Pyrimido[1,2-a]-purin-10(3H)-one, M(1)G, is less prone to artifact than base oxidation

Pyrimido[1,2-a]-purin-10(3H)-one (M(1)G) is a secondary DNA damage product arising from primary reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage to membrane lipids or deoxyribose. The present study investigated conditions that might lead to artifactual formation or loss of M(1)G during DNA isolation. The addition of antioxidants, DNA isolation at low temperature or non-phenol extraction methods had no statistically significant effect on the number of M(1)G adducts measured in either control or positive control tissue samples. The number of M(1)G adducts in nuclear DNA isolated from brain, liver, kidney, pancreas, lung and heart of control male rats were 0.8, 1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 1.8 and 4.2 M(1)G/10(8) nt, respectively. In rat liver tissue, the mitochondrial DNA contained a 2-fold greater number of M(1)G adducts compared with nuclear DNA. Overall, the results from this study demonstrated that measuring M(1)G is a reliable way to assess oxidative DNA damage because the number of M(1)G adducts is significantly affected by the amount of ROS production, but not by DNA isolation procedures. In addition, this study confirmed that the background number of M(1)G adducts reported in genomic DNA could have been overestimated by one to three orders of magnitude in previous reports

Administration of Insulin by Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90356/1/j.1875-9114.1993.tb04306.x.pd

Audit Firm Rotation Concerns And Considerations

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued a concept release in 2011 which proposes a mandatory audit firm rotation. However, PCAOB indicates that there is a limited amount of empirical data and research evidence on the potential costs and benefits of such mandatory audit firm rotation. This study provides some empirical evidences related to PCAOBs concerns. Specifically, we find that the largest clients audited by Big 4 accounting firms have few material internal control weaknesses and accounting restatements. In addition, accounting restatements are often reported within four years after the beginning of accounting errors and are reported by the same auditor during the restatement period. These findings cast doubt on the benefit of mandatory audit firm rotation. We also find that the largest audit clients on average represent over 20% of the audit revenues of local offices of Big 4 accounting firms. Thus, mandatory audit firm rotations could significantly disrupt the normal operations of public accounting firms if audit clients are required to change auditors periodically

Desarrollo de productos no convencionales a partir de café y de sus subproductos

Proyecto de Investigación (Código 540214312001) Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica. Escuela de Ingeniería Agropecuaria Administrativa, Escuela de Química, 2009Costa Rica es un país de tradición agrícola, y entre sus productos de exportación, se ha destacado el café, el cual goza de una alta estima a nivel internacional, basada sobre todo en su calidad. No obstante, los precios de nuestro grano de oro dependen de situaciones internacionales como oferta, consumo, costo de mano de obra, climas, etc. Nuestro café es además exportado en grano, dándose la torrefacción y otras transformaciones fuera de nuestras fronteras. Como en la mayoría de las agroindustrias, la actividad cafetalera genera un desecho de difícil manejo y alta perecibilidad. Los problemas de manejo y contaminación ambiental generados por la pulpa de café, estimada en la cosecha 2007-2008 en 1,6 millones de fanegas, no ha encontrado una solución satisfactoria y continúa siendo uno de los principales problemas a resolver por aquellas personas, empresas e instituciones involucradas en la actividad cafetalera. Producto de una preocupación ante la problemática planteada, INFOCOOP (Instituto Nacional de Fomento Cooperativo) se acercó al ITCR (Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica) en busca de soluciones y se generó el presente proyecto, cuyo objetivo general fue “Desarrollar productos no tradicionales derivados del café y de sus subproductos con el fin de ofrecer al sector cafetalero nuevas alternativas que den valor agregado a su producción”. En él participan como escuelas ejecutoras las de Química y la de Ingeniería en Administración Agropecuaria. Los representantes de los beneficiarios del proyecto, decidieron iniciar con el desarrollo de productos en las áreas de confitería y de fermentación. Considerando las familias asociadas a las cooperativas cafetaleras, y los empleos indirectos que la puesta en marcha de medianas empresas productoras de confites, jarabes, vinos y licores de café puede implicar, el número asciende a la suma de 635616 costarricenses (cálculo estimado por los investigadores, a partir de información suministrada por INFOCOOP y por ICAFÉ). Ante un atraso de más de dos años en la entrega del equipo ofrecido por INFOCOOP para el desarrollo del producto, los investigadores del ITCR debieron iniciar una etapa a nivel artesanal, cuyos resultados son los que se presentan en este informe.Instituto del Caf

Firm Performance Following Auditor Changes For Audit Fee Savings

This study examines stock and earnings performance subsequent to auditor changes by firms specifically for audit fees savings without any other apparent regulatory or disclosure issues. Results show that there is mild evidence of positive stock return and earnings performance after changing auditors. There is also no significant difference in company performance among different types of auditor changes when looking at auditor changes among and between Big 4 and non-Big 4 auditors. Finally, we find that the positive firm performance is mainly among auditor changes made before 2003

An Evaluation of High School Students' Change in Knowledge and Preferences towards Seafood through Education

Aquaculture and wild-caught seafood contribute to the global seafood demand, but ocean resources have exceeded a sustainable yield. To promote a sustainable future, we must educate adolescent seafood consumers on factors that have the greatest impact in driving consumption preferences. Targeting adolescents can make a difference in their present food habits and lead to conscious consumers in the future. A pre- and post-survey was developed to assess high school students' knowledge and preference for aquaculture versus wild-caught seafood before and after the implementation of an educational program. The educational program, A.Q.U.A. (A Quest to Understand Aquaculture) was developed by the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA) covering five lessons. Survey responses were collected from three high schools across the island of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. Using a mental model analysis, education was found to be effective at increasing the knowledge of aquaculture and the preference for aquaculture seafood based on all four factors: ‘taste’, ‘environmental impact’, ‘health concerns’, and ‘what they eat at home’. Using analysis of variance tests, schools were found to have a significant impact on the change in knowledge of aquaculture. The study provides useful information needed to implement an effective education program into school curricula to enhance students' knowledge and promote conscious consumption for the benefit of a sustainable future. Keywords: aquaculture seafood, wild-caught seafood, education, consumption preferences, dietary behaviors DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-34-01 Publication date: December 31st 202

Flora bacteriana aerobia y anaerobia mesófila presente en los sedimentos de un humedal natural de la Universidad EARTH

Proyecto de Graduación (Bachillerato en Ingeniería en Biotecnología). Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Escuela de Biología, 2005.Dentro de la gran cantidad de ambientes de humedal que existen, los humedales dulceacuícolas se encuentran entre los ecosistemas más productivos de la tierra, por su función vinculada a la aportación de agua y a la productividad primaria de la que dependen las especies silvestres. Estos ecosistemas desempeñan algunas funciones vitales para la sociedad, siendo la principal en este caso, la purificación de las aguas mediante la retención de los nutrientes, los sedimentos y los contaminantes. Debido a la reconocida importancia de las bacterias en los procesos de depuración de las aguas, la Universidad EARTH por medio de la presente investigación exploratoria pretende dar a conocer los grupos de las comunidades de bacterias, que se pueden cultivar y están presentes en los sedimentos del humedal natural “La Reserva”. Para lograr lo anterior, se hizo uso de la metodología de ecología microbiana, aislando las bacterias que crecían en los medios: agar sangre, MacConkey y Cetrimida, para luego ser identificados con las pruebas Bioquímicas: API®. Entre los géneros aerobios identificados en este estudio se encontraron: Acinetobacter, Alcaligenes, Burkolderia, Comamonas, Chryseobacterium, Chryseomonas, Flavimonas, Moraxella, Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, Bordetella, Ochrobactrum, Oligella y Shingomonas. Además se identificaron bacterias aaerobias facultativas, de los géneros Aeromonas, Citrobacter, Chromobacterium, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Ewingella, Klebsiella, Moellerella, Pantoea, Pasteurella, Providencia, Serratia. Y por último se logró la identificación de bacterias anaerobias de los grupos: Bacteroides, Prevotella, Porphyromonas, Fusobacterium, Streptococcus, Clostridium, Actinomyces, Propionibacterium, Eubacterium y Lactobacillus. Algunas de las especies aisladas son consideradas perjudiciales para el hombre, sin embargo, la mayoría de las bacterias son benéficas para el ambiente, ya que tienen la capacidad de transformar una gran variedad de contaminantes inorgánicos y orgánicos en minerales inocuos, que pueden ser reciclados al medio ambiente y de esa forma mantener el equilibrio de la naturaleza. En cuanto a los recuentos de las bacterias anaerobias y aerobias presentes variaban constantemente entre los sitios de entrada, parte media y salida del humedal. De manera general los recuentos en el primer muestreo fueron los más altos, y se obtuvo un mayor recuento de bacterias anaerobias en el segundo y tercer muestre

Optimizing Survivorship Care Services for Asian Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors: A Qualitative Study.

Purpose: With an increasing focus on developing survivorship services tailored for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors, incorporation of viewpoints from both survivors and health care professionals (HCPs) is important. This study aims to explore the perceptions of current and prospective survivorship services from both groups in Singapore to propose service design and delivery strategies. Methods: Focus group discussions with 23 AYA cancer survivors between the ages of 16 and 39 years at diagnosis and 18 HCPs were conducted in National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and Singapore Cancer Society (SCS). All focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim. Deductive thematic analysis was performed according to the components of a design thinking model: empathizing with AYA survivors, defining care gaps, proposing services, and implementation strategies. Results: AYA survivors preferred age-specific services that are aligned with their personal goals. Current survivorship care failed to address the needs of survivors' dependents (caregivers and children) and to consider the utility of each service temporally. Prospective services should clarify disease disclosure obligation in job search and introduce a care navigator. Key implementation strategies included (1) training HCPs on communication techniques with AYA, (2) selecting engagement platforms that complement survivors' information-seeking behavior, (3) improving outreach to survivors through appropriate branding and publicity, and (4) consolidating services from multiple providers. Conclusions: The design of survivorship care services for AYA survivors should be systematic in its conceptualization process and employ implementation strategies. The coordination of the wide spectrum of services warrants a concerted effort by cancer centers, community partners, and the government