Time to Revisit Forum Non Conveniens in the UK? Group Josi Reinsurance Co v UGIC

There has been much debate in the United Kingdom over the last decade on whether the discretionary doctrine of forum non conveniens is compatible with the mandatory provisions of the Brussels Convention on jurisdiction issues in the European Union.  A recent decision of the European Court of Justice has answered affirmatively the question of whether a plaintiff domiciled in a non-Contracting State can invoke the rules of the Covention.  The Court has arguably not settled the more fundamental question of whether the Convention applies to conflicts of jurisdiction between courts of a Contracting State and non-Contracting State.  However, there is evidence of a growing acceptance of an expansive view of the scope of the Convention.  Such a development would bring welcome simplicity to cross-border litigation in the UK.&nbsp

Conflicting Approaches to Conflicts of Jurisdiction: The Brussels Convention and Forum Non Conveniens

In developing an earlier article, published as “Time to Revisit Forum Non Conveniens in the United Kingdom? Group Josi Reinsurance Co v UGIC (2000) 32 VUWLR 705, this paper takes the debate further. The discretionary doctrine of forum non conveniens continues to be a controversial doctrine, and its relationship with the mandatory jurisdiction provisions of the Brussels Convention often leads to courts considering the correct methodology. Due to the seemingly growing acceptance of an expansive view of the scope of the Convention, this article looks to the future of forum non conveniens in the United Kingdom. Seemingly, there is sufficient flexibility within the Convention, for its jurisdiction rules to be the sole determinant of jurisdiction

Gender essentialism and occupational segregation in insolvency practice

Advances towards egalitarianism in professional recruitment may be offset by processes of occupational re-segregation. Drawing on gender theory this paper investigates horizontal segregation in the UK insolvency profession, as revealed through the lived experiences of female and male practitioners. It is shown that horizontal segregation pervades at different levels of practice and is undergirded by various elements of gender essentialism. Physical essentialism explains why insolvency practice has been traditionally gendered male. Interactional essentialism combines with the management of work-life balance to define the subfields of corporate and personal insolvency as masculine and feminine respectively. Gender essentialist assumptions also pervade the distribution of roles and the allocation of work tasks. Networks are identified as arenas for the reproduction and perpetuation of occupational segregation. The findings indicate the continuing potency of gender in everyday professional life, the limitations of diversity-orientated policies and the complexities of formulating transformative agendas

Accounting for images of ‘equality’ in digital space: towards an exploration of the Greek accounting professional institute

The paper draws upon the broad framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to relate the content of the Greek Accounting Professional Institute’s [‘Σώμα Ορκωτών Ελεγκτών Λογιστών’ (SOEL)] digital space to the broader structures and the gendered accounting discourses deployed by accountants. The processes of constructing and redesigning electronic space and the selection of the images appearing on it are analysed as essential mechanisms which not only reflect ‘realities’, but also contribute to the reproduction of diachronically established power relations, gender inequalities and gendered hierarchies. This exploratory study reveals a proliferation of images of (accounting) men which reflect the dominant male structures of the profession. The outcome of this is to exclude and marginalise women. The empirical evidence presented in this study, points towards a lack of images representing professional accounting women. Where women are represented, they are depicted in listening roles, support roles or in the role of ‘other’. These findings illustrate the exercise of gendered based exclusionary practices, which facilitate male (professional) elite dominance and assist in the reinforcing of gendered stereotypes. This study argues that an increase in the representation of (accounting) women in Greek digital space would signal a positive step towards the inclusion of women in the Greek profession

Data-analysis strategies for image-based cell profiling

Image-based cell profiling is a high-throughput strategy for the quantification of phenotypic differences among a variety of cell populations. It paves the way to studying biological systems on a large scale by using chemical and genetic perturbations. The general workflow for this technology involves image acquisition with high-throughput microscopy systems and subsequent image processing and analysis. Here, we introduce the steps required to create high-quality image-based (i.e., morphological) profiles from a collection of microscopy images. We recommend techniques that have proven useful in each stage of the data analysis process, on the basis of the experience of 20 laboratories worldwide that are refining their image-based cell-profiling methodologies in pursuit of biological discovery. The recommended techniques cover alternatives that may suit various biological goals, experimental designs, and laboratories' preferences.Peer reviewe

E-Cadherin-Deficient Cells Are Sensitive to the Multikinase Inhibitor Dasatinib

The CDH1 gene, encoding the cell adhesion protein E-cadherin, is one of the most frequently mutated genes in gastric cancer and inactivating germline CDH1 mutations are responsible for the cancer syndrome hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC). CDH1-deficient gastric cancers exhibit high AKT serine/threonine kinase 3 (AKT3) expression, but specific drugs against this AKT isoform are not available. We therefore used two publicly available datasets to identify AKT3-associated genes which could be used to indirectly target AKT3. Reactome analysis identified an enrichment of extracellular matrix remodelling genes in AKT3-high gastric cancers. Of the 51 genes that were significantly correlated with AKT3 (but not AKT1), discoidin domain receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (DDR2) showed the strongest positive association. Treatment of isogenic human cells and mouse gastric and mammary organoids with dasatinib, a small molecule inhibitor of multiple kinases including SRC, BCR-ABL and DDR2, preferentially slowed the growth and induced apoptosis of E-cadherin-deficient cells. Dasatinib treatment also preferentially slowed the growth of gastric and mammary organoids harbouring both Cdh1 and Tp53 mutations. In organoid models, dasatinib treatment was associated with decreased phosphorylation of total AKT, with a stronger effect seen in Cdh1-deficient organoids. Treatment with combinations of dasatinib and an inhibitor of AKT, MK2206, enhanced the effect of dasatinib in breast MCF10A cells. In conclusion, targeting the DDR2-SRC-AKT3 axis with dasatinib represents a promising approach for the chemoprevention and chemotherapy of gastric and breast cancers lacking E-cadherin