Environmental Policy Update 2012: Development Strategies and Environmental Policy in East Africa

The seven chapters that comprise this report explore ways to integrate sustainability goals and objectives into Ethiopia's current development strategies

Immunotoxins and Anticancer Drug Conjugate Assemblies: The Role of the Linkage between Components

Immunotoxins and antibody-drug conjugates are protein-based drugs combining a target-specific binding domain with a cytotoxic domain. Such compounds are potentially therapeutic against diseases including cancer, and several clinical trials have shown encouraging results. Although the targeted elimination of malignant cells is an elegant concept, there are numerous practical challenges that limit conjugates’ therapeutic use, including inefficient cellular uptake, low cytotoxicity, and off-target effects. During the preparation of immunoconjugates by chemical synthesis, the choice of the hinge component joining the two building blocks is of paramount importance: the conjugate must remain stable in vivo but must afford efficient release of the toxic moiety when the target is reached. Vast efforts have been made, and the present article reviews strategies employed in developing immunoconjugates, focusing on the evolution of chemical linkers

Exponentially weighted moving average control charts for three-level products

Average run length, EWMA control chart, Markov Chain, Quality value function, Shewhart control chart,

Transcutaneous Oxygen Monitoring and Retinopathy of Prematurity

This study was performed to determine whether the use of continuous tcPO2 monitoring could reduce the incidence of ROP in preterm infants receiving oxygen therapy. Two hundred and ninety-six infants with birth weights ≤ 1300 grams were randomly assigned to a continuous monitoring (CM) or a standard care (SC) group. CM infants had tcPO2 monitored continuously as long as they required supplemental oxygen while SC infants had tcPO2 monitored only during the more acute state of their illness. Management of both groups was otherwise identical. One hundred and one of 148 infants in the CM and 113 of 148 patients in the SC groups survived. Mean birth weights and gestational age were similar in both groups. Duration of mechanical ventilation and oxygen therapy was also similar. The overall incidence of ROP was 51% in the CM and 59% in the SC group. As birth weight for infants ≥ 1000 grams increased a higher risk for developing ROP was noted in the SC group. Four infants in the CM and 5 in the SC group developed cicatricial ROP. These results suggest that continuous tcPO2 monitoring may reduce the incidence of ROP in infants with birth weights > 1000 grams, but not in the smaller infants in whom this complication occurs more frequently and is more severe