Comparison of the cobas 4800 CT/NG test with culture for detecting neisseria gonorrhoeae in genital and nongenital specimens in a low-prevalence population in New Zealand

To assess the clinical utility of replacing microbial culture for Neisseria gonorrhoeae with a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), we compared N. gonorrhoeae culture with the cobas 4800 CT/NG test for 18,247 urogenital and 666 nongenital samples. For urogenital specimens, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the cobas N. gonorrhoeae PCR were 98.7%, 100%, 95.6%, and 100%, respectively, and for nongenital specimens, the values were 100%, 99.8%, 92.9%, and 100%, respectively. In our test population, 37% (10,185) of patients tested over the study period were screened for C. trachomatis by PCR but were not screened for gonorrhea by culture. Of these, 43 were N. gonorrhoeae positive by PCR and therefore went undiagnosed. The cobas 4800 CT/NG test diagnosed 33% (n=30) more urogenital and 25% (n=3) more rectal gonorrhea infections than culture and, based on the above performance indicators, does not require supplementary testing for urogenital or rectal specimens. The ability to test noninvasive specimens (such as urine and self-taken vulvovaginal swabs) for N. gonorrhoeae will enable more patients to be screened for infection, thus offering significant positive public health benefits. Copyrigh

Police Officers Retirement System (PORS): Actuarial Valuation Report as of July 1, 2012

The South Carolina Retirement Systems Division of the South Carolina State Budget and Control Board provided annual actuarial valuations of the assets and liabilities of the system

South Carolina Police Officers Retirement System (PORS): Annual Actuarial Valuation as of July 1, 2010

The South Carolina Retirement Systems Division of the South Carolina State Budget and Control Board provided annual actuarial valuations of the assets and liabilities of the system

Popular Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009

This report by the South Carolina Retirement Systems Division is intended to provide a summary of annual financial information in an easily understandable format and supplements their more thorough Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. All data presented in this report is in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, where applicable

Assessing and augmenting SCADA cyber security: a survey of techniques

SCADA systems monitor and control critical infrastructures of national importance such as power generation and distribution, water supply, transportation networks, and manufacturing facilities. The pervasiveness, miniaturisations and declining costs of internet connectivity have transformed these systems from strictly isolated to highly interconnected networks. The connectivity provides immense benefits such as reliability, scalability and remote connectivity, but at the same time exposes an otherwise isolated and secure system, to global cyber security threats. This inevitable transformation to highly connected systems thus necessitates effective security safeguards to be in place as any compromise or downtime of SCADA systems can have severe economic, safety and security ramifications. One way to ensure vital asset protection is to adopt a viewpoint similar to an attacker to determine weaknesses and loopholes in defences. Such mind sets help to identify and fix potential breaches before their exploitation. This paper surveys tools and techniques to uncover SCADA system vulnerabilities. A comprehensive review of the selected approaches is provided along with their applicability

South Carolina National Guard Retirement System (NGRS): Actuarial Valuation Report as of July 1, 2011

The South Carolina Retirement Systems Division of the South Carolina State Budget and Control Board provided annual actuarial valuations of the assets and liabilities of the system

Popular Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009

This report by the South Carolina Retirement Systems Division is intended to provide a summary of annual financial information in an easily understandable format and supplements their more thorough Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. All data presented in this report is in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, where applicable

South Carolina Retirement System (SCRS): Annual Actuarial Valuation as of July 1, 2010

The South Carolina Retirement Systems Division of the South Carolina State Budget and Control Board provided annual actuarial valuations of the assets and liabilities of the system