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During the COVID-19 pandemic, mega-events such as the Olympics and expo were postponed, prolonging the build-up phase of the events and providing the opportunity to organize pre-events. COVID restrictions and limitations on movement forced these preevents to be held online. Examining the case of pre-events leading up to Expo 2020 Dubai, we argue that, as an emerging and growing phenomenon, digital pre-events create spaces for experimenting and reengineering new communication approaches. The case study shows how pre-events provide opportunities to event-planners and organizations for communicating in diverse, rich ways with primary stakeholders before a physical event. Because of their small size, pre-events do not attract large publics and, therefore, are also key opportunities for dialogue and interactivity with primary stakeholders. This article not only contributes to our knowledge about this promotional phenomenon but also highlights the importance of pre-events for practitioners in providing spaces for experimentation and small-scale forms of dialogic engagement and cocreation with stakeholders without the pressure that comes from publics' increasing expectations around large-scale events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public relations learning and teaching scholarship has been largely silent, to date, about international study tours as classroom-extending pedagogical initiatives. We address this gap in the literature by discussing two recent international tours built into a Master of Professional Public Relations degree. Melbourne, London and Singapore were the destinations of the first tour, while Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Singapore were the stops on the second. We use autoethnography to give voice to our experiences - including challenges and successes - as the study tour coordinators. We argue that such tours play an important role in helping students appreciate the wider factors that impact diverse public relations practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on memes has been growing within cultural memory studies. To date, this research has largely focused on the ways in which memes transmit representations of shared pasts. This article, instead, examines how memes are used to construct cultural memory. It makes two arguments: first, that cultural memory can be engineered through memes and can take the form of texts, artefacts or practices. Second, large sets of such memes - 'memeplexes' - can help societies not only engage in acts of remembrance, but also help guide their future behaviours and attitudes. However, these processes are problematic, and the article discusses these tensions. The Nobel Peace Prize serves as the article's case study, with an analysis of the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony illustrating its arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mutellina purpurea is an aromatic Apiaceae plant known as Alpine lovage. Its polar extracts consist of phenolic acids, tannins and flavonoids. The cytotoxic effect of methanolic and aqueous extracts from M. purpurea was studied on the most frequently used cell lines: HeLa and BHK-21. Taking into account that the natural products are often used with other medicines there is a risk of reciprocal interaction on the metabolic level. Thus, the influence of M. purpurea extracts was investigated on the activity of CYP2D6 and CYP3A4, which are the most important P450 isoenzymes from the pharmacological and toxicological points of view. Additionally, because M. purpurea contains phenolic compounds, the antioxidative properties of this plant extracts were also studied and compared. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective/method: A group of 4-benzoyl-1-dichlorobenzoylthiosemicarbazides endowed with antibacterial activity was evaluated for its cytotoxic properties against breast cancer cells (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) and head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (FaDu, SCC-25). Cytotoxicity of the investigated compounds was measured using MTT and [3H]-thymidine incorporation bioassays., Result: 1-(2,3-Dichlorobenzoyl)-4-(2-methylbenzoyl)thiosemicarbazide (TA-4), 1-(2,4-dichlorobenzoyl)- 4-(2-methylbenzoyl)thiosemicarbazide (TA-18), and 1-(2,4-dichlorobenzoyl)-4-(4-nitrolbenzoyl)- thiosemicarbazide (TA-20) were found to possess anticancer activity equipotent or even stronger than that of reference drug - etoposide. In order to clarify the molecular mode of action of the mentioned compounds, the relaxation assay kit for human DNA topoisomerase II was used. It turned out that reduction of viability of cancer cells was a result of inhibition of human DNA topoII. Molecular docking studies proved that 4-benzoyl-1-dichlorobenzoylthiosemicarbazides strongly interact with DNAdependent subunit of that enzyme., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.)