Microsoft and the European Union Face Off Over Internet Privacy Concerns

Amidst what appears to be a multi-faceted attack by the European Union on Microsoft, the newest angle is the European Commission\u27s announcement last month that it was considering a formal investigation of Microsoft\u27s .Net Passport data processing system for possible violations of the European Union Data Privacy Directive. This iBrief explores the European Data Privacy Directive and seeks to explain why the European Commission believes .Net Passport may be in violation of its privacy policies and a case for further investigation

Som en hand på axeln: beröring som posthumanistiskt feministiskt fenomen

[A Hand on the Shoulder: Touch as a Posthuman Feminist Phenomenon] With a posthuman feminist perspective, we explore touch as a phenomenon in the philosophy of education. Our argument is that touch is one of the prominent phenomena in educational contexts and therefore it requires closer theoretical investigation. In this article, we seek to challenge a ‘subject centric’ and ‘anthropocentric’ perspective, proposing a posthuman approach where touch is relationally intra-active and constantly present with multiple directions. Inspired by the methodological approach ‘concept as method’, we explore the phenomenon of touch through tracing-and-cartographing how it is used in educational texts. Two central aspects – body and ‘natureculture’– appeared in the intersection of touch, education and posthuman feminism. Touch as an educational phenomenon is seen as active in highlighting everyday activities in educational practices, and pushing them to be questioned and disrupted. To conclude, we raise a few questions and discuss some challenges that emerged while working with touch as a posthuman feminist phenomenon

Liming alkaline clay soils: effects on soil structure, nutrients, barley growth and yield

Liming before cultivation of sugar beets is favourable even on alkaline soils but knowledge of response in other crops is lacking. Therefore, effects of ground limestone (GL) and structure lime (SL1 slaked lime or SL2 mix of ground limestone and slaked lime) were evaluated in southern Sweden on soil structure, growth and nutrient concentration in barley under four fertilisation strategies 1.5–2 years after application. All lime products increased aggregate stability, but with variations between locations. A lower proportion of large aggregates was found in both limed treatments, and a higher proportion of small aggregates in SL. In barley, grain yield was unaffected while shoot numbers and biomass in first node stage increased for GL and biomass increased further for SL. Structure lime increased potassium concentration in plants in first node stage, due to more potassium in the product. Both lime types increased molybdenum concentration. Ground limestone reduced zinc concentration compared with no liming. Finer seedbed tilth and increased aggregate stability may explain increased biomass for GL. Higher potassium content in SL might be a further explanation. No interactions between liming and fertilisation were found. In conclusion, on the soil types studied, no change of fertilisation strategy is needed due to liming

Renal expression and serum levels of high mobility group box 1 protein in lupus nephritis

INTRODUCTION: High mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) is a nuclear DNA binding protein acting as a pro-inflammatory mediator following extracellular release. HMGB1 has been increasingly recognized as a pathogenic mediator in several inflammatory diseases. Elevated serum levels of HMGB1 have been detected in autoimmune diseases including Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the local expression of HMGB1 in active lupus nephritis (LN) is not known. Here we aimed to study both tissue expression and serum levels of HMGB1 in LN patients with active disease and after induction therapy. METHODS: Thirty-five patients with active LN were included. Renal biopsies were performed at baseline and after standard induction therapy; corticosteroids combined with immunosuppressive drugs. The biopsies were evaluated according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification and renal disease activity was estimated using the British Isles lupus assessment group (BILAG) index. Serum levels of HMGB1 were analysed by western blot. HMGB1 expression in renal tissue was assessed by immunohistochemistry at baseline and follow-up biopsies in 25 patients. RESULTS: Baseline biopsies showed WHO class III, IV or V and all patients had high renal disease activity (BILAG A/B). Follow-up biopsies showed WHO I to II (n = 14), III (n = 6), IV (n = 3) or V (n = 12), and 15/35 patients were regarded as renal responders (BILAG C/D). At baseline HMGB1 was significantly elevated in serum compared to healthy controls (P < 0.0001). In all patients, serum levels decreased only slightly; however, in patients with baseline WHO class IV a significant decrease was observed (P = 0.03). Immunostaining revealed a pronounced extranuclear HMGB1 expression predominantly outlining the glomerular endothelium and in the mesangium. There was no clear difference in HMGB1 expression comparing baseline and follow-up biopsies or any apparent association to histopathological classification or clinical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Renal tissue expression and serum levels of HMGB1 were increased in LN. The lack of decrease of HMGB1 in serum and tissue after immunosuppressive therapy in the current study may reflect persistent inflammatory activity. This study clearly indicates a role for HMGB1 in LN

The Relationship between the Tissue Expression of TLR2, TLR4, TLR5, and TLR7 and Systemic Inflammatory Responses in Colorectal Cancer Patients

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed malignancy globally. CRC patients with elevated plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) levels exhibit compromised prognoses. Toll-like receptors (TLRs), activating the innate and adaptive immune systems, may contribute to pro- and antitumorigenic inflammatory responses. We aimed to identify a possible link between local and systemic inflammatory responses in CRC patients by investigating the association between tissue TLRs and plasma CRP. Methods: Tissue expressions of TLR2, TLR4, TLR5, and TLR7 were assessed using immunohistochemistry of tissue microarray slides from 549 CRC patients surgically treated between 1998 and 2005. Blood samples were drawn preoperatively, centrifuged, aliquoted, and stored at -80 degrees C until analysis. Plasma CRP was determined through high-sensitivity time-resolved immunofluorometric assay. We investigated the association of TLRs to clinicopathologic variables, plasma CRP, and survival. Results: High TLR2 expression (hazard ratio [HR] 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.41-0.85; p = 0.005), high TLR5 expression (HR 0.60; 95% CI 0.45-0.83; p = 0.002), positive TLR7 expression (HR 0.49; 95% CI 0.33-0.72; p < 0.001), and low CRP (HR 1.48; 95% CI 1.08-2.11; p = 0.017) were associated with a better prognosis. A high TLR2 immunoexpression was associated with a better prognosis among low-CRP patients (HR 0.53; 95% CI 0.35-0.80; p = 0.002), high TLR4 expression among high-CRP patients (HR 2.04; 95% CI 1.04-4.00; p = 0.038), high TLR5 expression among low-CRP patients (HR 0.059; 95% CI 0.37-0.92; p = 0.021), and positive TLR7 expression among low-CRP patients (HR 0.53; 95% CI 0.28-1.00; p = 0.049). In multivariate analyses, no biomarkers emerged as significant independent variables. Conclusions: High tissue TLR2, TLR5, and TLR7 levels were associated with a better prognosis. Among low-CRP patients, those with high TLR2, TLR5, and TLR7 immunoexpressions exhibited a better prognosis. Among high CRP patients, a high TLR4 immunoexpression was associated with a better prognosis.Peer reviewe

Association between local immune cell infiltration, mismatch repair status and systemic inflammatory response in colorectal cancer

Systemic inflammatory response in colorectal cancer (CRC) has been established as a prognostic factor for impaired cancer-specific survival, predominantly in patients with right-sided tumors. On the other hand, defective mismatch repair (dMMR) tumors, primarily located in the right colon, are known to have favorable survival and dense local immune infiltration. The aim of this study was to see if there is any form of relationship between these seemingly diverse entities.Peer reviewe

The Prognostic Importance of CD20(+) B lymphocytes in Colorectal Cancer and the Relation to Other Immune Cell subsets

The anti-tumour immune response is critical to patient prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of this study was to investigate infiltration of B lymphocytes into CRC tumours, and their clinical relevance, prognostic value and relation to other immune cell subsets. We used multiplexed immunohistochemistry and multispectral imaging to assay the amount of infiltrating CD20(+) B lymphocytes along with infiltration of CD8(+) cytotoxic T cells, FOXP3(+) T regulatory cells, CD68(+) macrophages and CD66b(+) neutrophils, in 316 archival CRC tissue specimens. A higher density of infiltrating CD20(+) B lymphocytes was associated with tumours of the right colon (P = 0.025) and of lower stages (P = 0.009). Furthermore, patients whose tumours were highly infiltrated by CD20(+) B lymphocytes had a significantly improved disease-specific survival (HR = 0.45, 95% CI 0.28-0.73, P = 0.001), which remained significant in multivariable analysis. CD20(+) B lymphocytes were highly and positively associated with CD8(+) T lymphocytes (P <0.001), and part of the prognostic role was found to be a cooperative effect between these lymphocyte subsets. Our results support a favourable prognostic value of tumour-infiltrating CD20(+) B lymphocytes in CRC. Furthermore, a cooperative prognostic effect between CD20(+) B lymphocytes and CD8(+) T lymphocytes is suggested.Peer reviewe

Mutations in genes encoding complement inhibitors CD46 and CFH affect the age at nephritis onset in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

INTRODUCTION: Inherited deficiencies of several complement components strongly predispose to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) while deficiencies of complement inhibitors are found in kidney diseases such as atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). METHODS: The exons of complement inhibitor genes: CD46 and CFH (factor H) were fully sequenced using Sanger method in SLE patients with nephritis originating from two cohorts from southern and mid Sweden (n = 196). All identified mutations and polymorphisms were then analyzed in SLE patients without nephritis (n = 326) and healthy controls (n = 523). RESULTS: We found non-synonymous, heterozygous mutations in CFH in 6.1% patients with nephritis in comparison to 4.0% and 5.4% in patients without nephritis and controls, respectively. No associations of SLE or nephritis with common variants in CFH (V62I/Y402H/E936D) were found. Furthermore, we found two non-synonymous heterozygous mutations in CD46 in SLE patients but not in controls. The A353V polymorphism, known to affect function of CD46, was found in 6.6% of nephritis patients vs 4.9% and 6.1% of the non-nephritis SLE patients and controls. The presence of mutations in CD46 and CFH did not predispose to SLE or nephritis but was associated with earlier onset of nephritis. Furthermore, we found weak indications that there is one protective and one risk haplotype predisposing to nephritis composed of several polymorphisms in non-coding regions of CD46, which were previously implicated in aHUS. CONCLUSION: SLE nephritis is not associated with frequent mutations in CFH and CD46 as found in aHUS but these may be modifying factors causing earlier onset of nephritis

An Aesthetic Factor Priority List of the Female Breast in Scandinavian Subjects

Background: There is little consensus about the relative determinative value of each individual factor in female breast aesthetics. When performing breast surgery with an aesthetic goal, certain factors will be more important than others. The purpose of this study was to make an aesthetic factor rank list to determine the relative contributions to overall breast aesthetics. Method: Volunteers were scanned using the 3-dimensional Vectra system. Ten Scandinavian plastic surgeons rated 37 subjects, using a validated scoring system with 49 scoring items. The correlation between specific aesthetic factors and overall breast aesthetic scores of the subjects were calculated using Pearson's r, Spearman's rho, and Kendall's tau. Results: A very strong correlation was found between overall breast aesthetic score and lower pole shape (0.876, P <0.0001). This was also true for upper pole shape (0.826, P <0.0001) and breast height (0.821, P <0.0001). A strong correlation was found between overall breast aesthetic score and nipple position (0.733, P <0.0001), breast size (0.644, P <0.0001), and breast width (0.632, P <0.0001). Factors that were only moderately correlated with aesthetic score were intermammary distance (0.496, P = 0.002), nipple size and projection (0.588, P <0.0001), areolar diameter (0.484, P <0.0001), and areolar shape (0.403, P <0.0001). Perceived symmetry was a weak factor (0.363, P = 0.027). Conclusions: Aesthetic factors of the female breast can be ranked in a priority list. Shape of the lower pole and upper pole and breast height are primary factors of female breast aesthetics. These should be prioritized in any aesthetic breast surgery. Vertical dimensional factors seem to be more determinative than horizontal factors.Peer reviewe