Anticipating regional integration in Africa

The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) for eastern and southern Africa offers enormous potential for East African Community (EAC) states, but it also poses a staggering organisational challeng

Blurred lines: East African Community integrates in fits and starts

Efforts to integrate regional trade in East Africa gathered some, albeit weak, momentum this summer, with the implementation of the EAC Common Market (CM) protocol, which aims to harmonise commercial regulations between Partner States. This post documents the events driving and preventing the progress of integration

Investigating AMPK signalling regulation of autophagy in a model of ovarian tumour dormancy

Investigating AMPK signalling regulation of autophagy in a model of ovarian tumour dormancy Jeremi Laski and Trevor G. Shepherd Background: Ovarian cancer is the most deadly gynecologic malignancy in women. A particular subset of this disease, epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), is responsible for over 70% of all diagnosed ovarian cancer cases, yet the mechanisms governing disease progression are poorly understood. One of the unique hallmarks of EOC metastasis lies in the process of spheroid formation, whereby tumour cells aggregate into larger 3D structures. These EOC spheroids have been shown to be metabolically dormant, while concurrently up-regulating autophagy (cellular waste recycling) processes. This particular change in cellular activity seems to promote increased EOC chemotherapy resistance. My project examines the role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a cellular metabolic sensor, and its role in regulating autophagy induction in EOC spheroids. Methods: Following AMPK knockdown using siRNA, protein markers for both AMPK and autophagy signalling will be assessed through immunoblotting, immunocytochemistry and fluorescence microscopy. Additional experiments will examine cellular viability of AMPK deficient EOC spheroids compared to their wild type counterparts following chemotherapy treatment. Expected Results: I expect that reducing the levels of cellular AMPK will disrupt autophagy induction, thereby sensitizing EOC spheroids to chemotherapy treatment. Discussion & Conclusion: Uncovering the mechanisms that govern autophagy induction in EOC spheroids will allow researchers to target a vulnerability in EOC to further develop therapeutics against this type of malignancy. Interdisciplinary Reflection: My research bridges molecular biology with clinical oncology, allowing for a more detailed understanding of the pathology of this deadly disease

Theory of Popular Sovereignty

Alexis de Tocqueville has wisely insisted upon the natural tendency of men to confound institutions that are necessary with institutions to which they have grown accustomed.\u27 It is a truth more general in its application than he perhaps imagined. Certainly the student of political and legal ideas will in each age be compelled to examine theories which are called essential even when their original substance has, under pressure of new circumstance, passed into some allotropic form. Anyone, for instance, who analyses the modern theory of consideration will be convinced that, while judges do homage to an ancient content, they do not hesitate to invest it with new meaning. The social contract is no longer in high place; but those who bow the knee to the fashionable hypothesis of social solidarity half-consciously offers it its old-time worshi

Libel—Executive Immunity—Scope of Executive Authority Broadly Interpreted

Matson v. Margiotti, __ Pa. __, 88 A. 2d 892 (1952)

Wills—No Election Between Legacy and Quantum Meruit

Turner v. White, Turner v. White, __ Mass. __, 109 N. E. 2d 155 (1952)

A Benchmarking Study of the Lehigh Valley

This study benchmarks the Lehigh Valley to nine other metropolitan areas within the United States. These areas represent a wide array of economic growth levels. Charlotte, Portland, Seattle, and Nashville represented high growth cities. Minneapolis and Lancaster represented moderate growth cities. Hartford, Flint, Rochester and the Lehigh Valley represented low growth cities. Three analyses attempted to identify reasons for economic growth. The study period included the years 1970 through 1995. All three analyses looked at regional growth relative to the nation. A study of each region’s industry mix compared the diversity of this mix to the overall employment growth of the region. This study also included an analysis of high technology industry, which entailed studies of its presence, its growth and its relation to income growth for each city. The final analysis studied employment growth relative to the nation for specific industry components within each city. Industry diversity analysis identified a strong correlation between diverse economies and high employment growth. The Lehigh Valley showed lower than predicted employment growth, based on the diversity of its industry mix. High technology analysis identified a strong presence of high technology industries within low growth regions. This analysis also identified a strong relationship between positive high-tech industry growth and high growth regions. The Lehigh Valley showed lower than predicted income growth, based on its growth in high-tech industry. Analysis of the industry components showed positive growth in almost all high growth region industry components; a mix of growth and decline in moderate growth region industry components; and declines in almost all low growth region industry components. The Lehigh Valley’s industry components showed growth similar to that of the other low growth regions. The relationship between industry diversity and employment growth may be due to changes in national industry trends. Regions that are more diverse may be able to absorb shocks and react to major shifts in national trends better than regions that specialize in one or more industries. The hypothesis suggests that cities will lie along a curve that correlates higher growth to a more balanced array of industries. Conversely, lower growth will correlate to a more variable mix of industries, or a mix that exhibits specialization in one or more industries. The study notes that presence of high technology industry alone does not foster economic growth. Growth may instead correlate to a constant stable growth of regional high-tech industries relative to the nation. The Lehigh Valley does not follow the patterns of either relationship identified. One of two hypotheses may explain this phenomenon. The first of these suggests that the Lehigh Valley is currently in a transitional state, heading toward higher growth rates powered by an increase in the chemical manufacturing industry and a shift towards a more diverse industry mix. The converse to this hypothesis suggests that the Lehigh Valley belongs as an outlier to the identified trends due to the lackluster growth of its industry components and/or non-economic factors that are not a part of this study. Further analysis of the trends identified here should include a study of a much larger sample size. Research should also look into the true causality of these trends. Two specific avenues of future research include studies of the true affects of industry diversity and of the regional demand for high-tech industry. Additional research may also look into other factors, both economic and non-economic, which may affect growth and do not appear in this study