Increasing Vaccine Accessibility through Cost Alternative Manufacturing and Elimination of the Cold Chain

Millions of people die each year from infectious diseases. This is partly due to the difficulty of transporting temperature dependent vaccines through what is called the cold chain in developing countries. I hypothesize that we can increase vaccine accessibility by finding cost effective alternatives to vaccine production and by eliminating the cold chain through vaccine stabilizers. The gold standard in purification of influenza virus is by means of ultracentrifugation. Although effective, this process is very expensive and thus impractical for developing countries. I hypothesize that column chromatography can be a cost efficient alternative that is as effective as ultracentrifugation. The purification ability of column chromatography was tested by comparing two different chromatography resins. The Capto Q resin separates proteins on the basis of protein charge. The Capto 700 resin separates proteins on the basis of both size and charge. It was found that while protein separation occurred, more research will be required to assure full viral protein purification. It is hypothesized that vaccine stabilizers can be used to eliminate the cold chain. The effect of the gelatin on inactivated influenza virus vaccines was evaluated using hemagglutinin (HA) assays and neuraminidase (NA) assays. The assays evaluate viral protein activity in samples exposed to elevated temperatures for set periods of time (1 min, 5 min, 10 min, 20 min, 40 min, 60 min, 120 min, 240 min, 300 min, and 360 min). Elevated temperatures (45, 52, and 60 degrees Celsius) facilitated an accelerated stability test, which simulates extended effects of time on vaccines. In addition to testing different temperatures, the following concentrations of collagen were used as percent by total volume: 0.3%, 1%, 3%, and 10%. These were tested for optimizing the stabilization of the vaccine. The results of the neuraminidase assay show that 3% collagen significantly increased the stability of the vaccine by approximately 10,000 fold

Meat yield and quality of Tanzania Shorthorn Zebu cattle finished on molasses/maize grain with agro-processing by-products in 90 days feedlot period

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding molasses or maize grain with agro-processing by-products on yield and quality of meat from Tanzania shorthorn zebu (TSZ) cattle. Forty five steers aged 2.5 to 3.0 years with 200 +/- 5.4 kg body weight were allocated into five dietary treatments namely hominy feed with molasses (HFMO), rice polishing with molasses (RPMO), hominy feed with maize meal (HFMM), rice polishing with maize meal (RPMM) and maize meal with molasses (MMMO). Ad libitum amount of each dietary treatment and hay were offered to nine steers for 90 days. Cooking loss (CL) and Warner Bratzler shear force (WBSF) values were determined on M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum aged for 3, 6, 9 and 12 days. Steers fed on HFMO diet had higher (P 0.05) nutrient intake (86.39 MJ/d energy; 867 g/d CP), weight gain (919 g/d) and half carcass weight (75.8 kg) than those fed other diets. Meat of steers from all diets was tender with average WBSF values of 47.9 Ncm^(−2). The CL (22.0 +/- 0.61%) and WBSF (53.4 +/- 0.70 N cm^(−2)) were highest in meat aged for 3 days followed by 6, 9 and 12 days. WBSF values for meat aged for 9 and 12 days from steers fed HFMO and RPMM diets were similar and lower than those on other dietary treatments x aging periods. Overall, molasses and hominy feed can be used to replace maize meal in feedlot finishing diets to spare its use in animal feeds

Classes and Objects - A Dynamic Approach

Data encapsulation, abstract data types and classes are terms associated with a concept not fully clarified or accepted. This paper presents a class concept that differs slightly from previous definitions by the associated dynamics. This allows us to interpret nested and recursive classes as well as class parameters. We will distinguish between types and classes and permit types as parameters in a way that allows simple implementation. A number of examples will be given to illustrate the class concept itself and its application to access control problems for concurrent programs. Synchronization primitives will be viewed as classes and the need for explicit high-level constructs like monitors is questioned. Keywords: Programming language, encapsulation, abstract data type, class, object, synchronization, monitor

Comments on a Draft Pascal Standard

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Representation of Almost Constant Vectors

An example in a recent report on the programming language Russell has illustrated difficulties related to user defined storage management. Here is demonstrated how the dynamic approach to encapsulation earlier proposed by the author provides means to solve the particular storage management problem. The method used is, however, easily generalized to other similar cases. In addition to the example a number of notational conveniences are introduced. One that allows abbreviated references to components of record-like structures is called controlled coercion. Another allows a function-like use of classes. Keywords: Classes, abstract data types, storage management, programming languages

"Towards a European IR-System? The Implications of the Maastricht Treaty for Danish Industrial Relations"

[From the Introduction]. As suggested above, the integration logic evident in the pattern of European cooperation has apparently lost its potency following the agreement on the Maastricht treaty reached at government level at the end of 1991. The question is whether it has now become necessary to reassess the thrust and significance of national institutional structures in line with predictions of a federal Europe? This is the question that Streeck poses with regard to the development and nature of industrial relations in Europe. Our paper addresses this question, taking the Danish industrial relations system as the point of departure. Firstly, we shall briefly outline the key elements in what we refer to as the Danish Model of industrial relations. Secondly, we shall report the main viewpoints influencing the actors on the Danish labour market, determining their positions on cooperation on the ECs social and labour market policy. The attitudes of the actors to what Streeck terms "upward delegation" and the background forming these attitudes will constitute the core of the analysis. In a Danish context, the actors' willingness to support EC integration in the area of social and labour market policy has also been shaped by consideration of the possibilities of achieving what Streeck refers to as "horizontal interdependence" between the various European IR-systems. The paper also treats some aspects of this phenomenon. The third section of the analysis concentrates on the problems for the Danish Model which may derive from co-operation on the ECs social and labour market policy. It will include consideration of how these problems influence the willingness of the actors to accept the creation of a European industrial relations system. This part of the analysis thus focuses on the consequences of what Streeck terms "downward intervention". Fourthly - and finally - we shall review the aggregate contribution of the Danish IR-system to the creation of a European IR-system in line with the provisions of the Maastricht agreement