Blocking hepatocarcinogenesis by a cytochrome P450 family member with female-preferential expression

ObjectsThe incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) shows an obvious male dominance in rodents and humans. We aimed to identify the key autosomal liver-specific sex-related genes and investigate their roles in hepatocarcinogenesis.DesignTwo HCC cohorts (n=551) with available transcriptome and metabolome data were used. Class comparisons of omics data and ingenuity pathway analysis were performed to explore sex-related molecules and their associated functions. Functional assays were employed to investigate roles of the key candidates, including cellular assays, molecular assays and multiple orthotopic HCC mouse models.ResultsA global comparison of multiple omics data revealed 861 sex-related molecules in non-tumour liver tissues between female and male HCC patients, which denoted a significant suppression of cancer-related diseases and functions in female liver than male. A member of cytochrome P450 family, CYP39A1, was one of the top liver-specific candidates with significantly higher levels in female vs male liver. In HCC tumours, CYP39A1 expression was dramatically reduced in over 90% HCC patients. Exogenous CYP39A1 significantly blocked tumour formation in both female and male mice and partially reduced the sex disparity of hepatocarcinogenesis. The HCC suppressor role of CYP39A1 did not rely on its known P450 enzyme activity but its C-terminal region, by which CYP39A1 impeded the transcriptional activation activity of c-Myc, leading to a significant inhibition of hepatocarcinogenesis.ConclusionsThe liver-specific CYP39A1 with female-preferential expression was a strong suppressor of HCC development. Strategies to up-regulate CYP39A1 might be promising methods for HCC treatment in both women and men in future.

Dimension feminine in The Respectful Prostitute’s Jean- Paul Sartre and The Blind Prostitute’s Badr Shaker al-Sayyabe La dimension féminine dans La P….respectueuse de Jean-Paul Sartre et La Prostituée Aveugle de Badr Shaker al-Sayyabe

Jean-Paul Sartre and Badr Shakir al-Sayyabe are among the most prominent writers that critiqued the destructive role of capitalism and the patriarchal power system in the period of the Post-World War II crisis. Divided into three chapters, the present study examines two of the most eminent literary works in the history of the Western and Eastern societies in the fifties of the last decade: Jean Paul Sartre’s play : The Respectful Prostitute and Badr Shaker al-Sayyabe’s poem: The Blind Prostitute. Chapter one discusses the position of the prostitute in a patriarchal societies. Chapter two linguistically analyzes the prostitute’s behavior with men and evaluates the nature of a relationship when based on profit and loss. Such a relationship exposes the male dominance system on this social level through stigmatizing, marginalizing and depriving of her family establishing rights. Chapter Three sheds light on the prostitute’s ego and the other. In the two works, the society double standard is presented in dealing with status of a woman, rather than a man, as a prostitute, something that leads to uncover the individuality of such a character. Thus, and in addition to justly picturing prostitution as a human setback in all the western and Eastern societies, Sartre and al – Sayyab succeed in visualizing humanity decay within the perspective of the preceding decades. Résumé Jean-Paul Sartre et Badr Shakir al-Sayyabe font partie des écrivains qui ont contribué à travers leurs œuvres à critiquer le système capitaliste et la société masculine dans la période de l'après-guerre. En lisant les deux ouvrages, nous avons choisi comme sujet commun de cette étude d'analyser le statut de prostituée dans les sociétés orientale et occidentale au cours des années 1950 du siècle dernier. L'étude est divisée en trois chapitres : Le premier chapitre est basé sur la présentation du statut de la prostituée dans les communautés masculines des deux auteurs. Le deuxième chapitre analyse linguistiquement le comportement de la prostituée envers les hommes et la nature de la relation basée sur le principe du profit ou de la perte. Cette relation met d'abord en évidence la domination du système masculin sur cette partie social, le problème de la stigmatisation sociale, de la marginalisation et de la privation de son droit d'avoir et de fonder une famille. Le troisième chapitre traite la position de la prostituée entre le moi et l'autre. Dans les deux œuvres, le point de vue de la société semble être un double standard dans la condamnation de la femme comme prostituée plutôt que comme homme. Ce mécanisme nous amène à retrouver l'identité de la prostituée. Nous arrivons à conclure que le succès de Sartre et d'al-Sayyabe en présentant cette profession comme un échec humain pour les sociétés orientales et occidentales et la décadence de l'homme ou de la femme et en les dépeignant avec une perspective qui correspond aux crises du siècle dernier.

Gender Roles in The Merchant of Venice and Othello

Literature enables authors to express various societal matters. Shakespeare provides a wide range of information from the Elizabethan era through his works. An important issue that is evident in his work is gender roles. The roles of characters, as described by Shakespeare, show social norms that define female and male genders. Female characters in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice and Othello are underestimated because of the stereotypical gender roles. The roles involving female characters revolve around the homestead, unless where a female character is from a wealthy family, a queen or a princess. Male dominance in society implies that the Shakespearean era advocated for women discrimination.

Change and Continuity in Event Tourism Development in Nigeria: Examples from Ekpe Cultural Festival in Abia State

Events are not only one of the most important parts of tourism, but also an inseparable part of human society. In recent times, events have gained global significance through the tourism industry. As festivals are essentially special events, their special appeal stems in part from their limited duration or concentration of activities over a set period and innate uniqueness of each event or there may be a particular theme. This article critically examines the change and continuity processes of a community festival—Ekpe Cultural Festival in Umunkpeyi and Isingwu in Abia State, Nigeria—for a deeper understanding of the effects in the development of event tourism and its sustainability. Data were collected through ethnographic fieldwork conducted with key informants directly involved in the festival, including the community leaders, chiefs, and staff of the Department of Tourism (DoT), the Abia State Tourism Board (ASTB), and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MoTAC). Data were analyzed using content analysis to identify themes that reflect informants’ perception of the changes and continuity that affect the festival in the study area. Findings revealed notable changes in the practices associated with the festival such as indifference to attire for the festival, drastic reduction in masking, attitude to funding during the festival, while male dominance continues to be paramount. This article concludes that event tourism development requires government support, collaboration, and sensitization to harness and retain some practices of the festival amid obvious changes.

Portrayal of Free Spirit in Adrienne Rich’s Aunt Jennifer’s Tiger and Alice Walker’s Meridian

The works of women writers of USA have become increasingly visible in the academy especially since 1970s because of their active involvement in contemporary women’s movement. Writers like Toni Morrison and Alice Walker and poets like Maya Angelou and Adrienne Rich and others have been strongly greeted for their ideologies. Undoubtedly, their works echo strong resistance against racism, patriarchism and militarism. The present paper highlights the remedy of the various maladies like male dominance, subordinated identity and submissive life. It is said that ‘every action has reaction’ and these writers believe that ‘”FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE”. So they have depicted the undaunted spirits among their female protagonists who fought bravely against the odds and eventually emerged victorious.

Organisational Characteristics That Facilitate Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in Higher Education?

Gender-based violence and sexual harassment (GBVH) by and towards academics and students has been under-theorised at an organisational level in higher education institutions (HEIs). The methodology involves a critical review of the literature on GBVH and organizational responses to it, locating it in the context of an analysis of organizational power. The theoretical perspective involves a focus on power and workplace bullying. It identifies three power-related characteristics of academic environments which it is suggested facilitate GBVH: their male-dominant hierarchical character; their neoliberal managerialist ethos and gender/intersectional incompetent leadership which perpetuates male entitlement and toxic masculinities. These characteristics also inhibit tackling GBVH by depicting it as an individual problem, encouraging informal coping and militating against the prosecution of perpetrators. Initiating a discussion and action at organizational and state levels about GBVH as a power-related phenomenon, challenging the dominant neo-liberal ethos and the hierarchical character of HEIs, as well as reducing their male dominance and increasing the gender competence of those in positions of power are seen as initial steps in tackling the problem.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUPAL COLOUR AND SEX RATIO OF THE COMMON MORMON, Papilio polytes romulus CRAMER, 1775 (INSECTA: LEPIDOPTERA), SRI LANKA

A free ranging female common Mormon (Papilio polytes romulus) butterfly was observed laying eggs on a Citrus aurantiifolia (Family: Rutaceae) plant in a home garden in Battaramulla. 16 eggs were collected and reared in the lab. The duration and measurements of each stage were recorded. After eclosion the sex and wingspan of all adult butterflies were recorded and they were released back to the wild. Pupae were observed in two colours: green and brown. Out of 16 pupae, 12 were green (75%) and four were brown (25%). The four brown pupae gave rise to two males (50%) and two females (50%). The 12 green pupae gave rise to 10 males (83%) and two females (17%). The sex ratios regardless of the pupal colour showed male dominance with 12 males (75%) and four females (25%). All four females were of the romulus form. A strong relationship between pupal colour and substrate texture was observed, but no relationship between pupal colour, sex and sex ratios was seen.

Living-Donor Liver Transplant in Oman: A Quantitative Cross-Sectional Study of Donors’ Experiences and Challenges

Background. In Oman, the first liver transplant was performed at the Royal Hospital (RH) in September 2017. Since then, thirteen cases have been operated on at the RH. All of these cases were living-donor liver transplants (LDLT), and the remaining cases were treated in India with a total of approximately 193 recipients. To provide an in-depth overview of donor experiences, challenges, and perceptions, a cross-sectional study was conducted. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted at one tertiary hospital in 2019. The survey was designed to collect data composed of closed and open-ended questions to reveal a thorough knowledge of the topic. Results. A total of 50 of 120 donors responded to the survey with male dominance in the sample (68%) and 64% were aged 28 to 38 years. 66% of the respondents came to know about the donation through hospital staff. Interestingly, respondents (n = 8/12) who reported that fear of operation is the cause that prevents people from donating are among the male gender, while more men believe that the main cause is lack of knowledge. 90% of the respondents felt satisfied after donation. More men reported ambiguous feelings before donation. Moreover, married donors reported ambiguous feelings before donation (p = 0.008). The younger age group reported anxiety and doubt as a challenge through their donation experience. Conclusion. This study revealed that donors have a positive feeling after donating as they have saved a life, as well as being empowered by family and community. The donors encourage individuals to donate a portion of their liver. Some crucial questions arose, such as anxiety before surgery, ambiguous feelings before surgery, and fatigue after surgery. These findings underscore the importance of a holistic approach that would enable donors to be well informed prior to surgery.

Gender roles and intimate partner violence among female university students in Spain: A cross-sectional study

Background Traditional gender roles (GRs) have a considerable influence on relationships among couples. These can lead to negative health effects in women; however, their impact on intimate partner violence (IPV) has been less explored, especially among younger women. Objective To explore the association between traditional GRs and several indicators of IPV on a sample of Spanish female university students involved in heterosexual dating relationships. Methods A cross-sectional study involving female university students (n = 1,005) pursuing ten degrees (four Health Science degrees and six Social Sciences degrees). Data were collected using two validated scales: 1) the Questionnaire on the Gender Determinants of Contraception (COGANT), used to examine four traditional GRs (submissive, blind, and passive attitudes of female students, and male dominance), and 2) the Dating Violence Questionnaire-R (DVQ-R) scale, used to measure five types of IPV-behaviors (coercion, detachment, humiliation, sexual violence, and physical violence), perceived fear, entrapment, and abuse. Logistic and linear regressions were conducted to study the association between GR and a series of IPV indicators in dating relationships. Results Traditional GRs were highly prevalent (57.0% submissive, 52.0% blind attitude, 75.7% passive, and 31.7% identified their boyfriend as being dominant). Up to 66.3% experienced some type of violent behavior. All GRs were significantly associated with IPV indicators. A submissive attitude in female students was the GR that was most strongly associated to total IPV-behavior (adjusted odd ratio [OR] = 3.18; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.29–4.42), followed by male dominance (OR = 2.79: 95% CI:1.71: 4.54). Both GRs were also highly associated with perceived fear, entrapment, and abuse. Conclusions A high presence of traditional GRs was found in the relationships held by female university students, which was significantly associated with IPV indicators. Universities must adopt policies for gender equality and raise awareness on dating violence.