Search

The key research objective of the current study is to answer the following research question: Why is ‘privacy' a contested concept that is hard to define? In doing so, the study will raise awareness of the contemporary meaning of ‘privacy' in relation to cyber activities and to draw attention to the need for developing the right to cyber privacy and its legal protection. Hence, the current study has embarked on analysing the meaning of privacy in general, and the meaning of cyber or online privacy in particular. As a result, privacy has been found to be a perennially contestable concept, and this is exacerbated by the ever more rapidly developing digital world and also by the diverse perceptions which vary across societies, cultures, and generations. This has created a big challenge for regulators and legislators to define a specific privacy right that can be accorded with a legal protection against violations across national and international jurisdictions. However, the right to privacy has been found to be vague and open to multiple, competing interpretations.

Actinic keratoses (AKs) are premalignant intraepidermal neoplasms that occur as a result of cumulative sun damage. AKs commonly relapse, and up to 16% undergo malignant transformation into cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). There is a need for novel therapies that reduce the quantity and surface area of AKs as well as prevent malignant transformation to cSCCs. We recently showed that GZ17-6.02, an anti-cancer agent composed of curcumin, haramine, and isovanillin, inhibited the growth of H297.T cells. The present study evaluated the efficacy of a novel topical formulation of GZ17-6.02, known as GZ21T, in a murine model of AK generated by exposing SKH1 mice to ultraviolet irradiation. Treatment of mice with topical GZ21T inhibited the growth of AKs by decreasing both lesion count (p=.028) and surface area occupied by tumor (p=.026). GZ21T also suppressed the progression of AKs to cSCC by decreasing the count (p=.047) and surface area (p=.049) of lesions more likely to represent cSCC. RNA sequencing and proteomic analyses revealed that GZ21T suppressed several pathways, including MAPK (p=.026), Pi3K-Akt (p=.028), HIF-1α (p=.030), Wnt (p=.031), insulin (p=.011), and ErbB (p=.006) signaling. GZ21T also upregulated the autophagy-promoting protein AMPK, while suppressing proteins such as PD-L1, glutaminase, pAkt1 S473, and eEF2K.GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Understanding and experiencing time has been historically and socially formed by various bodies of power and control who have advocated commodifying clock time of the capitalist economy. This has significantly impacted the lives of working people in general and working women with care and domestic duties in particular. So, many studies have demonstrated the gendering of time management in the Western workplace, but none so far – to the best of the authors’ knowledge – has been reported in the Middle Eastern countries in general and in Syria in particular. Here comes the contribution of this study, which investigates a sample of Syrian women with paid work duties by conducting in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. The investigation explores the individual perceptions of time as well as the individual experiences of time management regarding the participants’ paid and unpaid work duties. The focus here is on identifying and explaining the internal and external factors which drive the participants’ perceptions and experiences. The interview narratives have revealed that time management is gendered – it requires women rather than men to strike a balance between their employment role and domestic role. However, not all participants were aware of the boundaries between time spent on public paid work and time dedicated for private unpaid or domestic work. In conclusion, the study has demonstrated that gendered time allocation is culturally embedded through gendering domestic and care work, which affected the time spent on paid work in the public sphere. Keywords: time management, time allocation, work, gender, cultural norms

BACKGROUND Molecular characterization of glioblastomas by The Cancer Genome Atlas revealed molecular abnormalities in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in over 50% of glioblastomas. These included gene amplification, a large deletion in ligand binding domain (EGFRvIII), kinase duplications and gene fusions. Our laboratory has been focusing on targeting EGFRvIII in glioblastomas and we noted EGFRvIII heterogeneity. We found that growth inhibition of EGFRvIII+ glioblastoma stem cell lines D317 and D10-0171 by osimertinib was different, with D317 being more sensitive. Molecular analyses revealed that D10-0171 has 35-fold higher levels of the transcription factor OLIG2. Here we hypothesize that increased OLIG2 expression confers osimertinib resistance in EGFRvIII+ GBM. METHODS An OLIG2 knock out GSC, D10-0171 (OLIG2-KO) was generated using CRISPR. Efficacy of osimertinib in growth inhibition of D10-0171 (WT) and OLIG2-KO was examined in a subcutaneous xenograft model. Once tumors became visible, mice were treated daily with either 200 μl vehicle or 25 mg/kg osimertinib by oral gavage. RNA-seq and reverse phase protein array (RPPA) analyses were then performed on both GSC’s. RESULTS Assessment of tumor growth of both GSC’s demonstrated that OLIG2-KO cells formed tumors at a significantly lower rate than WT with a rate-based (T/C) ratio of 0.0077. Administration of osimertinib led to tumor growth inhibition in both GSCs but had a greater effect in OLIG2KO than WT, with rate-based T/C ratios of 0.099 and 0.1669, respectively. Transcriptomic analysis of OLIG2KO revealed downregulation of several pathways when compared to WT, including MYC targets V1 and V2, oxidative phosphorylation, and fatty acid metabolism, while proteomic analysis revealed downregulation of several growth-promoting pathways including ErbB and MAPK signaling. CONCLUSION Lower levels of OLIG2 increase osimertinib sensitivity of EGFRvIII+ glioblastoma. We propose a schema for selecting EGFRvIII+ patients who will respond to Osimertinib.

Right heart failure (RHF) after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Existing risk scores include semiquantitative evaluation of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. This study aimed to determine whether quantitative evaluation of both RV size and function improve risk stratification for RHF after LVAD implantation beyond validated scores.From 2009 to 2015, 158 patients who underwent implantation of continuous-flow devices who had complete echocardiographic and hemodynamic data were included. Quantitative RV parameters included RV end-diastolic (RVEDAI) and end-systolic area index, RV free-wall longitudinal strain (RVLS), fractional area change, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, and right atrial area and pressure. Independent correlates of early RHF (30 days) were determined with the use of logistic regression analysis. Mean age was 56 ± 13 years, with 79% male; 49% had INTERMACS profiles ≤2. RHF occurred in 60 patients (38%), with 20 (13%) requiring right ventricular assist device. On multivariate analysis, INTERMACS profiles (adjusted odds ratio 2.38 [95% confidence interval [CI] 1.47-3.85]), RVEDAI (1.61 [1.08-2.32]), and RVLS (2.72 [1.65-4.51]) were independent correlates of RHF (all P.05). Both RVLS and RVEDAI were incremental to validated risk scores (including the EUROMACS score) for early RHF after LVAD (all P.01).RV end-diastolic and strain are complementary prognostic markers of RHF after LVAD implantation.

Background— The use of tissue engineering approaches in combination with exogenously produced cardiomyocytes offers the potential to restore contractile function after myocardial injury. However, current techniques assessing changes in global cardiac performance after such treatments are plagued by relatively low detection ability. Since the treatment is locally performed, this detection could be improved by myocardial strain imaging that measures regional contractility. Methods and Results— Tissue engineered heart muscles (EHMs) were generated by casting human embryonic stem cell–derived cardiomyocytes with collagen in preformed molds. EHMs were transplanted (n=12) to cover infarct and border zones of recipient rat hearts 1 month after ischemia reperfusion injury. A control group (n=10) received only sham placement of sutures without EHMs. To assess the efficacy of EHMs, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound-based strain imaging were performed before and 4 weeks after transplantation. In addition to strain imaging, global cardiac performance was estimated from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Although no significant differences were found for global changes in left ventricular ejection fraction (control −9.6±1.3% versus EHM −6.2±1.9%; P =0.17), regional myocardial strain from tagged magnetic resonance imaging was able to detect preserved systolic function in EHM-treated animals compared with control (control 4.4±1.0% versus EHM 1.0±0.6%; P =0.04). However, ultrasound-based strain failed to detect any significant change (control 2.1±3.0% versus EHM 6.3±2.9%; P =0.46). Conclusions— This study highlights the feasibility of using cardiac strain from tagged magnetic resonance imaging to assess functional changes in rat models following localized regenerative therapies, which may not be detected by conventional measures of global systolic performance.

This paper discusses one of the contemporary challenging issues—it is the challenge of e-commerce to the sovereignty of the state, where governments are unable to implement their own laws on disputed cases resulting from trans-border e-commerce interactions. The objective of the current research is to draw attention to the impact of international characteristics of e-commerce on the sovereignty of state, and to identify the factors affecting this sovereignty. The issue of the dynamicity of time and place will be taken into consideration, where activities carried out over the internet are characterized by their cross-border dimension. Based on real e-commerce case studies disputed on international level, this paper will draw on the legal perspective of cyberspace, identifying the relationship between cyberspace and state sovereignty, and outlining the mechanisms by which cyberspace could cross borders and the territory of the state despite all the precautions taken by the state to protect its sovereignty.

This presentation is to provide an overview of Los National Laboratory and the surrounding area for use during recruiting trips.

Several pre-operative risk scores for right heart failure (RHF) following left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation have been proposed often relying on semi-quantitative right heart assessment. This study aimed to determine if assessing right heart maladaptive phenotypes (RHMP) based on

This paper seeks to define and discuss the nature, size, variety, ideology, and change in the polities of three regions of the Maya Lowlands: the Greater Peten, Central Yucatan (Río Bec/Chenes), and the Puuc Hills. Patterned variety is demonstrable on all levels of analysis and even within stylistic regions, within suggested regional states, and within sites.

Using the anonymity feature of GDSS (Group Decision Support Systems) meeting application as a backbone, this paper is aimed to find out whether enhancing technical anonymity in the GDSS supported meetings will increase participants' confidence in the software's confidentiality, causing more productive discussions. Some Anonymity Enhancing Technologies (AETs) are discussed, and their impact on ensuring anonymity is investigated. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with experienced facilitators, technical support individuals and users of GDSS meeting software, from real business environmental settings. The `FacilitatePro' and `MeetingSphere' meeting applications were investigated for the research. The paper illustrates some results, and proposes future research related to AETs in GDSS supported meetings.