Collection and Use of Information by Counter-Intelligence in the Context of Human Rights Protection

Obtaining complete and reliable information during counter-intelligence activities is very critical. The extraction, analytical processing, and use of information regarding signs and facts of intelligence, terroristic, and other activities of special services of foreign states, as well as organisations, individual groups, and individuals to the detriment of the state security of Ukraine is legally established as its main task. One of the main tasks of intelligence and counter-intelligence is to collect information in the interests of national security on the facts and signs of activities that threaten the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and constitutional order of the state, that is, its main system-forming component, using all possible sources. The purpose of such information collection is to assist the executive branch of government in developing internal and external policy, as well as to develop strategic and tactical decisions in the implementation of national policy. The purpose of this study was to identify the problems of collecting and using information by counter-intelligence, to develop a strategy to overcome such problems, and to investigate the legal principles of protecting human rights in the process of this activity. The results of the study will contribute to the development of the theory of national security, the obtained definition of the legal regime for collecting and using information about an individual or legal entity regarding which counter-intelligence actions are performed, will assist intelligence and counter-intelligence units in ensuring the protection of human rights during such activities

A Large-Scale, Consortium-Based Genomewide Association Study of Asthma

BACKGROUND Susceptibility to asthma is influenced by genes and environment; implicated genes may indicate pathways for therapeutic intervention. Genetic risk factors may be useful in identifying subtypes of asthma and determining whether intermediate phenotypes, such as elevation of the total serum IgE level, are causally linked to disease. METHODS We carried out a genomewide association study by genotyping 10,365 persons with physician-diagnosed asthma and 16,110 unaffected persons, all of whom were matched for ancestry. We used random-effects pooled analysis to test for association in the overall study population and in subgroups of subjects with childhood-onset asthma (defined as asthma developing before 16 years of age), later-onset asthma, severe asthma, and occupational asthma. RESULTS We observed associations of genomewide significance between asthma and the following single-nucleotide polymorphisms: rs3771166 on chromosome 2, implicating IL1RL1/IL18R1 (P = 3x10(-9)); rs9273349 on chromosome 6, implicating HLA-DQ (P = 7x10(-14)); rs1342326 on chromosome 9, flanking IL33 (P = 9x10(-10)); rs744910 on chromosome 15 in SMAD3 (P = 4x10(-9)); and rs2284033 on chromosome 22 in IL2RB (P = 1.1x10(-8)). Association with the ORMDL3/GSDMB locus on chromosome 17q21 was specific to childhood-onset disease (rs2305480, P = 6x10(-23)). Only HLA-DR showed a significant genomewide association with the total serum IgE concentration, and loci strongly associated with IgE levels were not associated with asthma. CONCLUSIONS Asthma is genetically heterogeneous. A few common alleles are associated with disease risk at all ages. Implicated genes suggest a role for communication of epithelial damage to the adaptive immune system and activation of airway inflammation. Variants at the ORMDL3/GSDMB locus are associated only with childhood-onset disease. Elevation of total serum IgE levels has a minor role in the development of asthma