Identification of candidate Notch targets in Hydra vulgaris

The Notch signalling pathway plays major roles in several developmental processes including embryogenesis and maintenance of adult tissue homeostasis. Conserved core components of the Notch pathway have been identified in the simple cnidarian Hydra vulgaris. Previous experiments have shown the successful application of the chemical DAPT in Hydra, which blocks the Notch signaling pathway by preventing the translocation of the intracellular domain of the Notch receptor (NICD) into the nucleus. This inhibition resulted in several severe phenotypical changes in Hydra polyps. This study focused on the identification of candidate Notch targets in order to unravel the molecular mechanism underlying the observed phenotypes. A comparative transcriptome analysis was performed and the data of the RefSeq experiment of DAPT-treated and control animals were mapped to data from the recent Hydra single cell analysis. Differential expression analysis showed that especially cells of the nematoblast lineage were affected by Notch inhibition. About 50% of the identified Notch-responsive genes were found to be expressed in nematoblasts or nematocytes including HyPOU4, NOWA, Spinalin, CnASH and several nematoblast-specific genes. The analysis emphasized that for nematoblast development, Notch signaling becomes important when nematoblasts undergo the final mitosis to differentiate into nematocytes. Known genes specific for proliferating nematoblasts, were not affected by Notch inhibition. Since the majority of the Notch-responsive nematoblast genes were down-regulated upon Notch inhibition, it can be concluded that Notch drives nematoblast differentiation. In addition, cluster analysis showed several small clusters of Notch-responsive genes, that were specifically expressed in distinct cell types, including endodermal or ectodermal epithelial cells or both, tentacle genes, both ectodermal like battery cells and endodermal, head cells and foot cells. Notch-affected head specific genes included HyAlx, CnOtx, Cngoosecoid and HyWnt7. Interestingly, Notch-responsive head genes were mainly down-regulated whereas Notch-responsive genes in the foot and basal disc were mainly up-regulated, suggesting that Notch plays opposing roles in these two Hydra extremities

“We have to say no to coal”: Facebook framings of the Egyptians against Coal movement

The study aims to explore and analyze the core collective action frames that were developed by the environmental movement of ‘Egyptians against Coal’ to raise the public awareness about the dangers of coal and mobilize action. The framing theory is used as the main theoretical approach in this study. The study relies on a qualitative content analysis of the Facebook page of ‘Egyptians against Coal’ and interviews conducted with the page creators and activists. The study revealed that by using Facebook, the anti-coal movement managed to make salient new meanings of coal as part of a wider social problem, rather than an ‘economic panacea’ to Egypt’s industry challenges and to phrase frames that resonate with shared political and economic grievances and dominant cultural values in Egypt. In this regard, it was found that the Facebook page constructed four prevalent frames in order to shape public discourse: coal as an environmental disaster, coal and health risks, coal and environmental injustices and socioeconomic costs, and fossil fuel versus renewable energies

Construction of Fluorescent Helicase Fusion Proteins for Use in Fret Studies on Helicase Function and Stoichiometry

This thesis details the construction of N-terminal fusions of the E. coli helicase DnaB to fluorescent proteins mT-Sapphire and mVenus, and of C-terminal fusions of the hepatitis C virus NS3 helicase (NS3h) to mT-Sapphire and mVenus. These fluorescent fusion proteins were constructed to be used in FRET studies of helicase function and stoichiometry. One example is in assessing the potential oligomerization and cooperativity of NS3h protomers in unwinding RNA. Another potential use is in assessing the stoichiometry of the replisome of E. coli; older studies support a dimeric polymerase model of the replisome. Recent studies however suggest that an active replisome which accommodates three polymerase III cores (the trimeric polymerase complex) may be the active form in vivo and that the previous dimeric polymerase model may have been incorrect. While most evidence supports the dimeric polymerase complex, there are unanswered questions and FRET could potentially answer these questions

Nostalgia and the East in the Arabic and Hebrew Poetry of Islamic Spain

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indiana University, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, 2015This Ph.D. dissertation focuses on the nostalgic feelings of the Andalusian Arabs and Jews toward the East and on the role that eastern poetic conventions played in the literary composition of al-Andalus. The first chapter introduces a quick survey of nostalgia among Arabs from the pre-Islamic era up to the modern era and shows how political and social instability incited this phenomenon among Arabs in general. Chapter two introduces a lexicon of nostalgia by gathering the terms and vocabulary in Arabic and Hebrew that are often used in emotional, nostalgic poetry focused on the poet's roots and past. Chapter three focuses on selected terms from the previous chapter (five types of plants and four eastern rivers) and examines how these terms were used in al-Andalus to show direct nostalgia for the East or indirect nostalgia by relying on and employing the eastern poetic conventions. Chapter three also examines how the eastern poetic masterpiece "the muʿallaqa" of Imriʼ al-Qays functioned as inspirational poetry to many Andalusian poets, what indicates the strong literary bonds between al-Andalus and the East. Chapter four discusses the impact of the Islamic religion on the increasing religious and geographical nostalgia for the East in al-Andalus. Sufi poetry and poetry praising the Prophet Muḥammad (madīḥ nabawī) were discussed in this chapter to shed light on this phenomenon. Chapter five focuses on rithāʼ al-mudun (the elegy for the fallen cities of al-Andalus) and argues that, even when the Andalusian poet intended to express sorrow and pain over the loss of the Andalusian cities, he almost always referred to the East and the eastern poetic convention of the nasīb to convey his feelings. Chapter six focuses on the non-religious nostalgia of some Jewish Andalusian poets for Jerusalem, in particular, and the Land of Israel, in general. In this chapter, I argue that the insults aimed at Jews and Judaism increased these poets' feelings of not belonging and, as a result, increased the nostalgia for personal redemption among the Jews, in general, and in Shmuʼel Hanagid and Yehuda Halevi, in particular

Baclofen Pump Implantation for Cerebral Palsy

Programmable baclofen pump implantation is used to provide the patient with minimal intrathecal dose of baclofen to provide relaxation when the oral permitted doses are no longer withstand able by the patient. We discussed the efficiency of programmable baclofen pump implantation in treating spasticity by reviewing several international papers. Satisfactory relaxation was noticed in most of the patients. The complications following intrathecal baclofen (ITB) surgeries are not uncommon. ITB is an advised method for treating spasticity whether due to cerebral or spinal causes. It has significant improvements with minor complications. It needs special trained multidisciplinary team to manage it

Hybrid of Eddy Current Probe Based on Permanent Magnet and GMR Sensor

The eddy current testing (ECT) is used to inspect a material to determine its properties without destroying its utility. The applications include detection of flaws in aircrafts, pipeline, etc. An ECT is a weak sensitivity to a subsurface defect. Applications of giant magnetic sensors (GMR) are increasingly applied to the measurement of weak magnetic fields related to the currents they cause. In this paper, GMR sensor with magnet bar (permanent) is utilized. The proposed probe system is utilized to study the impact of the width and depth defect on the signal of eddy current testing. The maximum depth of flaw in a mild steel can be revealed by using this probe. The graph of the difference between the peak amplitude and the penetration depth of each slot of a different width of the two bands of mild steel shows the increase of the signal for each slot and flat above 3mm. The experimental result proves the inability of a PMGMR probe to detect a defect at a depth of 3mm on a surface defect

Comparative Study of the Mechanical Properties of (FS) and MIG Welded Joint in (AA7020-T6) Aluminum Alloy

A comprehensive practical study of typical mechanical properties of welded Aluminum alloy AA7020-T6 (Al-Mg-Zn), adopting friction stir welding (FSW) technique and conventional metal inert gas (MIG) technique, is well achieved in this work for real comparison purposes. The essences of present output findings were concentrated upon the FSW samples in respect to that MIG ones which can be summarized in the increase of the ultimate tensile strength for FSW was 340 MPa while it was 232 MPa for MIG welding, where it was for base metal 400 MPa. The minimum microhardness value for FSW was recorded at HAZ and it was 133 HV0.05 while it was 70 HV0.05 for MIG weld at the welding metal. The FSW produce 2470 N higher than MIG welding in the bending test and a decrease in the localized grain size for FSW in the stirred zone 12 µm and it was 37 µm for MIG while it was 32 µm for the base meta

Exploring Knowledge Leakage Risk in Knowledge-Intensive Organisations: behavioural aspects and key controls

Knowledge leakage poses a critical risk to the competitive advantage of knowledge-intensive organisations. Although knowledge leakage is a human-centric security issue, little is known about leakage resulting from individual behaviour and the protective strategies and controls that could be effective in mitigating leakage risk. Therefore, this research explores the perspectives of security practitioners on the key factors that influence knowledge leakage risk in the context of knowledge-intensive organisations. We conduct two focus groups to explore these perspectives. The research highlights three types of behavioural controls that mitigate the risk of knowledge leakage: human resource management practices, knowledge security training and awareness practices, and compartmentalisation practices

Hybrid of Eddy Current Probe based on Permanent Magnet and GMR Sensor

The eddy current testing (ECT) is used to inspect a material to determine its properties without destroying its utility. The applications include detection of flaws in aircrafts, pipeline, etc. An ECT is a weak sensitivity to a subsurface defect. Applications of giant magnetic sensors (GMR) are increasingly applied to the measurement of weak magnetic fields related to the currents they cause. In this paper, GMR sensor with magnet bar (permanent) is utilized. The proposed probe system is utilized to study the impact of the width and depth defect on the signal of eddy current testing. The maximum depth of flaw in a mild steel can be revealed by using this probe. The graph of the difference between the peak amplitude and the penetration depth of each slot of a different width of the two bands of mild steel shows the increase of the signal for each slot and flat above 3mm. The experimental result proves the inability of a PMGMR probe to detect a defect at a depth of 3mm on a surface defect