Direct design of reinforced and partially prestressed concrete beams for combined torsion, bending and shear

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The association between financial derivatives and firms' value and performance: evidence from the UK’s financial firms

There is a consensus among industry players and academics that the ungoverned use of complex financial derivatives in a high volume of transactions, which very few fully understood, and the lack of transparency underlying the transactions of those complex financial derivatives, played an important role in the occurrence of the 2007 financial crisis. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate how financial firms use financial derivatives that can affect firm value and the performance of the financial industry.This study attempts to shed more light on how UK financial firms conduct their risk management policies by using financial derivatives for hedging. We use an unbalanced dataset which comprises information on 128 UK financial firms, from the time period between 2005 and 2014. We find that 35.18% of the firms use derivatives and 32.14% use them for hedging purposes only.We employ the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimator for the Panel Data, which produces consistent and significant results. Our regression results show positive and statistically significant relationships between the use of derivatives for hedging and firm value. Meanwhile, the regression results dealing with Return on Assets (ROA) and Stock Return (SR) suggest that the use of derivatives for foreign exchange rate risk (FX) and interest rate risk (IR) has mixed positive and negative significant impacts on accounting and market performance. Thus, we can conclude that our findings support the notion in the risk management literature that the effect of derivatives usage on firm performance is mixed and ambiguous

Chemical, molecular pharmacology and neuroprotective properties of the essential oil derived from Aloysia citrodora Palau

Essential oils derived from dried and fresh leaves of Aloysia citrodora were obtained by hydrodistillation, and were investigated for a range of pharmacological properties: receptor binding, in vitro acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory, antioxidant activities, and neuroprotection properties relevant to neurodegenerative diseases. Fresh leaf A. citrodora essential oil inhibited [3H] nicotine binding to well washed rat forebrain membranes, with mean apparent IC50 of 0.0018 mg/ml. No significant binding activity was observed for A. citrodora essential oil derived from fresh or dried leaves, for GABAAR and NMDARs. A. citrodora essential oil, both dried and fresh, exhibited radical scavenging activity (up to 100%, IC50 < 0.0001 mg/ml) and iron (II) chelating properties (approx. IC50 = 0.05 mg/ml), and showed neuroprotective characteristics against the toxic effects of H2O2 (100%, 0.001 mg/ml) and β-amyloid (approx. 50%, 0.01 mg/ml) in CAD neuronal cell culture. Both EOs from dried and fresh leaves also displayed effective AChE inhibitory activity, with the dried leaves oil displaying more clear AChE inhibitory activity than fresh oil, which could be related to the higher respective levels of caryophyllene oxide. Recombinant human anticholinesterase enzyme was used for structure based in silico screening of A. citrodora essential oil constituents for AChE Inhibitors, and the top scoring hits with highest pharmacophore fit values showed common interactions with residues at the active site of that of donepezil. The top seven hits in order of fit score, were β-curcumene, curcumene bisabolene, trans-calamenene, caryophyllene oxide, β-sesquiphellandrene and geranyl acetate. This indicates that plants may yield novel effective and safe AChE inhibitors, other than alkaloids. To begin to identify the chemicals underpinning the pharmacological properties of A. citrodora, GC/MS analysis of the chemical composition of the essential oil from leaves of A. citrodora identified eighty three major chemicals, including the presence of terpenoids, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, the main constituents being limonene, caryophyllene oxide, curcumene, spathulenol, 1,8-cineole constituting 47% of the total oil. Finally, a simple, inexpensive solid phase extraction method was developed for fractionation of essential oils. Collectively, this thesis provides a better understanding of the pharmacology of the Aloysia essential oil and its constituents relating to its potential use in the treatment neurodegenerative disease

Community Knowledge, Perceptions, and Practices Associated with Urogenital Schistosomiasis among School-Aged Children in Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania

Background: On the Zanzibar islands, United Republic of Tanzania, elimination of urogenital schistosomiasis is strived for in the coming years. This qualitative study aimed to better understand community knowledge, perceptions, and practices associated with schistosomiasis among school-aged children on Unguja and Pemba islands, in order to inform the development of behavior change interventions contributing to eliminate urogenital schistosomiasis. Methodology: In 2011, we conducted 35 children’s discussion groups, 41 in-depth interviews with parents and teachers, and 5 focus group discussions with community members in Zanzibar. Using a modified-grounded theory approach, we transcribed and coded the narrative data followed by thematic analysis of the emergent themes. Principal Findings: Urogenital schistosomiasis is a common experience among children in Zanzibar and typically considered a boys’ disease. Children engage in multiple high-risk behaviors for acquiring schistosomiasis because of poor knowledge on disease transmission, lack of understanding on severity of disease-associated consequences, and lack of alternative options for water related activities of daily living and recreational play. Local primary school teachers had little to no training about the disease and no teaching tools or materials for students. Conclusions/Significance: Conducting activities in open natural freshwater contaminated by S. haematobium larvae compromises the health of school-aged children in Zanzibar. The perception of urogenital schistosomiasis as a minor illness rather than a serious threat to a child’s well-being contributes to the spread of disease. Understanding community perceptions of disease along with the barriers and facilitators to risk reduction behaviors among children can inform health promotion activities, campaigns, and programs for the prevention, control, and elimination of urogenital schistosomiasis in Zanzibar

Lipoprotein(a): an independent risk factor for ischemic heart disease that is dependent on triglycerides in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Lipoprotein(a) is an independent risk factor for Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD) in the general population. There are conflicting reports in the extent of its association with IHD among subjects with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)

Effect of Moulding Temperature on Mechanical Properties of Pure Aluminum Sand Casting

In this study, mechanical properties (Tensile test, Brinell hardness and microstructure analysis) of pure aluminium after sand casting were investigated. Tensile test, Brinell hardness and microstructure analysis were performed using MAX text software, Universal Testing Machine and Escope with Clemax Imager, respectively. Sand cast aluminium was observed to have good tensile and hardness properties. From the observations, sand cast sample had uniform distribution of aluminium. &nbsp

Cisplatin augments the anti-schistosomal effect of praziquantel in a schistosoma-infected cancer model

Schistosomiasis is the third most devastating tropical disease worldwide caused by blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma. Praziquantel (PZQ) is the drug of choice for treating all species of schistosomes. However, PZQ kills only adult Schistosoma worms, not immature stages. The inability of PZQ to abort early infection or prevent re-infection, and the lack of prophylactic effect prompt the need for novel drugs and strategies for the prevention of schistosomiasis. Tumor burden can be developed in Schistosoma-infected patients. The present study aimed to determine the host responses to mutual interaction between cancer, represented by Ehrlich ascites, and infection, represented by Schistosomiasis. Mice infected with Schistosoma and challenged with tumor 4-5 weeks later showed the same anti-schistosomal (worm and egg burden) and antitumor (total tumor cell count and mouse survival) parameters when compared to mice infected with Schistosoma alone or challenged with tumor cells alone. As expected, combinatorial treatment with PZQ and cisplatin of Schistosoma-infected mice that were challenged with tumor cell line decreased the tumor burden as well as the worm and egg burden after treatment as compared to the non-treated controls; while the worm burden and egg counts were significantly decreased (P &lt;0.001) in treated group (VI) treated with cisplatin (0.5 mg/kg), group (VII) treated with cisplatin (2 mg/kg), group (VIII) treated with PZQ/ cisplatin (0.5 mg/kg) and group (IX) treated with PZQ / cisplatin (2 mg/kg) by 44.55% , 74%, 100% and 97.8% in worm burden, and by 47%, 78.7%, 96% and 97% in liver egg count , respectively than that of group (II) non treated S. mansoni infected alone and (IV) non treated S. mansoni/EAC alone. Also, Group IX caused a significant reduction (P &lt;0.05) in worm burden than that of group VI. Also, total ascetic volume and the tumor cell counts in Ehrlich's ascites carcinoma (EAC)-cells were significantly decreased (P &lt;0.001) in groups VIII and IX than that of the group (III) non-treated (EAC) inoculated alone. There was no mutual interaction between schistosomiasis infection and tumor burden. Also, whereas, PZQ did not affect on the antitumor parameters, cisplatin even at low doses had anti-schistosomal effects