Is Foreign Aid an Obstruction to Democracy and Development in the Third World?

Aid was first initiated by the United States during the early Fifties. It was supposed to help the efforts of the peoples of underdeveloped countries to develop their resources and improve their living and working conditions by encouraging the exchange of technical knowledge and skills and the flow of investment capital to countries which provide conditions under which the technical assistance and capital can effectively contribute to raising standards of living, creating new sources of wealth, increasing productivity and expanding purchasing power.' Furthermore, it was initially meant to prove the superiority of the 'Western' democratic order over Communism. Although the genesis of aid sprang from the grand design to help the Third World countries develop their economies along liberal and democratic lines, the flow of aid in quite substantial amounts, however, began to influence the mode of development in such a manner that aid became an instrument of serving more the foreign policy considerations of the donors rather than meeting the genuine development requirements of the recipient nations. This change in policy slowly but steadily forced many a young country to fall into the aid trap and by the time they discover• ed their plight they had already become 'client' states. This was indeed not a pleasant outcome of the whole exercise in 'aidmanship'

Febuxostat ameliorates methotrexate-induced lung damage

Background: The intention of the present study was to assess the structural affection of the lung following methotrexate (MTX) overdose. The proposed underlying mechanisms involved in lung affection were studied. The possible modulation role of febuxostat over such affection was studied. Materials and methods: Twenty-four rats were divided into three groups: control, MTX-treated, febuxostat-treated. The study was continued for 2 weeks. Lung was processed for histological and immunohistochemical (inducible nitric oxide synthase [iNOS] and cyclooxygenase [COX]-2) studies. Inflammatory markers (tumour necrosis factor alpha [TNF-a], interleukin 1 [IL-1]), Western blot evaluation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) and oxidative/antioxidative markers were done. Results: Methotrexate-treated group exhibited inflammatory cellular infiltrations, thickened interalveolar septa, dilated congested blood vessels, extravasated blood, and apoptosis. The collagen fibres content increased 3-fold. MTX induced lung affection through oxidative stress (increase MDA/decrease GSH, SOD) and apoptosis. It induced sterile inflammation through an increase of NF-kB (2-fold), IL-1 (3-fold) and TNF-a (3-fold), COX-2 cells (2.5-fold) and iNOS (6-fold). With the use of febuxostat, the normal lung architecture was observed with a bit thickened interalveolar septum and extravasated blood. The collagen fibres content was minimal. Decrement of oxidative stress and sterile inflammation (COX-2 cells and iNOS were comparable to the control group. NF-kB, IL-1 and TNF-a became higher by 34%, 64% and 100%). Conclusions: The overdose of MTX displays inflammatory lung affection with residual fibrosis. It induces lung affection through oxidative stress, apoptosis and sterile inflammation. With the use of febuxostat, the normal lung architecture was preserved with a little structural affection or fibrotic residue. Febuxostat exerts its lung protection through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant features

Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance Disguised as Chronic Neutrophilic Leukemia

We encountered a 60-year-old woman with a medical history of diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, peripheral vascular disease, and hypertension who had earlier presented at an outside facility with knee pain, which led to a finding of elevated neutrophil count of 35×109/L. Because she was otherwise asymptomatic but continued showing elevated neutrophil levels, she sought a second opinion at our facility. Serum protein immunoelectrophoresis with immunofixation revealed an immunoglobulin A (IgA)-κ monoclonal gammopathy concentration of 1305 mg/dL (normal 80–350 mg/dL) but relatively normal concentrations of IgG of 840 mg/dL (620–1400 mg/dL) and IgM of 36 mg/dL (45–250 mg/dL). Using clonal analysis, we found a polyclonal expression pattern in all cell types analyzed. Comprehensive work-up for multiple myeloma and infectious etiology of neutrophilia was negative. We concluded that our patient’s neutrophilia may have been due to the underlying monoclonal gammopathy. This is the first case in the literature of a patient with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance presenting with chronic neutrophilia, mimicking chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL). Patients with CNL have a poor prognosis; therefore, it is important to distinguish diagnostically between CNL and reactive neutrophilia

Seroprevalence of Bovine Herpes Virus-1, Bovine Herpes Virus-4 and Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus in Dairy Cattle in Sudan

A survey was conducted to determine prevalence of antibodies against Bovine herpes virus-1 (BoHv-1), Bovine herpes virus-4 (BoHv-4) and Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) in dairy cattle in farms with reproductive problems in two areas in Sudan. Sera samples were collected from Khartoum state and central Sudan during 2005-2008 and analyzed using direct ELISA. The prevalence of antibodies was discussed with respect to age, season, sex, breed and locality BoHv-1 and BVD antibodies were highly prevalent in Khartoum state (51.7 and 50.4%, respectively) while in central Sudan BoHv-1 (32.7%) antibodies were the most prevalent followed by, BVD (25.7%) and BoHv-4 (19.3%). The highest prevalence of antibodies against the three viruses in both areas was found during the rainy season (July to October). The prevalence of antibodies to viruses studied was significantly associated with female sex except for BoHv-1. Prevalence of antibodies to BoHv-4 was significantly associated with breed while those of BoHv-1 and BVD were not. The present results indicated that older cattle were more likely to be seropositive in case of BoHv-4 but to BoHv-1 or BVD viruses. Furthermore, it was found that BoHv-1 and BVD antibodies were highly prevalent in aborted dams. While, infertility problems were highly associated with BoHv-1 antibodies. BVD antibodies showed the highest prevalence in case of death after birth. The results of this study provide better understanding of viral epidemics of reproductive disorders and represent the first report of BoHv-4 antibodies in cattle in Sudan

Enhancing Corrosion Resistance of Stainless Steel 304 Using Laser Surface Treatment

Stainless steel AISI 304 was laser treated to enhance corrosion resistance and improve surface properties. This alloy has many applications in auto industry (car body) as well as oil and gas industry. Different conditions were applied in the laser surface treatment, namely: laser power density, scan speed, distance between paths, medium gas (air, argon and nitrogen). After laser treatment, the samples microstructures were investigated using optical microscope to examine microstructural changes due to laser irradiation. Specimen surfaces were investigated using XRD, SEM and EDAX before and after laser treatment to examine the surface composition changes brought by laser irradiation. Results showed that laser irradiation enhances the corrosion resistance of AISI 304 Stainless steel to a large extent. Corrosion rates as low as 0.011 mpy for laser treated samples were obtained in comparison to 0.952 mpy obtained for the untreated samples. Superior pitting corrosion resistance was obtained under specific treatment conditions. The enhancement of corrosion resistance depends on the laser irradiation conditions. The corrosion protection afforded by laser treatment is attributed mainly to the grain refinement of the top surface layer. This layer is found to consist of nano-scale grains

Spray-Dried Proliposome Microparticles for High-Performance Aerosol Delivery Using a Monodose Powder Inhaler

Proliposome formulations containing salbutamol sulphate (SS) were developed using spray drying, and the effects of carrier type (lactose monohydrate (LMH) or mannitol) and lipid to carrier ratio were evaluated. The lipid phase comprised soy phosphatidylcholine (SPC) and cholesterol (1:1), and the ratios of lipid to carrier were 1:2, 1:4, 1:6, 1:8 or 1:10 w/w. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) revealed an interaction between the components of the proliposome particles, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that mannitol-based proliposomes were uniformly sized and spherical, whilst LMH-based proliposomes were irregular and relatively large. Using a two-stage impinger (TSI), fine particle fraction (FPF) values of the proliposomes were higher for mannitol-based formulations, reaching 52.6%, which was attributed to the better flow properties when mannitol was used as carrier. Following hydration of proliposomes, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that vesicles generated from mannitol-based formulations were oligolamellar, whilst LMH-based proliposomes generated 'worm-like' structures and vesicle clusters. Vesicle size decreased upon increasing carrier to lipid ratio, and the zeta potential values were negative. Drug entrapment efficiency (EE) was higher for liposomes generated from LMH-based proliposomes, reaching 37.76% when 1:2 lipid to carrier ratio was used. The in vitro drug release profile was similar for both carriers when 1:6 lipid to carrier ratio was used. This study showed that spray drying can produce inhalable proliposome microparticles that can generate liposomes upon contact with an aqueous phase, and the FPF of proliposomes and the EE offered by liposomes were formulation-dependent

INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF ZINC AND DIFFERENT NITROGEN SOURCES ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF ONION

and 2003 to investigate the interactive effect of Zn and different nitrogen sources, i.e., mineral nitrogen (ammonium sulfate) and organic nitrogen (poultry manure) on the growth and productivity of onion (Allium cepa) cv. Giza 20. Four levels of Zn application (0, 1, 2 and 3 ppm) in a sulfate form were foliar sprayed at 30 and 60 days after planting. Within each Zn application, three treatments of nitrogen dose were applied in different combination forms (mineral and organic sources). Nitrogen treatments were 100% mineral N; 75% mineral + 25% organic and 50% mineral + 50% organic. Organic-N source was poultry manure. All poultry manure treatments were applied during soil preparation. Data showed that all growth parameters of onion plants increased as the fraction of poultry manure increased. Zn had also a positive effect on all plant parameters except of plant length, and leaf dry weight. The interactive effect of Zn and poultry manure increased yield and quality of onion bulbs. The most effective treatments on bulb fresh weight, total yield and quality were the spraying with 1 or 2 ppm zinc and the application of N as 75% mineral and 25% organic, in both season

A new approach to sample entropy of multi-channel signals: application to EEG signals

In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to calculate sample entropy of multivariate data. Over the existing method, the one proposed here has the advantage of maintaining good results as the number of channels increases. The new and already-existing algorithms were applied on multivariate white Gaussian noise signals, pink noise signals, and mixtures of both. For high number of channels, the existing method failed to show that white noise is always the most irregular whereas the proposed method always had the entropy of white noise the highest. Application of both algorithms on MIX process signals also confirmed the ability of the proposed method to handle larger number of channels without risking erroneous results. We also applied the proposed algorithm on EEG data from epileptic patients before and after treatments. The results showed an increase in entropy values after treatment in the regions where the focus was localized. This goes in the same way as the medical point of view that indicated a better health state for these patients

Time-varying time-frequency complexity measures for epileptic EEG data analysis

Objective: Our goal is to use existing and to propose new time-frequency entropy measures that objectively evaluate the improvement on epileptic patients after medication by studying their resting state EEG recordings. An increase in the complexity of the signals would confirm an improvement in the general state of the patient. Methods: We review the Rényi entropy based on time-frequency representations, along with its time-varying version. We also discuss the entropy based on singular value decomposition computed from a time-frequency representation, and introduce its corresponding time-dependant version. We test these quantities on synthetic data. Friedman tests are used to confirm the differences between signals (before and after proper medication). Principal component analysis is used for dimensional reduction prior to a simple threshold discrimination. Results: Experimental results show a consistent increase in complexity measures in the different regions of the brain. These findings suggest that extracted features can be used to monitor treatment. When combined, they are useful for classification purposes, with areas under ROC curves higher than 0.93 in some regions. Conclusion: Here we applied time-frequency complexity measures to resting state EEG signals from epileptic patients for the first time. We also introduced a new time-varying complexity measure. We showed that these features are able to evaluate the treatment of the patient, and to perform classification. Significance: The time-frequency complexities, and their time-varying versions, can be used to monitor the treatment of epileptic patients. They could be applied to a wider range of problems

Tensile Properties of Ternary Blends for HDPE/PP/Recycle HDPE in Blow Moulding Process

Increasing the environmental concern among peoples have increased the recycling activities, especially for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles. Therefore, recycled HDPE needs to be mixed with other plastic materials to improve their mechanical properties. In this study, recycled HDPE was mixed with virgin HDPE and polypropylene (PP). The ratio of virgin HDPE and PP were set at 10/90, 30/70 and 50/50, meanwhile recycled HDPE was set at 20%, 35% and 50%. The blended materials were extruded into the parison and was blown using extruded blow-moulding machine to produce a 5-litre bottle. The tensile strength and elongation at break of the blended materials were measured using universal testing machine (UTM). Miscibility of the blended materials was also evaluated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The result shows that decreasing the recycled HDPE in the blended materials increases the tensile strength. Meanwhile, increasing the recycled HDPE content in the blended materials increases the elongation at break of the blended materials. DSC curve shows that blended materials are immiscible