Privacy Vulnerabilities in the Practices of Repairing Broken Digital Artifacts in Bangladesh

This paper presents a study on the privacy concerns associated with the practice of repairing broken digital objects in Bangladesh. Historically, repair of old or broken technologies has received less attention in ICTD scholarship than design, development, or use. As a result, the potential privacy risks associated with repair practices have remained mostly unaddressed. This paper describes our three-month long ethnographic study that took place at ten major repair sites in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We show a variety of ways in which the privacy of an individual’s personal data may be compromised during the repair process. We also examine people’s perceptions around privacy in repair, and its connections with their broader social and cultural values. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for future research to strengthen the repair ecosystem in developing countries. Taken together, our findings contribute to the growing discourse around post-use cycles of technology

Pyostomatitis vegetans : a review of the literature

Pyostomatitis vegetans (PV) is a rare condition characterized by pustules that affect the oral mucosa. It is a highly specific marker for inflammatory bowel disease and its correct recognition may lead to the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis or Crohn?s disease. Thus, a presumptive diagnosis of PV should suggest a complete gastrointestinal investigation. PV pathogenesis is as yet unknown, although immunological and microbial factors have been suggested as possible aetiological factors. Pyostomatitis vegetans is characterized by erythematous, thickened oral mucosa with multiple pustules and superficial erosions. A peripheral eosinophilia has been observed in most cases reported. Histology shows epithelial acanthosis and superficial ulceration with intraepithelial and ? or subepithelial abscesses containing large numbers of eosinophils. The underlying connective tissue exhibits neutrophil and eosinophil infiltration, with miliary abscesses in some cases. Treatment of PV focuses on control of the underlying disease

Dignity and Deferral Narratives as Strategies in Facilitated Technology-Based Support Groups for People with Advanced Cancer

This paper examines the value of facilitated telephone and online support groups for palliative care. Telephone interviews were conducted with twenty people living with advanced cancer who had participated in either a telephone or online support group facilitated by the Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. Two dominant participant narratives emerged: a focus on dying with dignity or an interest in deferring discussion of death and dying to focus on the present. Despite the different approaches, participants found the technology-based support groups to be accessible and safe environments in which to discuss difficult topics in privacy. Technology-based strategies provide opportunities for health professionals to provide social and emotional care to more people by moving beyond individualised care and facilitate peer-to-peer support at the end of life, especially to those with specific needs. Such options are feasible for palliative care services to set up and acceptable to a group of clients, especially for younger clients or those socially or geographically isolated

Functional and structural abnormalities in deferoxamine retinopathy : a review of the literature

Deferoxamine mesylate (DFO) is the most commonly used iron-chelating agent to treat transfusion-related hemosiderosis. Despite the clear advantages for the use of DFO, numerous DFO-related systemic toxicities have been reported in the literature, as well as sight-threatening ocular toxicity involving the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The damage to the RPE can lead to visual field defects, color-vision defects, abnormal electrophysiological tests, and permanent visual deterioration. The purpose of this review is to provide an updated summary of the ocular findings, including both functional and structural abnormalities, in DFO-treated patients. In particular, we pay particular attention to analyzing results of multimodal technologies for retinal imaging, which help ophthalmologists in the early diagnosis and correct management of DFO retinopathy. Fundus autofluorescence, for example, is not only useful for screening patients at high-risk of DFO retinopathy, but is also a prerequisite for identify specific high-risk patterns of RPE changes that are relevant for the prognosis of the disease. In addition, optical coherence tomography may have a clinical usefulness in detecting extent and location of different retinal changes in DFO retinopathy. Finally, this review wants to underline the need for universally approved guidelines for screening and followup of this particular disease

ZFP36 stabilizes RIP1 via degradation of XIAP and cIAP2 thereby promoting ripoptosome assembly

BACKGROUND: ZFP36 is an mRNA binding protein that exerts anti-tumor activity in glioblastoma by triggering cell death, associated to an increase in the stability of the kinase RIP1. METHODS: We used cell death assays, size exclusion chromatography, Co-Immunoprecipitation, shRNA lentivectors and glioma neural stem cells to determine the effects of ZFP36 on the assembly of a death complex containing RIP1 and on the induction of necroptosis. RESULTS: Here we demonstrate that ZFP36 promotes the assembly of the death complex called Ripoptosome and induces RIP1-dependent death. This involves the depletion of the ubiquitine ligases cIAP2 and XIAP and leads to the association of RIP1 to caspase-8 and FADD. Moreover, we show that ZFP36 controls RIP1 levels in glioma neural stem cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: We provide a molecular mechanism for the tumor suppressor role of ZFP36, and the first evidence for Ripoptosome assembly following ZFP36 expression. These findings suggest that ZFP36 plays an important role in RIP1-dependent cell death in conditions where IAPs are depleted

Closing the Feedback Loop: A 12 Month Evaluation of ASTA, a Self-tracking Application for ASHAs

Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) have been shown to have a positive impact on health outcomes of the households they visit, particularly in maternal and neonatal health. As the first line of the public health system in many countries, they are a critical link to the broader public health infrastructure for community members. Yet they do this all with minimal training and limited support infrastructure. To a pregnant woman, an ASHA is a trusted ally in navigating the health system---information gathered is returned by appropriate advice and counseling. To the health system, the ASHA is a key channel of valuable householdlevel information for the public health system, yet she generally receives minimal guidance in return. In this paper we present ASTA---the ASHA Self-Tracking Application---a system that provides ASHAs with timely, on-demand information regarding their own performance compared to their peers. Using ASTA, ASHAs access comparative performance data through both a web-based and voice-based interface on demand. We evaluated ASTA through a 12-month deployment with 142 ASHAs in Uttar Pradesh, India, assessing the impact of providing feedback on ASHA performance. We find that ASHAs with access to the ASTA system made significantly more client visits, with average monthly visits 21.5% higher than ASHAs who had access to a control system. In addition, higher ASHA performance was correlated with increased usage of ASTA. However, the performance improvement was front-loaded, with the impact of the system decreasing toward the end of the study period. Taken together, our findings provide promising evidence that studying and incorporating tools like ASTA could be cost effective and impactful for ASHA programs