A wider Europe? The view from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine

On the evidence of national surveys conducted between 2000 and 2006, there is a declining sense of European self-identity in the three Slavic post-Soviet republics of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Attitudes towards the European Union and the possibility of membership are broadly supportive, but with a substantial proportion who find it difficult to express a view, and substantial proportions are poorly informed in comparison with the general public in EU member or prospective member countries. Those who are better informed are more likely to favour EU membership and vice versa. Generally, socioeconomic characteristics (except for age and region) are relatively poor predictors of support for EU membership as compared with attitudinal variables. But ‘Europeanness’ should not be seen as a given, and much will depend on whether EU member countries emphasize what is common to east and west or establish ‘new dividing lines’ in place of those of the cold war

Business Laws and Legal Rights: Research and Practice

Fighting against cybercrime: problems and prospects in Ukraine and the world / Andrii Borko, Vadym Nehodchenko, Olena Volobuieva, Ivan Kharaberiush, Yevheniia Lohvynenko // Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues. - 2019. - Vol. 22, Special Issue 2.Borko, A., Nehodchenko, V., Volobuieva, O., Kharaberiush, I., & Lohvynenko, Y. (2019). Fighting against cybercrime: Problems and prospects in ukraine and the world. Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues, 22(Special Issue 2) Retrieved from www.scopus.comУ статті розглядаються особливості боротьби з кіберзлочинністю шляхом створення відповідних кібер-підрозділів в Україні та світі. Офіційні дані про збитки, що виникають щорічно в результаті здійснення кіберзлочинності. Звертає на себе увагу той факт, що до 2021 року втрати від кіберзлочинності у світі досягнуть 6 трильйонів доларів. Виявляється, що головним міжнародним актом для європейських держав у сфері боротьби з кіберзлочинністю є Конвенція Ради Європи про кіберзлочинність, згідно з якою були створені кібернетичні одиниці в Україні та в ряді країн-членів Європейського Союзу. Особливості протидії і боротьба кіберзлочинності в Україні, Фінляндії, Естонії, Франції, США. Зроблено висновок про важливість гармонізації законодавства у сфері боротьби проти кіберзлочинності, а також налагодження транскордонного співробітництва у цій сфері та співпраця з приватними суб'єктами, зокрема, що надають Інтернет-послуги.The article deals with the features of fighting against cybercrime through the creation of appropriate cyber units in Ukraine and in the world. Official data on losses incurred annually by the state as a result of committing cybercrime are presented. Attention is drawn to the fact that by 2021 the losses from cybercrime in the world will reach 6 trillion dollars. It is revealed that the main international act for European states in the field of fighting against cybercrime is the Council of Europe cybercrime convention, according to which cyber units were created in Ukraine and in a number of European Union member states. The peculiarities of counteraction and struggle of cybercrime in Ukraine, Finland, Estonia, France, the USA are considered. The conclusion is made on the importance of harmonization of legislation in the area of fighting against cybercrime, as well as the establishment of cross-border cooperation in this area and cooperation with private actors, in particular those providing Internet services.В статье рассматриваются особенности борьбы с киберпреступностью путем создания соответствующих киберподразделений в Украине и в мире. Официальные данные о потерях, понесенных ежегодно в результате совершения киберпреступности. Обращает на себя внимание тот факт, что к 2021 году потери от киберпреступности в мире достигнут 6 триллионов долларов. Выявлено, что основным международным актом европейских государств в области борьбы с киберпреступностью является Конвенция Совета Европы о киберпреступности, в соответствии с которой в Украина и ряд государств-членов Европейского Союза. Особенности противодействия и борьба с киберпреступностью в Украине, Финляндии, Эстонии, Франции, США. Сделан вывод о важности гармонизации законодательства в сфере боевых действий, противодействия киберпреступности, а также налаживания трансграничного сотрудничества в этой области и сотрудничество с частными субъектами, в частности теми, кто предоставляет интернет-услуги

The pedagogic beliefs of Indonesian teachers in inclusive schools

This research explores, for the first time, the pedagogical orientations of Indonesian teachers in the context of inclusive education. A mixed-method approach was used for an analysis of questionnaire data from 140 teachers and qualitative interviews from 20 teachers in four inclusive schools. The findings suggest that, in general, the implicit orientation of teachers is social constructivist. This orientation is also reflected in their reported classroom practices. Although less common, more directive pedagogical approaches appear to have an impact upon the flexibility of roles within two teacher inclusive classrooms. Whilst the number of disabled pupils within each class was a significant issue for interviewees, no pupils were deemed unteachable in their classrooms. Furthermore, what is described by the teachers as a “special pedagogy” typically entailed additional teaching time and modified assessments, and consequently could be framed as “good teaching for all”. The questionnaires also contained responses from student and special school teachers and support the view that teachers’ beliefs about inclusive pedagogy are mediated by experience and occupation

Information science and cognitive psychology: a theoretical approach

Information, as a human and social phenomenon, is the object of study of an emergent scientific field named Information Science (IS), which we put forward as unitary and transdisciplinary and open to a rich interdisciplinarity with other fields of knowledge. In face of the new reality, baptized the Information Society', and the emergence of a new paradigm, that we name "post-custodial, scientific and informational", as opposed to the previous one, "historicist, custodial and technicist", it is urgent to consolidate the theoretical and methodological foundations of IS in order to develop research, both pure and applied, and to contribute to a definition of its boundaries as a scientific area, in the scope of Social Sciences. Starting from an operative definition of Information, this paper aims to discuss the cognitive and emotional dimension of the info-communicational phenomenon and, for that, it is crucial to start a profound and hard dialogue with Cognitive Sciences. The label of 'cognitivist' given, in IS literature, to some authors like Bertram Brookes, because of the emphasis he put on the passage from a state of knowledge to a new state through an addition of knowledge coming from an increase of information, sounds quite equivocal, because knowledge and cognition are not synonymous and cognitive and emotional activity is not reducible to formalities. It is necessary to compare concepts and to understand the neuropsychological roots of the production, the organization and the info-communicational behaviour, so the contribution of Neurosciences and Cognitive Sciences, namely Cognitive Psychology, is indispensable

X Chromosome Inactivation and Differentiation Occur Readily in ES Cells Doubly-Deficient for MacroH2A1 and MacroH2A2

Macrohistones (mH2As) are unusual histone variants found exclusively in vertebrate chromatin. In mice, the H2afy gene encodes two splice variants, mH2A1.1 and mH2A1.2 and a second gene, H2afy2, encodes an additional mH2A2 protein. Both mH2A isoforms have been found enriched on the inactive X chromosome (Xi) in differentiated mammalian female cells, and are incorporated into the chromatin of developmentally-regulated genes. To investigate the functional significance of mH2A isoforms for X chromosome inactivation (XCI), we produced male and female embryonic stem cell (ESC) lines with stably-integrated shRNA constructs that simultaneously target both mH2A1 and mH2A2. Surprisingly, we find that female ESCs deficient for both mH2A1 and mH2A2 readily execute and maintain XCI upon differentiation. Furthermore, male and female mH2A-deficient ESCs proliferate normally under pluripotency culture conditions, and respond to several standard differentiation procedures efficiently. Our results show that XCI can readily proceed with substantially reduced total mH2A content

An Upstream Open Reading Frame Controls Translation of var2csa, a Gene Implicated in Placental Malaria

Malaria, caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, is responsible for substantial morbidity, mortality and economic losses in tropical regions of the world. Pregnant women are exceptionally vulnerable to severe consequences of the infection, due to the specific adhesion of parasite-infected erythrocytes in the placenta. This adhesion is mediated by a unique variant of PfEMP1, a parasite encoded, hyper-variable antigen placed on the surface of infected cells. This variant, called VAR2CSA, binds to chondroitin sulfate A on syncytiotrophoblasts in the intervillous space of placentas. VAR2CSA appears to only be expressed in the presence of a placenta, suggesting that its expression is actively repressed in men, children or non-pregnant women; however, the mechanism of repression is not understood. Using cultured parasite lines and reporter gene constructs, we show that the gene encoding VAR2CSA contains a small upstream open reading frame that acts to repress translation of the resulting mRNA, revealing a novel form of gene regulation in malaria parasites. The mechanism underlying this translational repression is reversible, allowing high levels of protein translation upon selection, thus potentially enabling parasites to upregulate expression of this variant antigen in the presence of the appropriate host tissue

Implementing a new mathematics curriculum in England: district Research Lesson Study as a driver for student learning, teacher learning and professional dialogue.

Against a backdrop of a transformation in teacher professional development and learning and state school organisation in England this century, this chapter describes a project which harnessed six cycles of Research Lesson Study at school and district level over two years to tailor the implementation of a new statutory curriculum in England to address the professional development needs of teachers and classroom learning needs of London students. It also reports the findings of research carried out during the project into how these teachers learned and developed this new curricular expertise and practice- knowledge through lesson study dialogues that supported student learning. It concludes by proposing future directions for teacher professional learning research and practice

TGF-β Regulates DNA Methyltransferase Expression in Prostate Cancer, Correlates with Aggressive Capabilities, and Predicts Disease Recurrence

DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) is one of the major factors mediating the methylation of cancer related genes such as TGF-β receptors (TβRs). This in turn may result in a loss of sensitivity to physiologic levels of TGF-β in aggressive prostate cancer (CaP). The specific mechanisms of DNMT's role in CaP remain undetermined. In this study, we describe the mechanism of TGF-β-mediated DNMT in CaP and its association with clinical outcomes following radical prostatectomy.We used human CaP cell lines with varying degrees of invasive capability to describe how TGF-β mediates the expression of DNMT in CaP, and its effects on methylation status of TGF-β receptors and the invasive capability of CaP in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we determined the association between DNMT expression and clinical outcome after radical prostatectomy. We found that more aggressive CaP cells had significantly higher TGF-β levels, increased expression of DNMT, but reduced TβRs when compared to benign prostate cells and less aggressive prostate cancer cells. Blockade of TGF-β signaling or ERK activation (p-ERK) was associated with a dramatic decrease in the expression of DNMT, which results in a coincident increase in the expression of TβRs. Blockade of either TGF-β signaling or DNMT dramatically decreased the invasive capabilities of CaP. Inhibition of TGF-β in an TRAMP-C2 CaP model in C57BL/6 mice using 1D11 was associated with downregulation of DNMTs and p-ERK and impairment in tumor growth. Finally, independent of Gleason grade, increased DNMT1 expression was associated with biochemical recurrence following surgical treatment for prostate cancer.Our findings demonstrate that CaP derived TGF-β may induce the expression of DNMTs in CaP which is associated with methylation of its receptors and the aggressive potential of CaP. In addition, DNMTs is an independent predictor for disease recurrence after prostatectomy, and may have clinical implications for CaP prognostication and therapy