Development and emancipation: The information society and decision support systems in local authorities in Egypt.

The published version of this article can be found at Emerald publishing http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/menuNavigation.do?hdAction=InsightHomePurpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the emancipatory promises and realities of information and communication technology (ICT) in Egypt. Design/methodology/approach – The combination of Habermasian and Foucauldian ideas implemented by a critical discourse analysis of the Egyptian Information Society Policy and interviews with employees of local decision support systems employees. Promises and rhetoric are contrasted with findings and questioned with regards to their validity. Findings – On the policy level, analysis shows that the emancipating rhetoric of ICT is not followed through. ICT is mostly seen as a means of attracting foreign direct investment. Neither political participation nor educational benefits are promoted seriously. On the local level, culture and organisational realities prevent individuals from exploiting the emancipatory potential of the technology. Originality/value – The combination of the Habermasian and Foucauldian approach exposes the problems of ICT use in developing countries. It shows that emancipation is used to legitimise ICT policies but is not taken seriously on a policy level in Egypt. Local implementations also fail to deliver on their promise. In order to have emancipatory effects, ICT policy and use will need to be reconsidered

Komplexchemie perhalogenierter Cyclopentadiene und Alkine

Pt(PPh3)2(C2H4) reacts with monofluoroacetylene to give the π-complex Pt(PPh3)2(FCCH), and with dichloroacetylene under oxidative addition to yield Pt(PPh3)2(Cl)(ClCCl), the structure of which was determined by X-ray crystallography

Primary Signet Ring Cell Mucinous Ovarian Carcinoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

A 24-year-old female patient presented with an extremely rare primary signet cell carcinoma of the right ovary 1 year after surgery for a mucinous borderline tumour of the left ovary. Relaparotomy was carried out with right adnexectomy, appendectomy and partial omentectomy. Surgery was followed by 6 courses of paclitaxel/carboplatinum chemotherapy. After an initial response, the patient again developed increasing ascites. The patient was transferred to our hospital and a re-relaparotomy was carried out, completing the operation. After 3 courses of pegylated doxorubicin/trabectedin, the clinical course showed a positive response and a decline of the tumour marker CEA in peripheral blood. After 5 months, ascites developed in the retroperitoneum so that the chemotherapy had to be changed. In spite of a positive response with the new chemotherapy, the patient died of a very rare pulmonary complication after 1 month within 2 days

Pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of moss-aGalactosidase A in patients with Fabry disease

Moss-aGalactosidase A (moss-aGal) is a moss-derived version of human α-galactosidase developed for enzyme replacement therapy in patients with Fabry disease. It exhibits a homogenous N-glycosylation profile with >90% mannose-terminated glycans. In contrast to mammalian cell produced α-galactosidase, moss-aGal does not rely on mannose-6-phosphate receptor mediated endocytosis but targets the mannose receptor for tissue uptake. We conducted a phase 1 clinical trial with moss-aGal in six patients with confirmed diagnosis of Fabry disease during a 28-day schedule. All patients received a single dose of 0.2 mg/kg moss-aGal by i.v.-infusion. Primary endpoints of the trial were safety and pharmacokinetics; secondary endpoints were pharmacodynamics by analyzing urine and plasma Gb3 and lyso-Gb3 concentrations. In all patients, the administered single dose was well tolerated. No safety issues were observed. Pharmacokinetic data revealed a stable nonlinear profile with a short plasma half-life of moss-aGal of 14 minutes. After one single dose of moss-aGal, urinary Gb3 concentrations decreased up to 23% 7 days and up to 60% 28 days post-dose. Plasma concentrations of lyso-Gb3 decreased by 3.8% and of Gb3 by 11% 28 days post-dose. These data reveal that a single dose of moss-aGal was safe, well tolerated, and led to a prolonged reduction of Gb3 excretion. As previously shown, moss-aGal is taken up via the mannose receptor, which is expressed on macrophages but also on endothelial and kidney cells. Thus, these data indicate that moss-aGal may target kidney cells. After these promising results, phase 2/3 clinical trials are in preparation

Storage oil hydrolysis during early seedling growth

Storage oil breakdown plays an important role in the life cycle of many plants by providing the carbon skeletons that support seedling growth immediately following germination. This metabolic process is initiated by lipases (EC: 3.1.1.3), which catalyze the hydrolysis of triacylglycerols (TAGs) to release free fatty acids and glycerol. A number of lipases have been purified to near homogeneity from seed tissues and analysed for their in vitro activities. Furthermore, several genes encoding lipases have been cloned and characterised from plants. However, only recently has data been presented to establish the molecular identity of a lipase that has been shown to be required for TAG breakdown in seeds. In this review we briefly outline the processes of TAG synthesis and breakdown. We then discuss some of the biochemical literature on seed lipases and describe the cloning and characterisation of a lipase called SUGAR-DEPENDENT1, which is required for TAG breakdown in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds

Logical abilities and behavior in strategic-form games

This paper investigates the impact of cognitive abilities and preferences on behavior in games. We first measure subjects’ logical abilities and social preferences and then evaluate their influence on behavior in strategic-form games. For this purpose, we estimate how logical abilities and preferences relate to the probability of a subject being of a specific behavioral type. We find that better logical abilities increase the likelihood of sophisticated behavior. This shift is stronger for subjects who are classified as “selfish”. However, not even the most logically able, selfish subjects are identified as Nash types