MObile Technology for Improved Family Planning: update to randomised controlled trial protocol.

BACKGROUND: This update outlines changes to the MObile Technology for Improved Family Planning study statistical analysis plan and plans for long-term follow-up. These changes result from obtaining additional funding and the decision to restrict the primary analysis to participants with available follow-up data. The changes were agreed prior to finalising the statistical analysis plan and sealing the dataset. METHODS/DESIGN: The primary analysis will now be restricted to subjects with data on the primary outcome at 4-month follow-up. The extreme-case scenario, where all those lost to follow-up are counted as non-adherent, will be used in a sensitivity analysis. In addition to the secondary outcomes outlined in the protocol, we will assess the effect of the intervention on long-acting contraception (implant, intra-uterine device and permanent methods).To assess the long-term effect of the intervention, we plan to conduct additional 12-month follow-up by telephone self-report for all the primary and secondary outcomes used at 4 months. All participants provided informed consent for this additional follow-up when recruited to the trial. Outcome measures and analysis at 12 months will be similar to those at the 4-month follow-up. The primary outcomes of the trial will be the use of an effective modern contraceptive method at 4 months and at 12 months post-abortion. Secondary outcomes will include long-acting contraception use, self-reported pregnancy, repeat abortion and contraception use over the 12-month post-abortion period. DISCUSSION: Restricting the primary analysis to those with follow-up data is the standard approach for trial analysis and will facilitate comparison with other trials of interventions designed to increase contraception uptake or use. Undertaking 12-month trial follow-up will allow us to evaluate the long-term effect of the intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01823861

Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopic Imaging in Biology

One of the goals in biology is to relate the ultrastructure with the movement of elements to under stand better physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) imaging, which was developed in the last decade, appears to be an ideal technique to make such correlation. EELS takes advantage of the energy distribution of transmitted electrons which interacted with the specimen. All these electrons are collected and can be displayed as an energy loss spectrum for analytical purposes. Images can be produced from selected regions from the energy distribution allowing the mapping of specific elements. The main advantage of EELS imaging in biology is its spatial resolution of 0.5 nm or less and its great sensitivity allowing nearly a single atom detectability. The limitations reside essentially in specimen preparation. In order to obtain optimal results with EELS imaging, only very thin specimens can be used. This restricts the way biological specimens can be prepared. This is a real challenge for the analysis of diffusible elements. Other limitations reside in the difficulty of quantifying the results obtained. This is greatly due to the fact that theoretical considerations still have to be experimentally validated. The purpose of this review i s not to repeat in length the principle of EELS but to emphasize its achievement in biology and to assess the present advantages and limitations. Also, as EELS imaging is still in its development phase, results already obtained are a strong indication that this technique has a great prospect in the analysis of dynamic biological processes

OPTIMIZATION OF SCREEN PRINTED REFERENCE ELECTRODE BASED ON CHARGE BALANCE AND POLY (BUTYL ACRYLATE) PHOTOCURABLE MEBRANE

This research focus on transforming the traditional design of reference electrode into all-solid-state reference electrode front-end using Ag/AgCl screen- printed electrodes. By replacing the internal reference solution of a traditional reference electrode by a solid photocurable membrane, an all-solid-state reference electrode can be achieved. The solid-state screen-printed reference electrode was designed using a photocurable acrylic film containing immobilized sodium tetrakis [3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl] borate (NaTFPB) and trimethylocthylammonium chloride (TOMA-Cl). An optimum ratio of NaTFPB:TOMA-Cl = 1:1 produced a stable reference electrode. In the anions interference studies, all anions i.e. NO3-, Cl-, Br- and SO42- does not give effect to the SPRE except perchlorate anions. The all-solid-state reference electrodes was applied to the detection of potassium ions and ammonium ions. Validation of the all-screen-printed reference electrode was performed with reference electrode standard gel type. The validation results showed that all-solid-state screen-printed reference electrode demonstrated performance that was comparable to standard reference electrode

Why People Forward Emails to Others?

The issue of electronic mail (e-mail) communication has attracted much academic attention over the last two decades. Yet, little is known about why people forward emails to others. Through a review of the literature, this paper aims to investigate reasons why people forward emails and proposes several variables related to one\u27s intention of doing so. More specifically, we hypothesize that the higher degree the four possible variables are (the recipient’s trust in the email content, the recipient\u27s trust in the senders, intention to staying in touch with friends, and the receivers\u27 altruism trait), the more likely people will forward emails. On the other hand, we hypothesize that the lower degree the two possible variables are (the size of email file, and the cost of forwarding e-mail), the less likely people will forward emails

OPTIMIZATION OF SCREEN PRINTED REFERENCE ELECTRODE BASED ON CHARGE BALANCE AND POLY (BUTYL ACRYLATE) PHOTOCURABLE MEBRANE

This research focus on transforming the traditional design of reference electrode into all-solid-state reference electrode front-end using Ag/AgCl screen- printed electrodes. By replacing the internal reference solution of a traditional reference electrode by a solid photocurable membrane, an all-solid-state reference electrode can be achieved. The solid-state screen-printed reference electrode was designed using a photocurable acrylic film containing immobilized sodium tetrakis [3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl] borate (NaTFPB) and trimethylocthylammonium chloride (TOMA-Cl). An optimum ratio of NaTFPB:TOMA-Cl = 1:1 produced a stable reference electrode. In the anions interference studies, all anions i.e. NO3-, Cl-, Br- and SO42- does not give effect to the SPRE except perchlorate anions. The all-solid-state reference electrodes was applied to the detection of potassium ions  and ammonium ions. Validation of the all-screen-printed reference electrode was performed with reference electrode standard gel type. The validation results showed that all-solid-state screen-printed reference electrode demonstrated performance that was comparable to standard reference electrode.

Generalized thermo vacuum state derived by the partial trace method

By virtue of the technique of integration within an ordered product (IWOP) of operators we present a new approach for deriving generalized thermo vacuum state which is simpler in form that the result by using the Umezawa-Takahashi approach, in this way the thermo field dynamics can be developed. Applications of the new state are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, no figure, revtex

Strong decays of heavy baryons in Bethe-Salpeter formalism

In this paper we study the properties of diquarks (composed of $u$ and/or $d$ quarks) in the Bethe-Salpeter formalism under the covariant instantaneous approximation. We calculate their BS wave functions and study their effective interaction with the pion. Using the effective coupling constant among the diquarks and the pion, in the heavy quark limit $m_Q\to\infty$, we calculate the decay widths of $\Sigma_Q^{(*)}$ ($Q=c,b$) in the BS formalism under the covariant instantaneous approximation and then give predictions of the decay widths $\Gamma(\Sigma_b^{(*)}\to\Lambda_b+\pi)$.Comment: 41 pages, 1 figure, LaTex2e, typos correcte

The Dynamical Yang-Baxter Relation and the Minimal Representation of the Elliptic Quantum Group

In this paper, we give the general forms of the minimal $L$ matrix (the elements of the $L$-matrix are $c$ numbers) associated with the Boltzmann weights of the $A_{n-1}^1$ interaction-round-a-face (IRF) model and the minimal representation of the $A_{n-1}$ series elliptic quantum group given by Felder and Varchenko. The explicit dependence of elements of $L$-matrices on spectral parameter $z$ are given. They are of five different forms (A(1-4) and B). The algebra for the coefficients (which do not depend on $z$) are given. The algebra of form A is proved to be trivial, while that of form B obey Yang-Baxter equation (YBE). We also give the PBW base and the centers for the algebra of form B.Comment: 23 page