Genetic epidemiology of bovine infectious diseases

A major part of animal husbandry is keeping animals healthy and disease-free. With respect to infectious diseases, this largely relies on control of the environment and prompt treatment or culling of infected animals. Until recently, little attention has been paid to the improvement of the genetic robustness or resistance of livestock to infectious pathogens. One reason is the lack of information regarding the genetic contribution of variation in resistance (or susceptibility) to pathogens between animals, and whether such resistance to one pathogen is positively or negatively associated with resistance to other pathogens and to livestock productivity such as growth rate or milk production. A major hurdle in providing this information has been the lack of data collected from animals affected by pathogens and the difficulty in estimating associations between resistance to disease using data from different animals affected by different diseases. Thus, the overall aim and content of this thesis is a comprehensive genetic evaluation of infectious disease traits using all available epidemiological and genomic tools

History as mind atoned: a reading of R.G. Collingwood

This thesis advances a new reading and interpretation of the philosophy of Robin George Collingwood (1889-1943). It explores Collingwood’s conception of Western civilization—which he sometimes identified with liberalism—as a civilization that is ultimately rooted in the Christian faith and animated by a conception of freedom of the will as the achievement of historical consciousness. The organizing hypothesis is that Collingwood gave a central place to Christian faith in Western civilization. He assumed that, so far from being aberrant or infantile, religion was one of the chief forms of consciousness along with art, science, history and philosophy, that religious insight was the key to understanding human history, and that without the vital spark it kindled, civilization could not survive. Self-knowledge was a dialectical movement from this religious insight towards a higher-order historical consciousness of the self in possession of free will, which involved consciousness of others as possessing free will of their own. The well-being and vitality of Western civilization, and its preservation in the face of the forces of barbarism, is shown to depend in Collingwood’s view upon continuous nourishment from its Christian ‘absolute presuppositions’, and, more broadly, from what Collingwood described as ‘the central doctrine of Christianity’, the idea of the Incarnation and Atonement. In his hands, this idea was translated into terms of universal significance: mind, history, and community were explicated in those terms and fell into one pattern of explanation, in which false oppositions were exposed and transcended through the reconciliation of the infinite and the finite, the eternal and the temporal, thought and mind, mind and man, man and man, man and God. The thesis presents Collingwood’s enquiries into religion, art, history, philosophy and politics and his arguments for a reformed metaphysics and a reformed conception of history as aspects of a single picture that was structured by his vision of the Incarnation as the (self) revelation to man that ‘he can become God, can be what he ought to be.’ What this meant for Collingwood was giving life to the divine spirit in man, by becoming or being ‘the right kind’ of person, one capable qua moral agent of acting dutifully and qua historian of entering into the minds of the persons whose actions he or she was studying. Such a person embodies in fact, to a greater or lesser degree, the Collingwoodian ideal I call in this thesis the atoned mind: for he is to that degree at one with himself and other men, and is eo ipso free. The thesis demonstrates this through an effort to circumvent dominant analytic and technical readings of Collingwood on the one hand, and on the other hand, to embrace a reading of Collingwood’s historicism not as a problem to be solved, but as the solution to a problem imposed by a naturalistic philosophy of history. Only when the Atonement is taken seriously as thought, is it possible to begin to understand the nature of the ideal that underpins the European Christian mind, and why Collingwood insisted that Western liberalism is an expression of Christianity in theory and in practice

The comparative mechanisms of silent reading and reading aloud in people with dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia is a lifelong condition that manifests itself as a reading and spelling impairment. This thesis explored the quality of lexical representation in the neurotypical and dyslexic populations, using a suite of individual difference measures and the masked priming paradigm. Chapters 2 and 3 revealed that in the neurotypical population, the priming effect in word recognition was driven by a component related to phonological precision, while a factor linked to orthographic precision contributed to the priming effects of word and pseudoword production. Chapter 4, demonstrated in the dyslexic population, the priming effects in word and pseudoword rejection was driven by a component linked to lexical precision, whereas no individual factor drove the priming effects for word or pseudoword production. Chapter 5 showed that that 34% of people with dyslexia had stuttered during childhood, with the prevalence rate being moderated by the severity of dyslexia. In addition, people with dyslexia did not differ from people who stutter in any phonological processing measures. These findings indicate that people with dyslexia have a phonological, together with orthographic precision, impairment

Slotted Reinforced Concrete Beam-Column Connection: State-of-the-Art Review

Research on reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column connections has significantly increased during the past few decades. Interest in this topic is related to the importance of beam-column connections in maintaining the integrity of the whole structure. The slotted RC beam-column connection was investigated as promising low damage beam-column connection replacement for conventional design. A slotted RC beam consists of a conventional RC beam, modified with a narrow vertical slot adjacent to the face of the column that runs approximately three-quarters of the beam depth. This study reviews the literature on the mechanics and design of slotted beams, illustrating the works of various researchers on developing and modifying this innovative system. Then, the research progress in the behavior of slotted RC beams is briefly described, in chronological order, to place each contribution in a wider context. Extremely promising structural performance was observed due to minimum beam elongation, non-tearing action, minimum cracks, high energy dissipation, and stable hysteresis response. At the end of the study, a list of the main gaps that need further investigation and recommendations to fill out these gaps are provided

The kinetics and mechanisms of some redox reactions involving nitrogen(III)

This work is concerned with the oxidation of nitrogen(III) by-chlorate, bromate and iodate in aqueous solution. The introduction reviews background information concerning the reactants in isolation, considers relevant speculations about their reactivities and surveys previously published work on the reactions. These earlier kinetic studies were made before many of the concepts now applied to solution kinetics were available. It has been shown experimentally that the reactions proceed at conveniently measurable rates under acid conditions. Concerning the reduction of chlorate by "nitrite"?, which was examined in the pH range (1--2), the kinetics show that it is of the first order with respect to chlorate, nitrous acid and hydrogen ions. The reduction of bromate by "nitrite", which was examined in the pH range (2-1--3.2), is of first order with respect to bromate, nitrous acid and hydrogen ions. The reduction of iodate by "nitrite", which was examined in the acidity range (1.42--2.26M), is more complex in its kinetics. The rate of decomposition of nitrous acid alone, under similar conditions, was also studied. The effects on reaction rate of change in ionic strength, temperature and addition of various simple salts and products have been studied and the stoichiometry of each reaction, under conditions similar to those used in the kinetic measurements, has been worked out. Efforts were made to identify intermediates and reaction products via use of mass, e.s.r., visible and ultraviolet spectroscopy besides qualitative analysis. Possible mechanisms for the reactions with nitrous acid are discussed.<p

Effect of Abutments Design on Wear of Locator Attachments in Implant Retained Mandibular Overdenture.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to compare the effect of abutments design on wear behavior of Locator attachments in implant-retained mandibular overdenture. Materials and Methods: Two epoxy models representing an edentulous mandible were used, two implants were placed in each model. Twenty-four locator attachments were used (twelve in each study group). Cycles of Insertion and removal were performed using a universal testing machine resembling 3 years of clinical use, then each abutment was scanned by scanning electron microscope (SEM) before and after insertion and removal cycles. Data were compared qualitatively using a specialized computer software Results: There was a statistically significant difference in wear between the two studied locator groups P=0000*. Locator F-TX showed 29±1.704 % of surface change. PEEKLOC. Locator showed 21±2.090 %of surface change. Conclusions: PEEKLoc. abutment design showed more wear resistance than the recently introduced Locator F-TX

Quality of Nursing Care Provided for Neonates with Tracheoesophageal Fistula

Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is an abnormal connection between the esophagus and the trachea. It is one of the most life-threatening anomalies in newborn. The current study aimed to assess the quality of nursing care provided for neonates with TEF and to assess the nurses’ knowledge and performance regarding neonates with TEF. A descriptive exploratory research design was utilized in the current study. The study was conducted at the Neonatal Surgical Intensive Care Unit (NSICU) affiliated to Benha Specialized Pediatric Hospital. A convenient sample composed of all nurses working at NSICU and all neonates with TEF within six months from starting study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire sheet to assess nurses’ knowledge regarding quality of nursing care for neonates with TEF and observational checklists to assess nurses’ performance for neonates with TEF at NSICU. The study results evident that three quarters of nurse shad average level of knowledge regarding neonates with TEF and all of them had good level of performance provided for neonates with TEF. Meanwhile, there were positive correlation between nurses’ knowledge and performance scores. The present study concluded that, there were positive correlation between nurses’ knowledge and performance scores in relation to their socio-demographic characteristics. It was recommended that periodical educational training programs for nurses working at NSICU are mandatory, for the purpose of updating the knowledge and to maintain efficient performance and to reach high quality of care. Key words: Neonate-Tracheoesophageal Fistula-Quality of nursing car

A Critical Review of the Performance, Combustion, and Emissions ‎Characteristics of PCCI Engine Controlled by Injection Strategy and ‎Fuel Properties

As internal combustion engines (ICEs) produce serious emissions and a big part of greenhouse gases from fuel combustion. Due to the universal concerns about degradation in the ambient environment, limitations on exhaust emissions, depletion of petroleum reserves, and global warming, many strict regulations have been launched on the standard emissions released from engines. Premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) is a promising technique to overcome these challenges in recent years which can simultaneously reduce NOx and soot emissions and substantially improve thermal efficiency. The PCCI combustion concept has the advantages of both SI and CI engines, like SI engines as the charge is premixed which produces low emissions and like CI engines the fuel-air mixture is auto-ignited as a result of compression which leads o high thermal efficiency. Normally, PCCI combustion is a single-stage combustion process achieved by employing early injection timing to increase the time available for mixing fuel and air by using single-fuel and split fuel (pilot/main) injection tactics, in which a large fraction of fuel burns in premixed combustion phase resulting in relatively lower in-cylinder temperatures compared to compression ignition (CI) combustion. Thus, the objective of this paper is to provide an inclusive review of the effects of fuel injection timings, ratios, pressure, and fuel properties on the PCCI engine combustion performance improvement and emission reduction, this review has been analyzed extensively based on the published studies to provide and discuss different strategies for the control of PCCI technique of combustion at wide range of speed and load

Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components : Secondary analysis of the World Health Survey, Oman

Objectives: The study aimed to describe the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and its components among Omani adults. Methods: The 2008 Oman World Health Survey dataset was used to determine the national prevalence of MS. Logistic regression using all key sociodemographic, clinical and behavioural variables was used to identify the associations of independent variables with MS. Results: The age-adjusted prevalence of MS was 23.6%. MS was significantly associated with age, marital and work status and wealth level. MS was more common for people aged 50 years and older compared to the youngest cohort (OR 3.6, CI: 2.4–5.3; P &lt;0.001) and in people who were married or employed (OR 1.6, CI: 1.3–2.1; P &lt;0.001 and OR 1.3, CI: 1.1–1.8; P = 0.043, respectively) compared to their unmarried and unemployed counterparts. MS was also more common in people in the second lowest wealth quintile (OR 1.6, CI: 1.2–2.2; P = 0.05) compared to the lowest quintile and in those who sat for more than six hours per day (OR 1.3, CI: 1.1-1.7; P = 0.035). Conclusion: One in four adults had MS in Oman. This may fuel the epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Oman, particularly given the increasingly elderly population. Urgent action is required to ensure quality patient care at all levels of the healthcare system. Further research on behavioural risk factors is needed. Developing and implementing a multisectoral strategy to prevent NCDs should be at the top of the current health agenda for Oman