NASAP-70 User's and Programmer's Manual

User and programmer manual for NASAP-70 digital circuit analysis progra

Ethics, Genetic Technologies and Equine Sports: The Prospect of Regulation of a Modified Therapeutic Use Exemption Policy

This article critically reviews the current availability and selected use of genetic technologies for horses, before undertaking an ethical evaluation of current practice and regulatory positions in comparative relation to debates surrounding genetic testing, pre-implantation genetic testing and gene editing in humans. We argue that genetic testing for hereditary disorders is not only justified but should be encouraged on welfare grounds and that genetic testing for performance traits is ethically permissible based on a restricted imperative to genetically edit horses and horse embryos to reduce genetic predisposition to disease and injury. Given the current state of the science, where the effects of gene editing on health and welfare are currently undetermined, space is created for an analytical distinction between equine gene editing for ‘treatment’ and for ‘enhancement’. Gene editing is only justified for purposes of correcting/preventing disease and injury. Current regulation is challenged by apparently conflicting welfare-based ethical imperatives with respect to welfare-based gene editing. We propose modifications to the blanket bans on gene editing with a case-by-case assessment of applications to permit gene editing, based on best welfare interests underwritten by the aim of facilitating fair sport that adapt WADAs International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions, adding an important reporting element. We reject the use of gene editing to obtain currently prohibited competitive advantages. In order to safeguard the welfare of human and equine athletes, we argue that regulatory institutions should urgently collaborate to develop cross-sport international regulations for the use of gene editing, including obligatory reporting of data about the health and welfare of genetically edited horses

Real Lives: findings from the All-Ireland Gay Men’s Sex Surveys, 2003 and 2004

Duration: March 2000 - September 2010 Sigma Research has been working with Ireland's Gay Health Network (GHN) since 2000. GHN is an umbrella organisation working towards gay men's health and HIV prevention. GHN instigated a community-based, self-completion survey to take place across The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland during the summer of 2000 and commissioned Sigma Research to work with them. This large-scale community research project was the third such survey among gay men in Ireland, and built on previous findings. After the development and piloting of the survey, recruitment commenced at Dublin Pride in June 2000 and continued throughout the summer at similar events in Belfast, Derry, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. Recruitment in bars and clubs took place in Dublin and Cork, and social groups in more rural area were sent copies of the questionnaire and a request to distribute them to their members. 1,290 questionnaires were returned by gay men (81%), bisexual men (11%) and other homosexually active men living in Ireland. 19% of all respondents lived in Northern Ireland. A full survey report, including implications for HIV prevention planning is available to download. Since 2003 Gay Health Network members - particularly The Gay Men's Health Service (Health Services Executive) and the Rainbow Project, Northern Ireland - have collaborated with our online UK version of the Gay Men’s Sex Survey (Vital Statistics) by promoting it to men in Ireland via community websites and postcards distributed on the gay scene

Long-term safety of unopposed estrogen used by women surviving myocardial infarction : 14 year follow-up of the ESPRIT randomised controlled trial

Peer reviewedPostprin

Pharmacist-led management of chronic pain in primary care:results from a randomised controlled exploratory trial

To compare the effectiveness of pharmacist medication review, with or without pharmacist prescribing, with standard care, for patients with chronic pain

Levosimendan for the prevention of acute organ dysfunction in sepsis

BACKGROUND Levosimendan is a calcium-sensitizing drug with inotropic and other properties that may improve outcomes in patients with sepsis. METHODS We conducted a double-blind, randomized clinical trial to investigate whether levosimendan reduces the severity of organ dysfunction in adults with sepsis. Patients were randomly assigned to receive a blinded infusion of levosimendan (at a dose of 0.05 to 0.2 μg per kilogram of body weight per minute) for 24 hours or placebo in addition to standard care. The primary outcome was the mean daily Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score in the intensive care unit up to day 28 (scores for each of five systems range from 0 to 4, with higher scores indicating more severe dysfunction; maximum score, 20). Secondary outcomes included 28-day mortality, time to weaning from mechanical ventilation, and adverse events. RESULTS The trial recruited 516 patients; 259 were assigned to receive levosimendan and 257 to receive placebo. There was no significant difference in the mean (±SD) SOFA score between the levosimendan group and the placebo group (6.68±3.96 vs. 6.06±3.89; mean difference, 0.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.07 to 1.29; P=0.053). Mortality at 28 days was 34.5% in the levosimendan group and 30.9% in the placebo group (absolute difference, 3.6 percentage points; 95% CI, −4.5 to 11.7; P=0.43). Among patients requiring ventilation at baseline, those in the levosimendan group were less likely than those in the placebo group to be successfully weaned from mechanical ventilation over the period of 28 days (hazard ratio, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.97; P=0.03). More patients in the levosimendan group than in the placebo group had supraventricular tachyarrhythmia (3.1% vs. 0.4%; absolute difference, 2.7 percentage points; 95% CI, 0.1 to 5.3; P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS The addition of levosimendan to standard treatment in adults with sepsis was not associated with less severe organ dysfunction or lower mortality. Levosimendan was associated with a lower likelihood of successful weaning from mechanical ventilation and a higher risk of supraventricular tachyarrhythmia. (Funded by the NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme and others; LeoPARDS Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN12776039.

Strangeness in the Scalar Form Factor of the Nucleon

The scalar form factor of the nucleon and related physical quantities are investigated in the framework of the semibosonized SU(3) Nambu-Jona-Lasinio soliton model. We take into account the rotational $1/N_c$ corrections and linear $m_s$ corrections. The strangeness content of the nucleon in the scalar form factor is discussed in detail. In particular, it is found that the $m_s$ corrections play an essential role of reducing the $\langle N | \bar{s} s | N \rangle$ arising from the leading order and rotational $1/N_c$ contributions. We obtain the \sigma_{\pi N} (0)=40.80\;\mbox{MeV}, \Delta \sigma = \sigma_{\pi N} (2m^{2}_{\pi})-\sigma_{\pi N} (0) = 18.18\;\mbox{MeV} and \langle r^2\rangle^{S}_{N} = 1.50\;\mbox{fm}^2. The results are in a remarkable agreement with empirical data analyzed by Gasser, Leutwyler, and Sainio~\cite{gls}.Comment: 13 pages, RevTex is used. 3 figures as uufiles are include

A Comprehensive Economic Stimulus for our Failing Economy

This paper presents a comprehensive plan to fix the ailing American economy, through a five-step approach. First, the Federal Reserve must continue to broaden the scope of monetary policy, by purchasing and selling long-term securities. Manipulating expectations through FOMC statements is another tool at the Federal Reserve’s disposal. Secondly, the government must enact fiscal stimulus to stabilize the economy in the short and medium runs, through investment in infrastructure projects, green technology, fusion technology, and science education. Additionally, the new fiscal policy must tackle the mortgage meltdown, which is weighing down the entire economy. Third, the regulatory system must be changed to reduce the likelihood of another financial collapse, starting with the nationalization of the ratings agencies. Ratings should be updated faster, with a numeric grading system rather than the pre-existing letter grades. Fourth, our globalized economy insures that a coordinated globalized response is necessary to recover. Global cooperation to reduce inflation and avoid protectionist policies is vital. Finally, the American bailout policy must be made clear, only giving bailouts to companies that are sound but financially strapped and those that are too big to fail

Off-Shell Rho-Omega Mixing Through Quark Loops With Non-Perturbative Meson Vertex And Quark Mass Functions

The momemtum dependence of the off-shell $\rho$-$\omega$ mixing amplitude is calculated through a two-quark loop diagram, using non-perturbative meson-quark vertex functions for the $\rho$ and $\omega$ mesons, as well as non-perturbative quark propagators. Both these quantities are generated self-consistently through an interlinked BSE-cum-SDE approach with a 3D support for the BSE kernel with two basic constants which are pre- checked against a wide cross section of both meson and baryon spectra within a common structural framework for their respective 3D BSE's. With this pre-calibration, the on-shell strength works out at -2.434$\delta(m_q^2)$ in units of the change in "constituent mass squared", which is consistent with the $e^+e^-$ to $\pi^+\pi^-$ data for a u-d mass difference of ~4 MeV ,while the relative off-shell strength (0.99 $\pm$ 0.01) lies midway between quark-loop and QCD-SR results. We also calculate the photon-mediated $\rho$-$\omega$ propagator whose off-shell structure has an additional pole at $q^2$=0. The implications of these results vis-a-vis related investigations are discussed.Comment: 12 Pages, latex file, NTUTH-94-0