Social media references in Egyptian newspapers: The use of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and WhatsApp in El-Ahram, El-Masry El-Youm and El-Wafd newspapers

The world is now witnessing successive developments in both technology and democracy in the field of digital media. The situation has now changed, with the audiences no longer receivers but rather effective and active participants in the process of news production. The Internet provides interactive features through social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp. Moreover, traditional media now depend on social media for acquiring news and information, in spite of the fact that these platforms may not always be subject to professional and institutional control which the traditional media require in order to invoke professional standards and well-known sources. Due to the fact that mainstream media are progressively using social media as sources of news, previous research has focused on the use of social media in certain situations only, such as, for example, coverage of breaking news especially during major events, elections, or crises. However, little attention is paid to the journalists’ daily routine of monitoring of social media platforms in Egypt. This study aims at examining the selection and use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp by journalists as news sources in daily newspapers in Egypt. It employs both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the above-mentioned social media platforms as news sources in daily news coverage. The study first integrates intensive interviews with twenty four Egyptian journalists from the three newspapers under study to give an in-depth examination of the use and selection of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp as references for their daily news coverage. Interviews examine the impact of social media on the news content that journalists use, investigate whether social media would change the professional traditional newsgathering and sourcing habits in journalism, seek to learn about the extent to which social media would alter these professional ways, and, as well, investigate whether these new practices would be obvious in the traditional Egyptian newspapers. The study further provides a ‘quantitative overview ‘of all the articles that were published between November 2013 and October 2016 in El-Ahram, El-Masry El-Youm and El-Wafd newspapers. Then a content analysis is conducted on a sample of articles selected using a non-probability purposive sampling technique that clearly mentions any of the four social media platforms as news sources. The content analysis examines a sample of 432 issues from printed newspapers which appeared between November 2013 and October 2016. It is found that out of 21,332 news articles, 4,707 news articles are only found mentioning any of the four social media platforms under study as sources for news coverage by journalists. Results show that using social media became a daily routine in the three Egyptian newspapers. Thus, findings support the claim that social media platforms have become an integral part of journalists’ daily news coverage; however, this does not imply that social media has dominated the content of the newspapers studied. Nevertheless, results show that the number of news articles referring to social media as news sources is low (approximately 22.06% out of the total number of the news articles analyzed)

IL-13Rα2-bearing, type II NKT cells reactive to sulfatide self-antigen populate the mucosa of ulcerative colitis

Objective: Previous studies have shown that ulcerative colitis (UC) is associated with the presence of lamina propria non-invariant (Type II) NKT cells producing IL-13 and mediating epithelial cell cytotoxicity. Here we sought to define the antigen(s) stimulating the NKT cells and to quantitate these cells in the UC lamina propria. Design: Detection of Type II NKT cells in UC lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) with lyso-sulfatide loaded tetramer and quantum dot-based flow cytometry and staining. Culture of UC LPMCs with lyso-sulfatide glycolipid to determine sulfatide induction of epithelial cell cytotoxicity, IL-13 production and IL-13Rα2 expression. Blinded quantum dot-based phenotypic analysis to assess UC LPMC expression of IL-13Rα2, CD161 and IL-13. Results: Approximately 36% of UC LPMC were lyso-sulfatide tetramer positive, whereas few, if any, control LPMCs were positive. When tested, the positive cells were also CD3 and IL-13Rα2 positive. Culture of UC LPMC with lyso-sulfatide glycolipid showed that sulfatide stimulates UC LPMC production of IL-13 and induces UC CD161 LPMC-mediated cytotoxicity of activated epithelial cells; additionally, lyso-sulfatide induces enhanced expression of IL-13Rα2. Finally, blinded phenotypic analysis of UC LP MC using multicolour quantum dot-staining technology showed that approximately 60% of the LPMC bear both IL-13Rα2 and CD161 and most of these cells also produce IL-13. Conclusions: These studies show that UC lamina propria is replete with Type II NKT cells responsive to lyso-sulfatide glycolipid and bearing IL-13Rα2. Since lyso-sulfatide is a self-antigen, these data suggest that an autoimmune response is involved in UC pathogenesis

Conserved peptides within the E2 region of Hepatitis C virus induce humoral and cellular responses in goats

The reason(s) why human antibodies raised against hepatitis C virus (HCV) E2 epitopes do not offer protection against multiple viral infections may be related to either genetic variations among viral strains particularly within the hypervariable region-1 (HVR-1), low titers of anti E2 antibodies or interference of non neutralizing antibodies with the function of neutralizing antibodies. This study was designed to assess the immunogenic properties of genetically conserved peptides derived from the C-terminal region of HVR-1 as potential therapeutic and/or prophylactic vaccines against HCV infection. Goats immunized with E2-conserved synthetic peptides termed p36 (a.a 430–446), p37(a.a 517–531) and p38 (a.a 412–419) generated high titers of anti-p36, anti-p37 and anti-P38 antibody responses of which only anti- p37 and anti- p38 were neutralizing to HCV particles in sera from patients infected predominantly with genotype 4a. On the other hand anti-p36 exhibited weak viral neutralization capacity on the same samples. Animals super-immunized with single epitopes generated 2 to 4.5 fold higher titers than similar antibodies produced in chronic HCV patients. Also the studied peptides elicited approximately 3 fold increase in cell proliferation of specific antibody-secreting peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from immunized goats. These results indicate that, besides E1 derived peptide p35 (a.a 315–323) described previously by this laboratory, E2 conserved peptides p37 and p38 represent essential components of a candidate peptide vaccine against HCV infection