International Labor Migration: A Responsible Role for Business

Outlines trends in labor migration in international supply chains and proposes an action plan for businesses to raise awareness and engage with suppliers to protect foreign workers' rights. Includes a case study of the Philippine government's policies

Biodiesel: Tomorrow\u27s Fuel, Today\u27s Solution

Study of physical and chemical properties of biodiesel fuels derived from poultry and plant fats

Proteomic and Molecular Analysis of Methicillin Resistance and Selected Toxigenic genes in Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp From Food and Animal Sources.

While most coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CNS) are apathogenic, recent evidence suggests some food and animal derived CNS isolates may carry and express virulence factors including classical enterotoxins, toxic shock syndrome, and methicillin resistance genes. The present study was designed to assess the potential role of CNS in the epidemiology of foodborne illnesses and to determine the likelihood of food and domestic animals as transmission vehicles of methicillin resistance. Of the animal-derived food samples tested, 27.3% (39/143) were Staphylococcus-positive compared to only 9.5% (23/242) of the plant foods. A total of 92 Staphylococcus spp cultured from 385 food (62/92) and 30 diagnostic animal (30/92) samples were tested by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for classical enterotoxin (sea, seb, sec, sec/, and see), toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (tsst-1), and mecA genes. All PCR-positive isolates were further tested by immunoblotting for production of the corresponding toxin. Susceptibility patterns of both CNS and coagulase-positive Staphylococcus (CPS) were assessed for ~- lactam antimicrobial agents and the isolates analyzed for presence of the mecA gene. Of all study isolates, 20/92 (21.7%) were CPS and 72/92 (78.3%) CNS. Of the 20 CPS isolates, 15.4% (2/13) 5. aureus cultured from steak were sec positive while only 1/7 (14.3%) CPS (5. aureus) from a diagnostic feline sample was positive for both sec and tsst-1 genes. Both toxigenic 5. aureus isolates from steak and a diagnostic feline sample also expressed detectable amounts of SEC and TSST-1 toxins. On the other hand, 1.4% (1/49) of the CNS (5. lugdunensis) from strawberries was positive for the sec gene but negative for SEC toxin and 2/49 (2.8%) of the CNS (5. hominis) gave unexpected base pair PCR products with see primers. All CNS isolates were generally susceptible to test ~-lactam antimicrobial agents; 80% of the CPS isolates were resistant to penicillin and amoxicillin of which 1/20 (5%) were positive for the mecA gene. Based on this data, 3/20 (15%) of CPS and 3/72 (4.2%) of CNS isolates were positive for toxigenic genes thus underscoring the potential role food-derived CNS isolates may have in the epidemiology of foodborne illnesses. Although only 5% of the CPS and none of the study CNS isolates expressed mecA gene, 80% of the CPS were resistant to penicillin, suggesting other mechanisms of drug resistance. The presence of mecApositive CPS and toxin producing Staphylococcus isolates underscore the public health significance of organisms from this genus

Erotic Poetics: Love and the Function of US Literature from Melville to Modernism

The dissertation argues Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Jean Toomer, and Wallace Stevens belong to a genealogy of what I call “erotic poetics.” I use these terms to identify the common set of resources I believe these writers leave to the present. For this genealogy, “poetry”—from the Greek poesis (to make)—encompasses the expansive set of enterprises by which humans create and transform ourselves and our worlds in time. These writers also consider human love, or eros, a category worthy of attention when questions of self- and world-making are at stake. I argue the genealogy of “erotic poetics” develops a historical, material, and secular vision of human life grounded in these terms. I trace its continuities and ruptures by making observations about the language, formal innovations, and historical circumstances of several significant American novels and poems, including “Song of Myself,” Pierre; or the Ambiguities, and Cane. In each chapter, I turn these observations toward a set of contemporary challenges we face today in the US and elsewhere. These include democratic crises at home and abroad, the ecological disasters we associate with climate change, and the struggles for liberty that continue to take shape in opposition to an ongoing history of race violence in the US. The dissertation argues we can best approach these problems if we view human life in the ways the tradition of imaginative literary writing I identify offers. Although many critics have found in these writers’ works materials that support projects of mythic nationalism, I argue the tradition to which they belong also contains elements that destroy those projects. The dissertation identifies these elements and suggests they are of special value today. The genealogy gives us ways to challenge those who continue to insist humans should not interfere with the powerful and invisible forces many argue we cannot influence

Devaluation of Sucrose Caused by Social Instability Stress in Adolescent Male Long-Evans Rats in the Presence of an Unfamiliar Peer

Rats that undergo the Social Instability Stress procedure during adolescence (SS: daily 1-hour isolation + re-pairing with an unfamiliar cage partner for 16 days) display changes in reward-related behaviour. Specifically, SS rats spend less time in social interaction but more time in social approach compared to controls, indicative of an altered social repertoire; SS males also show increased aggression when competing for access to sweet substances. To investigate to what extent SS influences choice behaviour when social and sweet rewards are presented simultaneously, a Social Discounting test was conducted. The SS procedure was administered during either adolescence or adulthood to both male and female rats to investigate sex differences and to determine if SS effects were specific to administration during adolescence. Results showed that increasing concentrations of sucrose (0%, 2%, 5%, 10%) had no influence on time spent near a novel peer during the Social Discounting choice test, but rats drank less of 5% sucrose when in a social condition relative to when drinking alone. The only stress effect to emerge was in adolescent-stressed males tested immediately after the stress procedure; SS adolescent males spent significantly less time drinking sucrose overall compared to controls, indicative of a stress-induced anhedonia. The stress-induced devaluation of sucrose was not long-lasting as it was not found in adolescent males tested after a delay. Thus, Social Instability stress produces short-lasting behavioural changes in reward processing only in adolescent male rats

Analysis of Mathematical Models of the Human Lung

The processes of lung ventilation and perfusion, diffusion, and gas transport make up the system of breathing and tissue oxygenation. Here, we present several mathematical formulations of the essential processes that contribute to breathing. These models aid in our understanding and analysis of this complex system and can be used to form treatments for patients on ventilators. With the right analysis and treatment options, patients can be helped and money can be saved. We conclude with the formulation of a mathematical model for the exchange of gasses in the body based on basic reaction kinetics

Developing a mHealth-based portable ultrasound platform for breast cancer screening

Background Breast cancer is amongst the 10 most common cancers globally. The disease burden is increasing rapidly in Sub-Saharan African countries, where women living in rural and or remote areas are particularly prone to be diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. This is due to the limited availability of advanced screening and diagnostic options. Ultrasound is a feasible screening tool for breast cancer, due to its portability, affordability and accuracy. The integration of mHealth with portable ultrasound enables the provision of screening services in rural and remote areas, through electronic consultation by a non-specialist with a specialist for interpretation and reporting of the ultrasound results. This project developed an application for a mHealth-based portable ultrasound platform that could be used by a non-specialist to provide breast cancer screening services with remote specialist support. Methods A systematic review of the literature was conducted for the period of 2004 to 2019 to gather evidence on the use of mHealth-based portable ultrasound platforms for improved access to ultrasound services like breast cancer screening. The evidence from the literature was used to design and develop a prototype of an application for a mHealth-based portable ultrasound platform suitable for breast cancer screening. The prototype application was integrated with a mobile-based portable ultrasound from Philips Lumify. Images generated by scanning a phantom breast using the portable ultrasound were uploaded onto the application and downloaded from the application to demonstrate the concept. Results The systematic review showed only two clinical conditions (obstetrics and cardiovascular disease) which used a mHealth-based portable ultrasound platform. The outcomes from the studies showed improved access to the respective ultrasound services in terms of patient management, early detection, improved quality of care and increased patient attendance, which resulted in access to other services. The integration of the prototype application with a mobile-based portable ultrasound resulted into a mHealthbased portable ultrasound platform prototype intended for breast cancer screening. The ability to upload images onto the platform and download images from the platform satisfied the design requirements for the platform. Conclusion A mHealth-based portable ultrasound prototype was developed, which has potential for improving access to breast cancer screening services. Further research including testing of the application with health professionals and patients is recommended to strengthen the feasibility of the concept

An Applied Mathematics Approach to Modeling Inflammation: Hematopoietic Bone Marrow Stem Cells, Systemic Estrogen and Wound Healing and Gas Exchange in the Lungs and Body

Mathematical models apply to a multitude physiological processes and are used to make predictions and analyze outcomes of these processes. Specifically, in the medical field, a mathematical model uses a set of initial conditions that represents a physiological state as input and a set of parameter values are used to describe the interaction between variables being modeled. These models are used to analyze possible outcomes, and assist physicians in choosing the most appropriate treatment options for a particular situation. We aim to use mathematical modeling to analyze the dynamics of processes involved in the inflammatory process. First, we create a model of hematopoiesis, the processes of creating new blood cells. We analyze stem cell collection regimens and statistically sample parameter space in order to create a model accounts for the dynamics of multiple patients. Next, we modify an existing model of the wound healing response by introducing a variable for two inflammatory cell types. We analyze the timing of the inflammatory response and introduce the presence of systemic estrogen in the model, as there is evidence that the presence of estrogen leads to a more efficient wound healing response. Last, we mathematically model the gas exchange process in the lungs and body in order to lay the foundation for a model of the inflammatory response in the lung under conditions of mechanical ventilation. We introduce normal and ventilation breathing waveforms and a third state of hemoglobin in a closed loop partial differential equations model. We account for gas exchange in the lung and body compartments in addition to introducing a third discretized well-mixing compartment between the two. We use ordinary and partial differential equations to model these systems over one or more independent variables, as well as classical analysis techniques and computational methods to analyze systems. Statistical sampling is also used to investigate parameter values in order for the mathematical models developed to account for patient-to-patient variability. This alters the traditional mathematical model, which yields a single set of parameter values that represent one instance of the physiology, into a mathematical model that accounts for many different instances of physiology.