Linguistic Interference and Religious Identity: The Case of a Lebanese Speech Community

Multilingualism and multiculturalism are cornerstones of Lebanese society. There is a considerable amount of Arabic-French bilingualism, although English has been rapidly gaining ground in recent years. This situation has obviously affected the Lebanese dialect: loan words and even cases of phonological, morphological and syntactical change are widespread. Moreover, we constantly witness phenomena of code-switching and linguistic mixing between Lebanese/French and Lebanese/ English. This has become associated with a certain cultural and religious identity. The literature that investigates the role of foreign languages in Lebanon generally focuses on their use in Lebanese education and on the speakers’ perception of the foreign languages. The present study examines the role of foreign languages in authentic speech and explores the linguistic phenomena of code-switching and code-mixing as markers of speaker religious identity. Various extracts of authentic informal speech are analysed in order to define further the correspondence between language study and identity in the Lebanese context

Use of the KlADH4 promoter for ethanol-dependent production of recombinant human serum albumine in Kluyveromyces lactis

KlADH4 is a gene of Kluyveromyces lactis encoding a mitochondrial alcohol dehydrogenase activity which is specifically induced by ethanol. The promoter of this gene was used for the expression of heterologous proteins in K. lactis, a very promising organism which can be used as an alternative host to Saccharomyces cerevisiae due to its good secretory properties. In this paper we report the ethanol-driven expression in K. lactis of the bacterial beta-glucuronidase and of the human serum albumin (HSA) genes under the control of the KlADH4 promoter. In particular, we studied the extracellular production of recombinant HSA (rHSA) with integrative and replicative vectors and obtained a significant increase in the amount of the protein with multicopy vectors, showing that no limitation of KlADH4 trans-acting factors occurred in the cells. By deletion analysis of the promoter, we identified an element (UASE) which is sufficient for the induction of KlADH4 by ethanol and, when inserted in the respective promoters, allows ethanol-dependent activation of other yeast genes, such as PGK and LAC4. We also analyzed the effect of medium composition on cell growth and protein secretion. A clear improvement in the production of the recombinant protein was achieved by shifting from batch cultures (0.3 g/liter) to fed-batch cultures (1 g/liter) with ethanol as the preferred carbon source

The anti-vegf(R) drug discovery legacy: Improving attrition rates by breaking the vicious cycle of angiogenesis in cancer

Resistance to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) molecules causes lack of response and disease recurrence. Acquired resistance develops as a result of genetic/epigenetic changes conferring to the cancer cells a drug resistant phenotype. In addition to tumor cells, tumor endothelial cells also undergo epigenetic modifications involved in resistance to anti-angiogenic therapies. The association of multiple anti-angiogenic molecules or a combination of anti-angiogenic drugs with other treatment regimens have been indicated as alternative therapeutic strategies to overcome resistance to anti-angiogenic therapies. Alternative mechanisms of tumor vasculature, including intussusceptive microvascular growth (IMG), vasculogenic mimicry, and vascular co-option, are involved in resistance to anti-angiogenic therapies. The crosstalk between angiogenesis and immune cells explains the efficacy of combining anti-angiogenic drugs with immune check-point inhibitors. Collectively, in order to increase clinical benefits and overcome resistance to anti-angiogenesis therapies, pan-omics profiling is key

A comprehensive biological and clinical perspective can drive a patient-tailored approach to multiple myeloma: Bridging the gaps between the plasma cell and the neoplastic niche

There is a broad spectrum of diseases labeled as multiple myeloma (MM). This is due not only to the composite prognostic risk factors leading to different clinical outcomes and responses to treatments but also to the composite tumor microenvironment that is involved in a vicious cycle with the MM plasma cells. New therapeutic strategies have improved MM patients' chances of survival. Nevertheless, certain patients' subgroups have a particularly unfavorable prognosis. Biological stratification can be subdivided into patient, disease, or therapy-related factors. Alternatively, the biological signature of aggressive disease and dismal therapeutic response can promote a dynamic, comprehensive strategic approach, better tailoring the clinical management of highrisk profiles and refractoriness to therapy and taking into account the role played by the MM milieu. By means of an extensive literature search, we have reviewed the state-of-the-art pathophysiological insights obtained from translational investigations of the MM-bone marrow microenvironment. A good knowledge of the MM niche pathophysiological dissection is crucial to tailor personalized approaches in a bench-bedside fashion. The discussion in this review pinpoints two main aspects that appear fundamental in order to gain novel and definitive results from the biology of MM. A systematic knowledge of the plasma cell disorder, along with greater efforts to face the unmet needs present in MM evolution, promises to open a new therapeutic window looking out onto the plethora of scientific evidence about the myeloma and the bystander cells

Angiogenesis as Therapeutic Target in Metastatic Prostate Cancer – Narrowing the Gap Between Bench and Bedside

Angiogenesis in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) has been extensively investigated as a promising druggable biological process. Nonetheless, targeting angiogenesis has failed to impact overall survival (OS) in patients with mCRPC despite promising preclinical and early clinical data. This discrepancy prompted a literature review highlighting the tumor heterogeneity and biological context of Prostate Cancer (PCa). Narrowing the gap between the bench and bedside appears critical for developing novel therapeutic strategies. Searching clinicaltrials.gov for studies examining angiogenesis inhibition in patients with PCa resulted in n=20 trials with specific angiogenesis inhibitors currently recruiting (as of September 2021). Moreover, several other compounds with known anti-angiogenic properties – such as Metformin or Curcumin – are currently investigated. In general, angiogenesis-targeting strategies in PCa include biomarker-guided treatment stratification – as well as combinatorial approaches. Beyond established angiogenesis inhibitors, PCa therapies aiming at PSMA (Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen) hold the promise to have a substantial anti-angiogenic effect – due to PSMA´s abundant expression in tumor vasculatur

Avoiding Alignment-based Conservativity Violations through Dialogue

A number of ontology matching techniques have been proposed that rely on full disclosure of their ontological models prior to the construction of the alignment. However, within open and opportunistic environments, such approaches may not always be pragmatic or even acceptable (due to privacy concerns). Several studies have focussed on collaborative, decentralised approaches to ontology alignment, where agents negotiate the acceptability of correspondences (i.e. mappings between corresponding entities in different ontologies) acquired from past encounters, or try to ascertain novel correspondences on the fly. However, such approaches can lead to logical flaws that may undermine their utility. In this paper, we extend a dialogical approach to correspondence negotiation, whereby agents not only exchange details of possible correspondences, but also identify potential violations to the so-called conservativity principle, where novel but undesirable entailments between named concepts in one of the input ontologies emerge. We present a formal model of the dialogue, and show how \conservativity violations can be repaired (using an existing correspondence repair system) during the dialogue through the exchange of repairs. We then illustrate how agents negotiate over possible correspondences and repairs by means of a walkthrough example

Web-Arabic as Lingua Franca (WALF): Variation and Standard in Teaching Arabic as Foreign Language (TAFL)

One of the most interesting issues in second language teaching is how students should be exposed to language variation using methods based on the analysis and comparison of authentic texts. In this respect, research regarding the teaching of Arabic is relatively lacking. Moreover, in recent years Arabic has been changing rapidly, strongly influenced by the social networks. The most evident result of this is the emergence of Web-Arabic, which can be regarded as a lingua franca in online communication. Although characterized by a prevalent use of Standard Arabic, it is also marked by recourse to colloquialisms and dialectal features. The present study illustrates how a group of Italian teachers of Arabic participating in teacher education courses were introduced to the teaching of language variation through the analysis of Web-Arabic as Lingua Franca (WALF). The most significant preliminary findings are that WALF can provide an innovative tool in the teaching of variation in Arabic and provide stimulating considerations for new strategies

Arabic neologisms in IT terminology: the role of the Academies

Cette contribution se focalise sur la traduction de la terminologie informatique en langue arabe. Les innovations dans ce domaine et l’usage toujours plus répandu des ordinateurs dans la vie quotidienne ont obligé les communautés non‑anglophones à chercher des expressions et des mots nouveaux pour exprimer un univers nouveau. Les Académies de langue arabe encouragent l’usage des mots non‑étrangers mais l’absence de coordination entre elles a amené à une pluralité de solutions dans les dictionnaires spécialisés et dans les manuels. Malgré les résistances des puristes de la langue, plusieurs stratégies complexes ont été adoptées dans le but de trouver des solutions convenables : l’analyse de ces stratégies constitue l’objet de cette contribution.This contribution focuses on the rendering of IT terminology in Arabic. The innovations in this field and the use of computers in everyday life have forced the non‑Anglophone countries to find new terms to express a new world. The Academies of Arabic language encourage the non use of foreign terminology but the absence of coordination among them has led to the variety of solutions in specific dictionaries and manuals. Despite purist resistances, complex and different strategies have been adopted in order to solve the problem: the analysis of these strategies represents the core of this contribution.تتمحور هذه المقالة حول مسألة ترجمة المصطلحات الحاسوبية إلى اللغة العربية فالتجديد اللغوي المستمر في هذا المجال والانتشار المتزايد للمعلوماتية في الحياة اليومية أجبرا الناطقين بغير اللغة الإنكليزية على البحث عن مفردات وتراكيب جديدة للتعبير عن هذا العالم الجديد. وإذا كانت مجامع اللغة العربية تدعو إلى استخدام الكلمات غير الأجنبية فإن انعدام التنسيق فيما بينها أدى إلى ظهور أشكال متعددة للتعبير عن هذه المستجدات وحلول مختلفة لها باختلاف القواميس والنصوص المتخصصة في هذا المجال. ورغم مقاومة دعاة الحفاظ على نقاء اللغة العربية من أي تأثير أعجمي، فقد تم تبني استراتيجيات معقدة ومتعددة لإيجاد الحلول المناسبة لهذه المستجدات وسيكون تحليل هذه الاستراتيجيات موضوع هذه المداخلة