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Unveiling the invisible: A narrative inquiry about the life of adults in Malta who grew up with a sibling diagnosed with a depressive or anxiety disorder
Get PDFMental health not only affects the individual, but also other members of the family. Literature focuses mostly on the parents and/or the individual being affected by the mental illness, while putting aside the siblings and how they are affected when issues related to mental illness emerge during their adolescence. As siblings grow up, the tendency is that they spend a lot of time together, and when mental health emerges, a lot of changes are incurred. This study aims to give a voice to the people who are normally silenced. Therefore, through their narratives, the study aims to understand better the trajectories of the silenced sibling, from adolescence to adulthood and how this journey shaped one’s meaning of life. Furthermore, through understanding one’s story, the helping professionals can work in a holistic manner within the family system. A narrative approach was adopted and thus, seven semi- structured interviews were conducted with participants who experienced having a sibling with depression and other mental health issues emerging during their adolescence. Elliot’s first and second order narrative analysis was used to elicit four main themes. The findings revealed that due to the emergence of symptoms of mental illness within the family, the participants had to adopt new roles to be of help to the family. Moreover, how the participants felt and dealt with mental health within the family was explored. In addition, the theme of loss and how this journey has left an effect on their adulthood was highlighted. The participants explored how their siblings’ mental illness have left them struggling in some aspects in their adulthood, but also how they have grown from this experience, making the purpose of living more meaningful to them. It seems that therapy has helped most of participants to heal and grow form this experience. Since the sample was small and based in Malta, results cannot be generalized as the participants spoke from a Maltese cultural background related to mental health, yet the meaning can be transferable. Recommendation for helping professionals to work more with all the family members, from an early start, would be beneficial in the long run
Establishment and characterisation of chemoresistant osteosarcoma cell lines by single and multi-agent induced strategies
Get PDFOsteosarcoma is a rare malignant bone tumour that occurs primarily in adolescents and young adults. Prior to the adoption of chemotherapy in mid 1970s, more than 85% if post-surgery osteosarcoma patients developed metastasis. Nowadays, standard osteosarcoma treatment of osteosarcoma includes neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgical removal and adjuvant multi-drug chemotherapy. The combination of cisplatin, doxorubicin and high-dose methotrexate is the standard treatment for most patients. Surgery combined with chemotherapy has improved the survival rate for osteosarcoma patients to 60% - 70%. However, most of the patients with metastatic or recurrent osteosarcoma have poor prognosis due to the development of chemotherapeutic drug resistance.
Developing drug-resistant cancer cell models is one approach to study the mechanisms of chemoresistance in cancer cells. In this study, clinically relevant chemoresistant osteosarcoma cell models were developed from the cell lines MG-63 and HOS-143B. One of the strategies used the current study includes a multiple drugs combination approach, where cisplatin, doxorubicin, and methotrexate are combined in one treatment. The purpose of this method is to simulate a similar experience with osteosarcoma patients who are receiving clinical chemotherapy treatment and therefore, to establish a clinically relevant osteosarcoma-resistant model to study the mechanisms of drug resistance.
Cisplatin, doxorubicin, and methotrexate were used as single agents and in triple combination. The highest level of resistance to cisplatin was observed in MG-63/CISR8 (3.56 ± 0.43-fold; p=0.001), doxorubicin in HOS-143B/DOXR8 (1.99 ± 0.20; p=0.0002), and methotrexate in HOS-143B/MTXR8 (3.77 ± 0.90-fold; p=0.046). The MG-63/TRIR8 and HOS-143B/TRIR8 triple-resistance models showed lower levels of resistance, 2.28 ± 0.63-fold (p=0.032) and 2.17 ± 0.13-fold resistant (p=0.0004) to combination treatment; and were not resistant to the drugs individually. Apoptosis assays suggest that the resistance in MG-63/TRIR8 is mainly from cisplatin and methotrexate and not doxorubicin. In contrast, the resistance in HOS-143B/TRIR8 is mainly from doxorubicin and methotrexate instead of cisplatin. Upregulation of P-glycoprotein was seen in all resistant models except those developed with single-agent methotrexate. The P-glycoprotein inhibitor elacridar reversed the resistance of doxorubicin on MG-63/DOXR8 (0.36 ± 0.06-fold, p=0.003), MG-63/TRIR8 (0.72 ± 0.07-fold, p=0.04), HOS-143B/CISR8 (0.47 ± 0.09-fold, p=0.009), and HOS-143B/TRI (0.45 ± 0.03-fold, p=0.0005). The migration rate of the MG-63 resistant models was significantly increased by 2.12 – 2.46-fold, their invasion rate tended to increase, and RT-PCR showed a switch from epithelial to mesenchymal gene signalling. In contrast, a significant decrease in migration was seen in HOS-143B resistant models with 0.39 – 0.43-fold, their invasion rate tended to decrease and a switch from mesenchymal to epithelial gene signalling occurred.SPHK1 and HIF1A were upregulated in most of the resistant models from the PCR array analysis and SPHK1 protein level was also determined to increase in MG-63/CISR8 (2.03 ± 0.08-fold, p=0.034), MG-63/DOXR8 (1.77 ± 0.24-fold, p=0.02), and HOS-143B/CISR8 (3.55 ± 0.84-fold, p=0.0459). A strong correlation (r=0.726) was shown between the gene expression of SPHK1 and HIF1A in HOS-143B resistant sublines.
Currently, there is also a lack of effective treatments for patients who experience relapsed osteosarcoma. One treatment for relapsed patients is gemcitabine and docetaxel combination chemotherapy (GEMDOX). A systematic review was performed in this study to investigate the efficacy of combination therapy of gemcitabine and docetaxel on relapsed osteosarcoma patients. The results showed the age and gender of the patients would have a prognostic effect on the GEMDOX regimen as the second-line treatment for relapsed osteosarcoma, whereas the GEMDOX therapy was determined to have a higher efficacy on male patients and with age <18. There was no difference in toxicities between different doses (675 mg/m2 and 1,000 mg/m2) of the GEMDOX regimen, age, or gender of patients. A preclinical in vitro study was performed by investigating the sensitivity of GEMDOX therapy on the established resistant sublines. The established resistant osteosarcoma sublines were used to investigate the efficacy of the GEMDOX treatment in the relapsed setting. Out of 8 of the resistant models, MG-63/DOXR8 was significantly resistant to gemcitabine (2.44 ± 0.26-fold, p=0.001) compared to MG-63 and HOS-143B/MTXR8 was significantly resistant to docetaxel (2.32 ± 0.17-fold, p=0.005) compared to HOS-143B. These two resistant sublines were also significantly resistant to the combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel with 2.50 ± 0.53-fold (p=0.04) and 2.09 ± 0.32-fold (p=0.017) respectively. However, the rest of the 6 resistant sublines were not resistant to GEMDOX treatment, which indicates GEMDOX regimen as a potential therapeutic treatment for relapsed osteosarcoma.
This project is the first to develop chemoresistant osteosarcoma cell lines with a triple combination of drugs. The characteristics of these resistant models also provide a better understanding of the resistant mechanisms in osteosarcoma cells. Lastly, these developed single and multi-agents induced clinically-relevant osteosarcoma cell lines could act as an invaluable tool for future studies of drug resistant mechanisms in osteosarcoma cells
Revisiting FSAs and CSAs in Sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from Ghanaian firms
Get PDFSub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is widely perceived as a region of countries with low technological capabilities, weak complementary assets competing on basic country specific advantages (CSAs) and relying on transferred technology. In this paper we argue against this perception. Integrating the extended concepts of Location Bound (LB) and Non-Location Bound (NLB) Firm Specific Advantages (FSAs) within a “revisited” CSAs/FSAs matrix, we provide evidence that home-market grown LB-FSAs and their transformation to NLB-FSAs are induced by domestic Ghanaian firms’ strategic and export orientation
Towards the essence of specifying sociotechnical digital twins
Get PDFDigital Twins are now mainstream technology in the engineering domain. Capabilities and underpinning concepts are well understood and augmented by proven theories from the physical sciences. Nonetheless the design of digital twins in engineering still remains essential a craft. As digital twin technology merges with more traditional computational modelling approaches such as that found in simulation, new application domains are emerging and public policy experts see significant potential in DT for understanding their complex system areas. Such domains have a significant sociotechnical component and as such a new type of digital twin is required, together with a means of specifying such a digital twin. This paper proposes a specification language/method for this purpose. Requirements elicitation for this language utilises a tabletop paper template that serves as a boundary object between domain experts and technical experts. The language is conformant with accepted practice in simulation methods and its semantics provides a route to implementation of a digital twin. We argue that the language is a contribution to a breadcrumb trail for future work in this emerging application area for digital twins
Expanding the categories of negative easements- time for change?
Get PDFThis chapter analyses the criteria that should be used to expand the category of negative easements to include a right to privacy by not being overlooked from neighbouring land following the Supreme Court decision in Fearn v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery that overlooking a property is capable of giving rise to a cause of action in private nuisance. The reason that it is an opportune time to consider this is that the decision in Fearn will apply only in fairly exceptional circumstances due to the fact that liability for nuisance will arise solely where the defendant’s use of land cannot be regarded as a common or ordinary use of the land
Transdisciplinarity as subversion: in space and place
Get PDFThis article considers the conception of transdisciplinarity (TD) as a knowledge distinct from disciplinary knowledge modes and especially drawing a distinction with interdisciplinarity (ID). Such critical analysis assists in the recognition of the importance and value of TD within the ecology of knowledge in the complex systems of university education. Using emergence as a framework, the paper explores how emergent properties are generated and assist in problem solving, creating an ethos for the university and how a transdisciplinary currere can be settled in such a space
Invisible men: short prison sentences and the pains of invisibility and insignificance
Get PDFIntroduced as part of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 promised to offer resettlement support to individuals serving short sentences - a cohort who have long been neglected in penal policy and research discourse. Featuring the perspectives of 16 men serving a short sentence in England, this empirical work argues that there is a dissonance between the rhetoric of the additional support promised and the reality these individuals experienced. The pains literature is used to demonstrate how a perceived lack of institutional care and attention led respondents to feel invisible and insignificant. This caused service users to internalise a sense of reliance for their own resettlement. However, the ability to achieve this is predicated on possessing the necessary capital. Paradoxically the more an individual cycles around the revolving door of repeat short prison sentences, the more this capital becomes eroded, leading to the particular pain of burnout. The article concludes by advocating for a presumption against the use of short sentences in England and Wales
Implementing the equality, diversity, and inclusion agenda in multinational companies: a framework for the management of (linguistic) diversity
Get PDFAdvancing, both conceptually and practically, the equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) agenda, which is notoriously difficult to implement, this paper addresses the under-researched area of global diversity management (GDM) in multinational companies (MNCs). Drawing on Harrison and Klein’s (2007) conceptualisations of diversity (separation, variety, and disparity) and two core concepts (fluidity and reciprocity) that reflect recent developments in the EDI literature, we propose a two-step framework for implementing the EDI agenda through GDM.
We argue that to achieve inclusion, we first need to think differently about diversity and differences (i.e. view diversity in a positive light and recognise and appreciate differences as fluid), in order to act differently (i.e. promote reciprocal effort to leverage diversity). We illustrate our framework with the specific case of linguistic diversity, a diversity dimension that is particularly salient, but also often neglected in MNCs, and discuss the implications of the proposed framework for EDI theory as well as HRM policies and practice
Understanding the impact of cross-cultural friendships and residency status on multicultural attitudes: a UAE perspective
Get PDFWith 80% of the population comprising expatriates, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) presents itself as a unique place to explore multicultural attitudes. This study examines how cross-cultural friendships and exposure to different cultures impact young adults' sociocultural development and social cynicism levels in the UAE. Two distinct surveys measuring sociocultural development and social cynicism were administered to dual samples consisting of 155 and 166 young adults. Participants provided information about their number of cross-cultural friendships and residency status. It was found that a) both number of cross-cultural friends and residency status did not impact participants' sociocultural development and b) that only residency status, not cross-cultural friendships, had a significant effect on social cynicism. Short-term expatriates showed the least social cynicism levels compared to long-term expatriates and locals. This research study provides a unique perspective on the effects of cross-cultural interactions on both positive and negative aspects of multicultural attitudes. In contrast to previous literature, the findings challenge the emphasis on diversity for development, and show that short-term expatriates feel welcomed and do not feel threatened by the host culture in the UAE. On a global scale, the study contributes to a better comprehension of negative multicultural attitudes and encourages the growth of sustainable cities
What feedback literate teachers do: an empirically-derived competency framework
Get PDFIf feedback is to be conducted effectively, then there needs to be clarity about what is involved and what is necessary for teachers to be able to undertake it well. While much attention has recently been devoted to student feedback literacy, less has been given to what is required of teaching staff in their various roles in feedback processes. This paper seeks to elucidate teacher feedback literacy through an analysis of the accounts of those who do feedback well. An inductive analysis was undertaken of conversations about feedback with 62 university teachers from five Australian universities using a dataset of transcripts of interviews and focus groups from two earlier research studies. Through an iterative process a teacher feedback literacy competency framework was developed which represents the competencies required of university teachers able to design and enact effective feedback processes. The paper discusses the different competencies required of those with different levels of responsibility, from overall course design to commenting on students’ work. It concludes by considering implications for the professional development of university teachers in the area of feedback