Twitter in the Cross Fire—The Use of Social Media in the Westgate Mall Terror Attack in Kenya

On September 2013 an attack on the Westgate mall in Kenya led to a four day siege, resulting in 67 fatalities and 175 wounded. During the crisis, Twitter became a crucial channel of communication between the government, emergency responders and the public, facilitating the emergency management of the event. The objectives of this paper are to present the main activities, use patterns and lessons learned from the use of the social media in the crisis. Using TwitterMate, a system developed to collect, store and analyze tweets, the main hashtags generated by the crowd and specific Twitter accounts of individuals, emergency responders and NGOs, were followed throughout the four day siege. A total of 67,849 tweets were collected and analyzed. Four main categories of hashtags were identified: geographical locations, terror attack, social support and organizations. The abundance of Twitter accounts providing official information made it difficult to synchronize and follow the flow of information. Many organizations posted simultaneously, by their manager and by the organization itself. Creating situational awareness was facilitated by information tweeted by the public. Threat assessment was updated through the information posted on social media. Security breaches led to the relay of sensitive data. At times, misinformation was only corrected after two days. Social media offer an accessible, widely available means for a bi-directional flow of information between the public and the authorities. In the crisis, all emergency responders used and leveraged social media networks for communicating both with the public and among themselves. A standard operating procedure should be developed to enable multiple responders to monitor, synchronize and integrate their social media feeds during emergencies. This will lead to better utilization and optimization of social media resources during crises, providing clear guidelines for communications and a hierarchy for dispersing information to the public and among responding organizations.     

Regulation of the sperm EGF receptor by ouabain leads to initiation of the acrosome reaction

The sperm acrosome reaction occurs after the binding of the capacitated sperm to the egg zona pellucida. This study describes a novel mode of regulation of the sperm epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) under physiological conditions and its relevance to the acrosome reaction. Ouabain, a known Na/K ATPase blocker is present in the blood and in the female reproductive tract. We show here that physiological concentrations (nM) of ouabain enhance phosphorylation of EGFR on tyr-845, stimulate Ca²⁺ influx and induce the acrosome reaction in sperm. These effects could be seen only in the presence of very low concentrations of EGF (0.1 ng/ml or 0.016 nM) added together with nano-molar ouabain. Phosphorylation, Ca²⁺ influx, and the acrosome reaction are inhibited by an EGFR blocker, suggesting that trans-activation of the EGFR is involved. Moreover, our data revealed that protein kinase A and the family of tyrosine kinase, SRC, shown before to be involved in EGFR activation in sperm, mediate the acrosome reaction induced by ouabain. Ouabain alone (without EGF) at relatively high concentration (10 µM) could enhance EGFR phosphorylation, Ca²⁺ influx and acrosome reaction, and these processes were inhibited by EGFR blockers. Moreover, we show here that PKA and SRC family are involved in the activation of EGFR by 10 µM ouabain, further demonstrating that ouabain induces the acrosome reaction by a mechanism mediated by the trans-activation of EGFR. In conclusion, this study describes an interesting regulatory path of EGFR by physiological concentrations of ouabain and EGF found in the female reproductive tract. Neither of these compounds can activate the EGFR alone at such low physiological levels; however, when both are present, the interaction of ouabain with the Na/K ATPase leads to the priming of the EGFR, which undergoes its full activation by EGF.     

<Emphasis Type="Bold">Intersex Activists in Israel: Their Achievements and the Obstacles They Face</Emphasis>

This article focuses on the dynamic between the medical policy on intersex bodies and intersex activists in Israel. Recently, in many countries changes have taken place in medical guidelines regarding intersex patients and laws that regulate medical practices and prohibit irreversible surgeries for intersex babies for cosmetic reasons and without the patient’s consent. In Israel, intersex activists are limited by several factors. On the one hand, they are influenced by the achievements of intersex activism around the world but on the other, the pathologizing medical discourse and socio-medical practices, which include early diagnosis, early irreversible surgeries, and secrecy surrounding intersexed bodies, present obstacles to achieving bodily autonomy for intersex individuals and social recognition of different sex development. Nevertheless, intersex activists are attempting to find different social and media spaces in which to achieve public acknowledgement and future bodily autonomy for intersexed people and seeking medical professionals’ cooperation. Recently, the Israeli Ministry of Health published a new circular for intersex/DSD patients, and while it does not clearly forbid irreversible surgeries, it provides information about the complexities of intersex people and their experience.     

Controlled Fabrication of Gold Nanoparticle and Fluorescent Protein Conjugates

The unique optical properties of gold nanoparticles make them attractive for a wide range of applications which require optical detection and manipulation techniques. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the use of single femtosecond pulses at resonance wavelength for a controlled conjugation of gold nanoparticles and fluorescent proteins. This optically driven reaction is rigorously studied and analyzed using a variety of experimental techniques, and a detailed model is proposed which describes the adsorption of the proteins onto the nanoparticles' surface, as well as their subsequent desorption by a reducing agent. Potential applications of the resulting nanoparticle?Cprotein conjugates include controlled delivery of fluorescent markers and local sensing of biochemical processes.     

Dissociation between release and gene expression of gonadotropin alpha-subunit in gonadotropin-releasing hormone-stimulated alpha T3-1 cell line.

The alpha T3-1 cell line which was derived by targeted tumorigenesis in transgenic mice [Windle et al. (1990) Mol. Endocrinol. 4, 597-603] possesses high-affinity binding sites for GnRH analogs coupled to enhanced phosphoinositide turnover and phospholipase D activity. Incubation of alpha T3-1 cells with [D-Trp6]-GnRH analog (GnRH-A) resulted in a rapid increase in gonadotropin alpha-subunit mRNA levels which was detected already at 30 min of incubation (0.1 nM GnRH-A, 3-fold, p < 0.01). The effect diminished with time to reach basal levels at about 12 h of incubation, with a secondary rise in alpha mRNA levels between 12 and 24 h of incubation. Addition of the protein kinase C activator 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA, 100 ng/mL) or the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin (1 microM) to alpha T3-1 cells also resulted in a rapid increase in alpha-subunit mRNA levels. Surprisingly, GnRH-induced alpha-subunit release was detected only after a lag of 4 h of incubation. Thus, dissociation between exocytosis and gene expression can be demonstrated in GnRH-stimulated alpha T3-1 cell line.