Collagen Assembly at the Cell Surface: Dogmas Revisited

With the increased awareness about the importance of the composition, organization, and stiffness of the extracellular matrix (ECM) for tissue homeostasis, there is a renewed need to understand the details of how cells recognize, assemble and remodel the ECM during dynamic tissue reorganization events. Fibronectin (FN) and fibrillar collagens are major proteins in the ECM of interstitial matrices. Whereas FN is abundant in cell culture studies, it is often only transiently expressed in the acute phase of wound healing and tissue regeneration, by contrast fibrillar collagens form a persistent robust scaffold in healing and regenerating tissues. Historically fibrillar collagens in interstitial matrices were seen merely as structural building blocks. Cell anchorage to the collagen matrix was thought to be indirect and occurring via proteins like FN and cell surface-mediated collagen fibrillogenesis was believed to require a FN matrix. The isolation of four collagen-binding integrins have challenged this dogma, and we now know that cells anchor directly to monomeric forms of fibrillar collagens via the α1β1, α2β1, α10β1 and α11β1 integrins. The binding of these integrins to the mature fibrous collagen matrices is more controversial and depends on availability of integrin-binding sites. With increased awareness about the importance of characterizing the total integrin repertoire on cells, including the integrin collagen receptors, the idea of an absolute dependence on FN for cell-mediated collagen fibrillogenesis needs to be re-evaluated. We will summarize data suggesting that collagen-binding integrins in vitro and in vivo are perfectly well suited for nucleating and supporting collagen fibrillogenesis, independent of FN.

The problem of human tragedy in the genre of science fiction (on the example of R. Bradbury’s works "Tomorrow's Child" and "The Veldt")

This article deals with the problem of relationships among people in the future, which are based not on respect and understanding of each other's value, but on absolute dependence on technical progress. The purpose of this work is to highlight the problem of humanity’s tragedy in the genre of science fiction, using the example of Ray Bradbury’s works „Tomorrow's Child” and „The Veldt”. Firstly, it is noted that the difference and, accordingly, the problem begins immediately with terminology, because there is no single stable definition of the term „fantasy” (as a generic phenomenon) in English-language science. The options offered by scientists are speculative fiction, fantastic fiction, fantasy literature. The author notes that science fiction (Sci-Fi) describes many different super important problems of the human society: technological progress, information wars, the desire of people to be immortal, powerful, rich, possessing the Universe. In fact, the tragedy of humanity begins from these desires. However, R. Bradbury’s works „Tomorrow's Child” and „The Veldt” have a wide range of topics, affecting aesthetic, intellectual, moral and scientific problems. In addition, the science fiction writer reveals his special interest in the inner world of the child. In the mentioned-above stories, the idea of the coexistence of people and the techno world is traced, which leads to a tragic situation. Covering the problem of humanity’s tragedy in the future, described back in the distant 1950s, R. Bradbury aims to present another idea of the future, he describes, at the same time, possible threats to us, and shows what significant consequences this can lead to.

Digital Colonialism on Digital Natives: A WhatsApp Usage Perspective

In the new media debate, digital colonialism has become a topic of serious contention. This work looks into the allegation that the internet is exploitative of digital natives’ daily routine and regulates their lives. This study explores this argument in relation to the degree of consciousness of digital natives to seek out their perception of politics of Western domination in the WhatsApp usage. Therefore, the primary purpose of this paper is to find out whether digital slavery is real. Centre Periphery theory and Electronic Colonisation theory form the theoretical background of the study, which utilised questionnaires to determine areas of controversy. Using survey, we found that digital natives do not count the use of the WhatsApp as an element of colonialism. Consequently, 53.26% of the natives do not consider themselves enslaved to WhatsApp usage and thus its colonial powers; however, 28.26% view themselves as willing slaves consequent on the benefits from using the App, while an 18.48% are unsure of their position. Based on the results, it is argued that the concept of digital slavery in terms of absolute dependence on WhatsApp does not quite appeal to digital natives, except that the amount of time they spend on it could make them enslaved, whether or not they agree. To be surer of the level of influence of internet based apps on digital natives, it is recommended that further studies be conducted that will investigate the amount of time they spend on other apps, using a wider sample population. Keywords: Digital Colonialism, Digital Natives, WhatsApp Usage, Western Domination, Electronic Colonisation

Investment Media and Information Consumption

Post-market economies are driven by ownership or shareholding interests. We may consider ourselves to be living in societies driven by investment blocks - there is no doubt in our minds, given our awareness of the information blocks that compose media content, that the interests of these investment quarters in a globalized geo-economy is what determines how news is presented and consumed. What are the characteristics of investment-driven media scenarios? Our concept of media scenario differs from information dispersal models in brand capitalism and media franchise (Chomsky 2002; Golding et al 2012)? The disintegration of values of social responsibility in journalism is also apparent in the rise of investment driven journalism, with its absolute dependence on the mirror neuronal mechanics of social behavior, where the individual likes falling in with performance, and post-truth dialogue. But there are also options and limits of consensus within such discursive practice, and selective attention as the consumer betrays preference for information. We hypothesize that the new information media is a product of investment acts, and is fluid by nature, never innocent, and is always conditioned by local interest factors, and is as Barnett argues in a paper, a simulacrum of shareholder values (Barnett 2009).

To feel with and for Friedrich Schleiermacher: On religious experience

The German systematic theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher has shaped Western Christian theological thinking in many ways. One such influential way has been his formulation and exposition of religious experience, and specifically the concept of the ‘feeling of absolute dependence’ (Gefühl der schlechthinnigen Abhängigkeit). From a brief account of his understanding of the ‘feeling of absolute independence’, a few critical remarks are made from the broader context of contemporary hermeneutical discourses, focusing on the constitutive role of affectivity and narrative identity in religious experiences of embodied personhood. It is argued that these two themes in revisiting Schleiermacher’s understanding of the ‘feeling of absolute dependence’ can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of religious experience.