Assessment of the Angolan (CHERRT) Mobile Laboratory Curriculum for Disaster and Pandemic Response

Introduction: As of April 5, 2020, the World Health Organization reported over one million confirmed cases and more than 62,000 confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths affecting 204 countries/ regions. The lack of COVID-19 testing capacity threatens the ability of both the United States (US) and low middle income countries (LMIC) to respond to this growing threat, The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness through participant self-assessment of a rapid response team (RRT) mobile laboratory curriculumMethods: We conducted a pre and post survey for the purpose of a process improvement assessment in Angola, involving 32 individuals. The survey was performed before and after a 14-day training workshop held in Luanda, Angola, in December 2019. A paired t-test was used to identify any significant change on six 7-point Likert scale questions with α< 0.05 (95% confidence interval).Results: All six of the questions –  1) “I feel confident managing a real laboratory sample test for Ebola or other highly contagious sample;” 2) “I feel safe working in the lab environment during a real scenario;” 3) “I feel as if I can appropriately manage a potentially highly contagious laboratory sample;” 4)“I feel that I can interpret a positive or negative sample during a suspected contagious outbreak;” 5) “I understand basic Biobubble/mobile laboratory concepts and procedures;” and 6) “I understand polymerase chain reaction (PCR) principles” – showed statistical significant change pre and post training. Additionally, the final two questions – “I can more effectively perform my role/position because of the training I received during this course;” and “This training was valuable”  – received high scores on the Likert scale.Conclusion: This Angolan RRT mobile laboratory training curriculum provides the nation of Angola with the confidence to rapidly respond and test at the national level a highly infectious contagion in the region and perform on-scene diagnostics. This mobile RRT laboratory provides a mobile and rapid diagnostic resource when epidemic/pandemic resource allocation may need to be prioritized based on confirmed disease prevalence

Cure for Collusive Settlements: The Case for a Per Se Prohibition on Pay-for-Delay Agreements in Pharmaceutical Patent Litigation, A

This Comment will examine how the particulars of the Hatch-Waxman Act, the regulatory scheme that governs generic competition in pharmaceutical industry, gives rise to reverse settlements in infringement litigation; review existing analysis of the pay for delay problem in judicial decisions, in academic commentary, and amongst antitrust enforcement bodies; and finally, draw upon a decision theoretic framework to propose per se illegality as the appropriate antitrust rule for pay-for-delay settlements

Influence of Supplemental Legumes that Contain Tannins and Saponins on Intake and Diet Digestibility in Sheep Fed Grasses that Contain Alkaloids

My objectives were to determine if nutritional benefits occur when animals are offered foods with compounds -- alkaloids, saponins, and tannins – that are potentially complementary. I hypothesized that food intake and digestibility increase when lambs consume plants such as alfalfa ALF that contain saponins or birdsfoot trefoil (BFT) that contain tannins when the basal diet is endophyte-infected tall fescue (TF) or reed canarygrass (RCG) both of which contain alkaloids. I predicted that the nutritional status of lambs would be enhanced if basal diets of alkaloid-containing grasses were supplemented with ALF or BFT. Lambs fed a basal diet of either endophyte-infected TF or RCG ate more food and consequently digested more dry matter, energy and nitrogen when supplemented with ALF or BFT. Lambs ingested more dry matter and digested more nutrients when fed a iii basal diet of RCG than one of TF, and supplementing with ALF and BFT was more beneficial for lambs fed TF than for lambs fed RCG. Increased intake of digestible nutrients was due to greater intake when lambs were offered more than one food, not due to an increase in digestibility. In pen trials meant to complement the field trials, lambs were offered an alkaloidcontaining (either gramine or 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) total mixed ration and supplemented with a food that contained saponins or tannins. All rations were isocaloric (3.3Mcal/kg) and isonitrogenous (14% CP). Lambs fed a ration with either alkaloid and offered a food containing saponin digested approximately the same amount of dry matter, energy, nitrogen, and NDF as lambs not offered saponin. When lambs were fed a ration with either alkaloid and supplemented with food that contained tannins, tannin consumption adversely affected dry matter, energy, and NDF digestibility, but lambs offered food with tannins increased dry matter intake, and as a result, they digested the same amount of dry matter, energy, and NDF as lambs not offered the food with tannins. Lambs offered tannin digested and retained more nitrogen than lambs not offered tannin. These findings indicate a nutritional advantage for sheep eating mixtures as opposed to monocultures of foods with different profiles of secondary compounds and nutrients

Measuring the Impact: An Evaluation of Communities in Harmony

In the study reported below, a program evaluation was performed for the student organization Communities in Harmony, a music-based community service organization at the University of South Carolina that works with homeless and socioeconomically disadvantaged children and young adults. This organization is about to enter its fifth year and is in the process of transitioning between leadership teams at the time of publication. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the organization so that it can continue to grow and effectively serve its target populations. This study has found that the organization excels at providing a unique after-school experience in a safe environment, but the organization’s partners and volunteers call for increased structure of each volunteering session and more effective member retention

Citizen Participation and Strategic Planning for an Urban Enterprise Community

Public policies rarely have single objectives. For the federal Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities initiative, bettering the socioeconomic opportunity structure among a collection of the nation\u27s low-income areas is only one of its goals. Another initiative objective is to foster the representation of common citizens, especially residents, in the planning and implementation of strategies and programs designed to redevelop these low-income areas. Strategic community planning was the method chosen by the initiative\u27s designers to achieve both objectives. This article, which makes use of the case study approach, addresses strategic community planning as an instrument of advancing citizen representation in urban redevelopment processes. Specifically, it describes and critiques the process jointly administered in three upstate New York cities — Albany, Schenectady, and Troy — that are participating in the urban portion of the federal initiative. The purpose of this study is to assess the degree to which residents of the low-income areas of these three cities participated in the strategic community planning process

Within Season Hematological Changes in College Athletes with Sickle Cell Trait

ABSTRACT PURPOSE: To explore the hematological differences in African-American athletes with sickle cell trait (SCT) and healthy controls (CON) before preseason camp and the changes that occur after a full season. METHODS: Sixteen (n=8 SCT; n=8 position matched, CON) NCAA Division 1 athletes (12 football, 2 each women’s soccer and volleyball) had blood drawn before preseason camp, after and at the end of the season, and analyzed for Hb electrophoresis (Hb-A, Hb-A2, Hb-S, and Hb-F), complete blood count with differential, chemistry panel 26, and prothrombin time, activity and international normalized ratio (INR). RESULTS: Baseline total Hb was similar between SCT and CON (mean±SD; 14.2±1.3 vs. 14.1±0.9g/dL, resp; P=0.87), and as expected, Hb-A was lower and Hb-A2 and Hb-S were higher in SCT than CON (P^3/mL, P^3/mL; P=0.09) amongst SCT compared to CON, respectively. Baseline amylase (99.4±25.4 vs. 72.9±18.8u/L; P=0.03), uric acid (6.8±1.7 vs. 5.5±0.8mg/dL; P=0.08), and creatinine (1.2±0.2 vs. 1.0±0.2mg/dL; P=0.07) were higher in SCT compared to CON. All Hb measures in SCT were similar after camp compared to baseline (P\u3e0.33 for all). Baseline and position adjusted change in neutrophils were similar between SCT and CON (mean, 95%CI; -0.09, -2.06 to 1.89 vs. 0.36, -1.61 to 2.34cellsx10^3/mL, resp; P=0.77) from preseason to post-camp. Similarly, the adjusted change in lymphocytes was not different between SCT and CON (0.53, 0.01 to 1.05 vs. 0.15, -0.37 to 0.67, resp; P=0.40), however, total lymphocyte counts increased in SCT over the time from preseason to post-camp (PCONCLUSION: Despite major hematological differences due to SCT, very few changes occurred during the exhaustive, preseason camp and regular season at sea level

Effects of pH on Growth of Salvinia molesta Mitchell

Growth of giant salvinia ( Salvinia molesta Mitchell) under different pH regimes was examined at the Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility (LAERF) in Lewisville, Texas.(PDF has 5 pages.

The Role of Tax Treaties in Facilitating Development and Protecting the Tax Base

The amount of taxes paid by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in host and home countries continues to make headline news. Corporate tax regimes, particularly those in many OECD countries, have never been more complex and the competition to attract and retain foreign direct investment (FDI) has perhaps never been so great. All of these political, legal, economic and competitive realities face countries at a time when they need additional budget revenues. At the June 2012 G-20 Summit in Los Cabos, leaders identified base erosion and profit shifting as key fiscal issue to be addressed. Many are expecting this to translate into a new approach to applying existing international tax standards, an increased pressure to eliminate "corporate tax breaks", enact tougher anti-abuse provisions, and less tolerance of aggressive tax planning. There has been an increased critical focus on transfer pricing, corporate restructuring and double tax treaties. Some have suggested that double tax treaties are eroding the domestic tax bases of developing countries, while others conclude that double tax treaties promote development and FDI and thereby expand the tax base. Dividing up a "revenue pie" has never been easy and the implementation of international tax rules to transparently and predictably allocate revenue to avoid double taxation and double non taxation has never been more adversarial between taxpayers and tax authorities and between tax jurisdictions. It was for these reasons that the Global Tax Policy Center of the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law (Vienna University of Economics and Business) and the International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC) decided to undertake this study. The objective of our study was to look at the development impact of double taxation treaties and, more broadly, how tax policy can help generate economic growth and prosperity. Legally domestic tax laws are normally subordinate to international double taxation treaties, but in reality a double tax treaty only serves a country as well as its domestic tax regime. We've concluded that the problems affecting developing countries lie not with double tax treaties but rather in weak domestic tax legislation. Our study reviews empirical data from 20 developing countries, including LDCs, middle-to-high income developing countries, resource-rich countries, and BRIICS[1] countries. We hope that the empirical analysis and the conclusions that can be drawn from it can help guide policymakers to refocus their policy objectives to boost capital formation, expanding exports, and protect their domestic tax bases. We believe that a country with strong domestic tax legislation can advance their pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals by affectively utilizing double tax treaties and the related international tax rules to more transparently share and grow their tax base. (authors' abstract)Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Serie