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THE TRIAL OF JULIAN ASSANGE A story of persecution NILS MELZER 368pp. Verso. Paperback, 11.99 [pounds sterling]. SECRET POWER WikiLeaks and its enemies STEFANIA MAURIZI 368pp. Pluto Press. Paperback, 14.99 [...]

THE DAMASCUS EVENTS The 1860 massacre and the destruction of the old Ottoman world EUGENE ROGAN 400pp. Allen Lane. 30 [pounds sterling]. Armed gangs of men and boys rampaged through [...]

THE SIEGE The remarkable story of the greatest SAS hostage drama BEN MACINTYRE 400pp. Viking. 25 [pounds sterling]. Forty-one-year-old Police Constable Trevor Lock was at his usual post, guarding the [...]

CONFRONTING SADDAM HUSSEIN George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq MELVYN P. LEFFLER 240pp. Oxford University Press. 21.99 [pounds sterling] (US $27.95). In 1899 President William McKinley explained to [...]

THE FATE OF ABRAHAM Why the West is wrong about Islam PETER OBORNE 528pp. Simon and Schuster. 25 [pounds sterling]. The journalist Peter Oborne once cherished a faith in British [...]

SENSING INJUSTICE A lawyer's life in the battle for change MICHAEL E. TIGAR 512pp. Monthly Review. 80 [pounds sterling]. In 1920, Clarence Darrow, America's great 'defender of the damned', told [...]

Simple Summary: The complex tissue changes that occur after central nervous system (CNS) damage/injury require a multi-target treatment approach. Specialised sugar molecules that reside in and around our cells, known as heparan sulphate (HS), regulate numerous cellular functions and are important for tissue repair. HS contains a chemical group called sulphate which, depending on the number and position, can make cells regulate different functions. To harness the potential of HS, we can mimic its function using heparin mimetics (mHeps). mHeps are modified from the blood-thinning drug heparin whose structure resembles HS. mHeps can be chemically altered to contain less or more sulphate. We have shown that mHeps with low levels of sulphate (low-sulphated) are beneficial for CNS repair. However, mHeps are manufactured from heparin obtained from pig intestines, the supply of which can risk contamination or suffer shortages. There are also ethical implications of using animal-derived products as future therapies. Next-generation HS mimics now exist which are derived from cultured cells, termed recombinant HS mimetics (rHS). rHS may also promote repair and would translate to the clinic more readily than pig tissue-derived compounds. We have therefore validated the repair potential of these newer next-generation mimetics and compared them with our lead low-sulphated compound. Therapies that target the multicellular pathology of central nervous system (CNS) disease/injury are urgently required. Modified non-anticoagulant heparins mimic the heparan sulphate (HS) glycan family and have been proposed as therapeutics for CNS repair since they are effective regulators of numerous cellular processes. Our in vitro studies have demonstrated that low-sulphated modified heparan sulphate mimetics (LS-mHeps) drive CNS repair. However, LS-mHeps are derived from pharmaceutical heparin purified from pig intestines, in a supply chain at risk of shortages and contamination. Alternatively, cellular synthesis of heparin and HS can be achieved using mammalian cell multiplex genome engineering, providing an alternative source of recombinant HS mimetics (rHS). TEGA Therapeutics (San Diego) have manufactured rHS reagents with varying degrees of sulphation and we have validated their ability to promote repair in vitro using models that mimic CNS injury, making comparisons to LS-mHep7, a previous lead compound. We have shown that like LS-mHep7, low-sulphated rHS compounds promote remyelination and reduce features of astrocytosis, and in contrast, highly sulphated rHS drive neurite outgrowth. Cellular production of heparin mimetics may, therefore, offer potential clinical benefits for CNS repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sir,--Would any reader with information, correspondence or documents relating to Dr William Halse Rivers and Dr Arthur Brock, who served as psychiatrists at the Craiglockhart War Hospital during the First [...]

Noam Chomsky OPTIMISM OVER DESPAIR On capitalism, empire, and social change Interviews by C. J. Polychroniou 210pp. Haymarket Books. $16.95. 978 1 60846 799 0 REQUIEM FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM [...]

Abstract Introduction High grade gliomas are an insidious disease associated with an extremely poor prognosis. The role of re-irradiation for recurrent gliomas is unclear but several retrospective studies have indicated mild toxicity and modest outcomes with this regimen. With subsequent progression, it is unclear what options remain and more radiotherapy is rarely offered for fear of surpassing normal central nervous system tissue tolerance and causing significant side effects without significant benefit. Case presentation In this report, we describe a 37-year-old Caucasian male initially diagnosed with a grade IV oligodendroglioma, who received multiple courses of re-irradiation and experienced a survival of 10 years with minimal cognitive or neurologic deficits. Conclusion Significant toxicity with multiple courses of radiation does not always occur. Re-irradiation should be considered in a salvage setting.

Jeff Halper WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLE Israel, the Palestinians and global pacification 352pp. Pluto Press. 60 [pounds sterling] (paperback, 14.99 [pounds sterling]). 978 0 7453 3430 1 Andrew Cockburn KILL [...]

Joshua Partlow A KINGDOM OF THEIR OWN The family Karzai and the Afghan disaster 422pp. Simon and Schuster. 20 [pounds sterling]. 978 1 4711 2934 6 Benito Mussolini might have [...]

Helen Fernandez MARTYRS NEVER DIE Travels through South Lebanon 71pp. Warscapes Magazine. Ebook, $2.69. Americans are less innocent abroad than they were in 1867, when Mark Twain accompanied a party [...]