Analysis of the role of the p47 GTPase IIGP1 in Resistance against Intracellular Pathogens

IIGP1 is a member of the p47 GTPase family of IFNγ-induced proteins, which are among the most potent presently known mediators of cell-autonomous resistance against intracellular bacterial and protozoan pathogens in the mouse. From all studied members of this family IIGP1 is the best characterized with respect to biochemical characteristics and enzymatic activity in vitro, as well as membrane binding properties and dynamic behavior in cells. The role of the protein in intracellular defense was however, unknown and this study was set as an initial attempt to reveal it. This thesis describes the generation of an IIGP1 deficient mouse and analysis of the susceptibility of this animal to pathogens from protozoan and bacterial origin, which employ diverse strategies for host cell invasion and intracellular survival and replication. Despite having intact adaptive immune system, the IIGP1 deficient mice showed higher incidence of development of cerebral malaria after infection with Plasmodium berghei sporozoites. In addition, IIGP1 deficient astrocytes exhibited a partial loss of IFNγ-induced inhibition of Toxoplasma gondii growth. IIGP1 deficient animals were not susceptible to infection with Leishmania major, Listeria monocytogenes, Chlamydia trachomatis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. From the analysis of the obtained data in the context of the intracellular lifestyle of the pathogens involved in this study, we concluded that IIGP1 seems to be specifically involved in defense against protozoan parasites, which like Pl. berghei and T. gondii reside in non-fusigenic parasitophorous vacuoles after entering cells. The mechanisms of IIGP1-dependent protection of cells against these pathogens remain to be studied

Europeana Creative. EDM Endpoint. Custom Views

The paper discusses the Europeana Creative project which aims to facilitate re-use of cultural heritage metadata and content by the creative industries. The paper focuses on the contribution of Ontotext to the project activities. The Europeana Data Model (EDM) is further discussed as a new proposal for structuring the data that Europeana will ingest, manage and publish. The advantages of using EDM instead of the current ESE metadata set are highlighted. Finally, Ontotext’s EDM Endpoint is presented, based on OWLIM semantic repository and SPARQL query language. A user-friendly RDF view is presented in order to illustrate the possibilities of Forest - an extensible modular user interface framework for creating linked data and semantic web applications

The effect of institutional characteristics and social norms on corruption in healthcare

Corruption in healthcare is widespread and consequential. Informal payments (IPs) are a common form of petty corruption, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Using data from the Life in Transition Survey encompassing 33 countries across Europe and Central Asia, I analyze the prevalence and reasons behind IPs made to public health providers. In addition to individual- and system-level factors often used in literature, I also introduce a latent measure of social norms related to high levels of corruption. These are associated with a significantly higher prevalence of paying informally. This paper also bridges a gap between the corruption literature and health-related research by introducing a typology of IPs based on why they were made. I find that the association between health system characteristics and IPs prevalence differs based on the reason for payment. This difference is further exacerbated by the existence of corruption-related social norms. The results of this analysis highlight the need to revisit existing anti-corruption policies and align them to the underlying social norms

Community‐based program for drug prevention in schools (case study)

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Framing of sensitive topics in surveys measuring corruption in healthcare

Corruption is a costly, consequential and complex phenomenon facing healthcare systems globally. Measuring the prevalence of petty corruption, such as bribery and informal payments, is challenging due to the hidden and sensitive nature of these exchanges. This paper explores how question framing influences estimates of informal payment prevalence in doctor-patient relationships in two steps. We analyze the responses from the Eurobarometer survey and then conduct a novel survey experiment in Bulgaria and the UK, comparing the effect of ‘neutral’ (avoiding corruption-related terms) versus ‘loaded’ (using corruption-related terms) question wording on individuals' reports of experiences with informal payments. Data from the Special Eurobarometer 397 survey (N = 16,051) fielded in 2013 reveals a notable framing effect: respondents report higher prevalence of informal payments when questions are neutrally framed, as opposed to using corruption-related language. This result is confirmed by a survey experiment we ran between November 2023 and February 2024 in with participants in Bulgaria (N = 428) and the UK (N = 424). Respondents exposed to neutral framing were significantly more likely to admit making informal payments compared to those in the loaded treatment group. The difference in response rates between countries suggests that cultural and normative specificities play a role in willingness to report healthcare corruption. Our results underscore the trade-off between using culturally contextualized terminology to elicit responses on sensitive topics and adopting a universal approach that facilitates cross-country comparisons. We further discuss the behavioral and normative implications of using neutral versus corruption-related language when investigating informal practices in healthcare settings