-scale case study of English pre- and in-service Further Education (FE) trainee teachers from a northern university. It explores their understanding of notions of well-being and health. In particular, it examines trainees' orientation to care as well as their constructions of learners. It analyses two contradictory but overlapping discourses, one that constructs learners as in need of care and support whilst the other utilises a "pathological" model. This is followed by an analysis of the labour process within Further Education and the emotional labour involved in supporting students as well as meeting the range of demands faced by those working in the sector. Whilst the trainees reflect models of the dual and learning professional characteristic of teachers in the sector, marked by an expanded professionalism, they have as yet not developed a fully politicised notion of teaching. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)

A range of initiatives to promote well-being and empowerment have been introduced into English schools. These ostensibly support the citizenship curriculum that seeks to foster a more active and engaged populace. Whilst children are being encouraged to view their own well-being as a personal project (and as a badge of successful citizenship), this process is being undermined by an informal curriculum of citizenship, embedded within the culture of performativity, that is promoting a climate of misrecognition within schools. This form of "symbolic violence" (that affects working-class families disproportionately) is encroaching into the private sphere, traditionally a "potential" refuge providing opportunities for the development of forms of well-being that were not dependent on institutional endorsement. It is suggested that some of the counter-hegemonic values developed in the face of marginalisation might usefully inform issues of citizenship and well-being in schools in ways that would encourage genuinely empowered forms of citizenship.

The present paper explores the fascist vision for education in 1930s Britain through the presentation of extracts from official publications of the British Union of Fascists (BUF), as well as from the writings of Party members. The paper presents a socio-historical study of British adherents to fascism and provides an account of their thinking in relation to education and schooling, exposing a milieu of ideologues, Party functionaries and serving teachers who were animated by their political commitment. Following a brief outline of the early years of British fascism, there is an account of some key members and their educational ideas, followed by a discussion of the BUF's educational policies and of its approach to internal education and training. The orientation of the BUF and its membership to education, and the Party's formulated policies in this field present a modernist vision that was calculated to have particular appeal to educational professionals. There is a consideration, through memoirs, of the experiences of two BUF members who were teachers. The paper reveals a relatively hidden episode in the social history of British educational politics; one that contained paradoxes of intent and outcome, and of means and ends, when ostensibly progressive and socially elevating concepts were employed in ways that had an ultimately destructive impact on individuals, both personally and professionally, as well as on whole societies.

This paper contrasts two types of "autodidact" located in the UK in different historical periods, which utilised different learning/research technologies to different ends. From the 1920s to the 1960s some working-class activists committed to the Communist Party of Great Britain became "educated" in Marxism (and more) through the processes intrinsic to their politics. This radical acculturation was undertaken outside the universities in consequence of both an absence of access to higher education and because of the relatively enclosed social world of British Communism. The widening of educational opportunities and the decline of political Marxism effectively extinguished this kind of autodidact. New technologies have meant that the 21st century is witnessing individuals and cyber-communities that are creating knowledge-based challenges to professional and institutional power in the face of personal/family "medical" crises. The paper outlines the characteristics of these two categories of autodidact and a new terrain of counter-hegemonic learning. (Contains 4 notes and 1 table.)

The antithrombotic benefits of warfarin are countered by a narrow therapeutic index that contributes to excessive bleeding or cerebrovascular clotting and stroke in some patients. This article reviews the current [...]

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.01074.x Byline: Pamela Fisher (1) Keywords: wellbeing; empowerment; health; social care; recognition Abstract: Abstract Health and wellbeing are now located within a policy framework that emphasises the empowerment of the individual 'consumer'. Within this paradigm, empowerment is writ large and wellbeing is seen as a 'civic duty'. The role of the health and social care services has been identified as one of enabling service users to promote their own wellbeing. In this paper, it is argued that dominant narratives relating to 'achievement' and 'normality' may result in forms of 'misrecognition' that act to undermine the positive sense of self that is crucial for self-empowerment. It is suggested that while the parents of disabled babies often act reflexively to create empowering life narratives within the private sphere, this is not always facilitated by their encounters with health and social care organisations where neo-liberal ideas and biomedical narratives, based on a modernist view of identity as individual and existing prior to society, mean that parents and children are attributed 'deficient' identities in ways that undermine empowerment. With reference to 'the politics of recognition', it is argued that services that seek to empower must value diversity and alterity whilst respecting human dependency on intersubjective recognition. Author Affiliation: (1)School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield Article note: Address for correspondence: Pamela Fisher, University of Huddersfield, School of Human and Health Sciences, Queensgate, Ramsden Building, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, e-mail: p.l.fisher@hud.ac.uk

Mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1 (MAdCAM-1) is a homing receptor preferentially expressed on gut-associated endothelial cells that plays a central role in leukocyte traffic into the mucosal immune compartment. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying endothelial ICAM-1 or E-selectin expression have been intensively investigated, the mechanisms that regulate human MAdCAM-1 expression have not been defined. We report MAdCAM-1 gene and protein expression in primary cultures of human intestinal microvascular endothelial cells (HIMEC) that was not demonstrated in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Similar to ICAM-1 and E-selectin expression, MAdCAM-1 gene expression in HIMEC was inducible with TNF-[alpha], IL-1[beta], or LPS activation. However, in striking contrast to ICAM-1 and E-selectin expression, MAdCAM-1 mRNA and protein expression in HIMEC was heavily dependent on culture duration and/or cellular density, suggesting a prominent role for cell-cell interaction among these endothelial cells in the expression of the mucosal addressin. MAdCAM-I expression was inhibited by both SN-50 (NF-[kappa]B inhibitor) and LY-294002 [phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) inhibitor], whereas ICAM-I and E-selectin expression was inhibited by SN-50 but not by LY-294002. The Akt phosphorylation by TNF-[alpha] or LPS was greater at higher cell density, demonstrating a pattern similar to that of MAdCAM-1 expression. NF-KB activation was not affected by cellular density in HIMEC. MAdCAM-1 expression in human gut endothelial cells is regulated by distinct signaling mechanisms involving both NF-[kappa]B and PI3-K/Akt. These data also suggest that PI3-K/ Akt is involved in the gut-specific differentiation of HIMEC, which results in expression of the mucosal addressin MAdCAM- 1. cell adhesion molecules: nuclear factor-[kappa]B; phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase

Gastroesophageal reflux disease is the most common malady of the esophagus, affecting 7% of the United States population. Histological assessment demonstrates classic inflammatory mechanisms including selective leukocyte recruitment and hemorrhage, suggesting a prominent role for the microvasculature. We isolated and characterized human esophageal microvascular endothelial cells (EC) (HEMEC), examined inflammatory activation in response to cytokines, LPS, and acidic pH exposure, and identified signaling pathways that underlie activation. HEMEC displayed characteristic morphological and phenotypic features including acetylated LDL uptake. TNF-[alpha]/LPS activation of HEMEC resulted in upregulation of the cell adhesion molecules (CAM) ICAM-1, VCAM-1, E-selectin, and mucosal addressin CAM-1 (MAdCAM-1), increased IL-8 production, and enhanced leukocyte binding. Both acid and TNF-[alpha]/LPS activation lead to activation of SAPK/JNK in HEMEC that was linked to VCAM-1 expression and U-937 leukocyte adhesion. Expression of constitutive inducible nitric oxide synthase in HEMEC was in marked contrast to intestinal microvascular endothelial cells. In this study, we demonstrate that HEMECs are phenotypically and functionally distinct from lower gut-derived endothelial cells and will facilitate understanding of inflammatory mechanisms in esophageal inflammation. esophagus; esophagitis; gastroesophageal reflux disease; endothelium; microvascular; antioxidants; curcumin; nitric oxide; inflammation; vascular cell adhesion molecule-1; mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1; stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun [NH.sub.2]-terminal kinase

Abstract The immunosuppressive agent cyclosporin A (CsA), a calcineurin inhibitor which blocks T cell activation has provided the pharmacologic foundation for organ transplantation. CsA exerts additional effects on non-immune cell populations and may adversely effect microvascular endothelial cells, contributing to chronic rejection, a long-term clinical complication and significant cause of mortality in solid-organ transplants, including patients with small bowel allografts. Growth of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a critical homeostatic mechanism in organs and tissues, and regulates vascular populations in response to physiologic requirements. We hypothesized that CsA would inhibit the angiogenic capacity of human gut microvessels. Primary cultures of human intestinal microvascular endothelial cells (HIMEC) were used to evaluate CsA's effect on four in vitro measures of angiogenesis, including endothelial stress fiber assembly, migration, proliferation and tube formation, in response to the endothelial growth factor VEGF. We characterized the effect of CsA on intracellular signaling mechanisms following VEGF stimulation. CsA affected all VEGF induced angiogenic events assessed in HIMEC. CsA differentially inhibited signaling pathways which mediated distinct steps of the angiogenic process. CsA blocked VEGF induced nuclear translocation of the transcription factor NFAT, activation of p44/42 MAPK, and partially inhibited JNK and p38 MAPK. CsA differentially affected signaling cascades in a dose dependent fashion and completely blocked expression of COX-2, which was integrally linked to HIMEC angiogenesis. These data suggest that CsA inhibits the ability of microvascular endothelial cells to undergo angiogenesis, impairing vascular homeostatic mechanisms and contributing to the vasculopathy associated with chronic rejection.

Soledad Women is the product of in-depth interviews with 25 women, all wives or girlfriends of prisoners. It also incorporates the experiences and feelings of the author, a sociologist who [...]

This book presents the results of interviews with 14 female inmates of a Canadian prison where the author was a staff therapist. Sommers describes the types of offenses for which [...]

Byline: Ruth Deery, Pamela Fisher Managing and performing emotions to support women service users and colleagues can leave midwives feeling emotionally drained. The necessity to 'perform' emotion, associated with reorganisations in the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom (UK), has contributed towards a prevailing understanding of clinical practice as performance based. In this paper, two types of emotional work within midwifery are explored: 'emotional labour' and 'philanthropic emotion work'. Data from two studies in the north of England are presented. In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted with midwives and subsequently analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that emotional labour and philanthropic emotional work are unacknowledged and undervalued within midwifery. In addition, this has negative repercussions for the quality of the service provided whilst also undermining the creation of an emotionally and intellectually sustaining working environment for midwives.

This paper, based on data taken from in-depth interviews with senior midwives and obstetricians and conducted as part of a critical ethnographic study, argues for a greater appreciation of person-centred, value-led midwifery practice. The paper begins with a discussion of the way midwifery practice is shaped by encoded and embodied knowledge. The paper subsequently focuses on an emergent practice-based leadership using an adapted Aristotelian conceptual framework derived from MacIntyre [(2007). After virtue (3rd ed.). London: Duckworth]. Professional dissonance is highlighted as a difficulty experienced by repositioned managers who are also expected to be leaders in their field. Using data gathered from indepth interviews it is contended that establishing person-centred care might be better achieved through the development of practice-based leadership (rather than solely by adherence to organisational requirements). This type of leadership could potentially nurture a professional environment that promotes qualities such as agency, commitment and high levels of competence among midwives. Such leadership is central to UK government priorities and is applicable to a global practice development agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]