Three Poems

Poetry by Basma Kavanag

The most important predictors to the IMDB movies US box office success

This research highlights the determinants that affects the US box office returns for the American movies. Accordingly, the industry makers may be able to increase their movie returns based on highlighting the most significant factors that affect the returns. Additionally, the analysis results may be interesting for cinema critics, in order to be able to predict the returns of the movies

Effect of Lithium treatment on SOCE components in Chorea Acanthocytosis

Chorea Acanthocytosis (ChAc) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease characterized by limb chorea, dystonia, epilepsy and acanthocytosis. The patients have a reduced life expectancy of only around 60 years. This disorder is caused by a loss-of-function mutation of the VPS13A (vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein A) gene, which is the encoding gene of chorein. Normally, chorein stimulates phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), which is involved in the regulation of Ca2+ influx. Oscillations of intracellular Ca2+ concentration regulate, among other cell components, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Emptying of intracellular Ca2+ stores activates the Store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE), which leads to a conformational change and opening of the channel through the interaction between the Ca2+ concentration sensor protein, the Stromal Interacting Molecule 1 (STIM1), and the pore-forming channel, Orai1. The Ca2+ channel is known also as Ca2+ release-activated channel (CRAC). SOCE is increased by lithium via stimulation of serum & glucocorticoid-inducible kinase (SGK1), which is responsible in cells for stimulating the expression of Orai1 and STIM1 as well regulating the transcription factor: Nuclear Factor 'kappa-light-chain-enhancer' of activated B-cells (NFкB). Lithium is used in the treatment of bipolar disorders and can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In this study, fibroblasts and neurons of ChAc patients have been shown to have decreased SOCE and an increased rate of apoptosis. Fibroblasts were isolated from six ChAc patients and six healthy donors. In addition, fibroblasts were obtained from three additional patients and healthy donors and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were generated in order to differentiate them into neurons. Western blotting and calcium imaging showed a significant reduction in the amount of Orai1 protein and SOCE, respectively, in fibroblasts and iPSC-differentiated neurons of ChAc patients compared to healthy donors. RT-PCR showed a significant decrease in the mRNA levels of Orai1 and STIM1 in iPSC-differentiated neurons of ChAc patients. Apoptosis was detected by annexin-V / propidium iodide staining via flow cytometry and was in fibroblasts and iPSC-differentiated neurons of ChAc patients significantly higher than in those of healthy donors. In this study, it could be shown that the treatment of fibroblasts and neurons of ChAc patients with lithium positively influenced SOCE, an effect significantly reduced by the Orai1 blocker, 2-aminoethoxy diphenyl borate (2-APB). Lithium induced a significant decrease in apoptosis, an effect again abrogated by 2-APB. The mRNA and protein expression of Orai1 and STIM1 were increased by lithium, an effect reversed by inhibition of SGK1 and NFкB. In conclusion, the apoptotic effect of chorein deficiency in fibroblasts and neurons of ChAc patients is in part due to the decreased expression of Orai1, STIM1 and SOCE. Treatment with lithium could reverse this effect, via the SGK1/NFкB signaling pathway, which shows that lithium could be a new treatment for Chorea Acanthocytosis

LENTIVIRAL-MEDIATED RNAi KNOCKDOWN YIELDS A NOVEL MOUSE MODEL FOR STUDYING CYP2B FUNCTION

The Cyp2b subfamily contains five members (Cyp2b9, Cyp2b10, Cyp2b13, Cyp2b19, and Cyp2b23) of which three (Cyp2b9, Cyp2b10, Cyp2b13) are hepatic enzymes involved in xenobiotic detoxification. In this study, we made a Cyp2b-knockdown mouse using lentiviral-promoted shRNA homologous to all five Cyp2b subfamily members in FVB/NJ mouse to characterize Cyp2b\u27s role in xenobiotic detoxification. We assessed the in vivo function of Cyp2bs in the toxicity from pesticides (i.e. parathion) and drugs (i.e. zoxazolamine). We demonstrated that Cyp2b isoforms play a key role in parathion and Zoxazolamine metabolism and toxicity. In addition, we in partially phenotyped and characterized Cyp2b-KD model and assessed changes associated with the lack of Cyp2bs. We focused on role that Cyp2bs play in lipid metabolism. Changes in Cyp2b expression led to perturbation in lipid metabolism in Cyp2b-KD mice. Both young and old Cyp2b-KD male and female mice showed significant changes in some organ weights, especially an increase in abdominal, inguinal, and renal adipose. Interestingly, associated with changes in fat to body ratios was changes in non-fasting triglycerides levels. Our data suggest that Cyp2b is more than a detoxification enzyme, but is also involved in the metabolism of unsaturated fatty acids as Cyp2b-KD mice have increased fat deposition and show increased serum and liver lipid levels

Maybe poets are dying | How did birds

2 poem

Campus-based student volunteering in Egypt: A case study of students in a private university

This qualitative study aims to identify the motivations and constraints that undergraduate students experience in volunteering in different student-run organizations. The study applies models of volunteer function inventory and leisure constraints to the Egyptian context with focus on one private not-for-profit institution. The study highlighted the pivotal role of educational institutions in encouraging and implementing campus-based volunteering activities among students. The study identifies three groups of motivational factors to student volunteerism in this context: social motivation; personal enhancement; and career motivations. The study also identifies three constraints to student volunteerism. These refer to structural constraints; intrapersonal constraints; and interpersonal constraints. The study concludes with policy recommendations to increase and encourage student campus-based volunteerism in Egypt involving the Ministry of Higher Education, university administrations, and civil society organizations

Rebellion and the Absurd: Reading the novels of Albert Camus

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a critical reading of Albert Camus’s novels, The Stranger and The Plague, which is consistent with his reflections on the theory of the absurd. Employing this theory as the philosophical foundation for my writing, I set out to scrutinize Camus’s protagonists in terms of their being-in-this-world, particularly in view of the author’s understanding of rebellion. Although Camus’s theory of the absurd seems to cancel out the meaning and value of personal effort, the two novels under examination suggest that a rebellious response to life’s inherent absurdity is not only possible but is a credible response to the human condition. In my study of Camus’s rebellious protagonists, therefore, I also examine the question of ethics in both its personal and social implications