DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTiON OF A LAW COST SMOKING MACHINE FOR TOBACCO SMOKE GENERATION AND DEMONSTRATION THE SMOKERS INTAKE

Consumption of tobacco products has been deteriorating human health for centuries. As a resulttobacco smoke research has been carried out to understand the health impact to the activesmokers as well as passive smokers. However no attempt has been made to evaluate theimplicating to Sri Lankan population presumably due to lack of research facilities and interest.This project was initiated to fill the existing voidInitial step of tobacco smoke research is the generation of tobacco smoke. Nearly all theresearches have employed standard smoking conditions prescribe by tobacco research councilusing a smoking maching to stimulate the smokers. Thus generated smoke for mainstream andside stream is collected separately to evaluate the health impact to active and passive smokersrespectively. In addition, the information generae j using standard conditions enable theresearches to compare their results with the others in interpreting the health consequences.Initiating the tobacco smoke research, our primary objective was to construct a smokingmachine, which is not commerciallyt available in Sri Lanka. A user-friendly smoking machinewas design and constructed for a cost of two thousand Sri Lankan rupees. Which is at least 50times less expensive than a foreign smoking machine. Yet it simulates the actual smokingconditions generate the mainstream and the side stream separately for the analysis.The constructed smoking maching also utilized to cemonstrates the intake of smoke and itsdeposition in the respiratory tract of a smoker. Here the mainstream smoke emitted from themarchine was directed through a transparent tube simulating the passage through the respiratorytract. This set up can be utilized in public awareness programmes to demote the smokingpractices among the Sri Lankan public. Reproducible smoke generation, ability to change thesmoking parameters and the low cost are some of the attractive features of the constructed multipurposesmoking machine.

Earnings Management Practice in UK Mergers and Acquisitions

This study investigates the earnings management phenomena in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) in the UK. The intention is to provide evidence of the occurrence of earnings management practices prior to the completion of the deal process among acquiring companies that issue shares as the purchase consideration, compared to those that use cash. In addition, the study examines the performance of the share acquirers against cash acquirers. The existing academic literature relating to ,earnings management in US and Australian M&A transactions appears to provide contradictory results. The existing literature for the UK has anaysed the M&A position from a number of perspectives and reported similar results. However, limited research has been carried out for UK M&A from an earnings management perspective. Therefore, this study attempts to bridge the gap by providing evidence of earnings management practice in M&A activities in the UK. By using the accrual model, the results are directly comparable with existing research studies for the US and Australia. The main earnings management detection method used is this study is a modified version of the Jones model developed by Dechow et al (1995). In addition to this, the study investigates detection of earnings management by looking at 'other' measures and attempts to explain the performance of these companies, using ratio analysis. A control sample that uses cash as the purchase consideration is derived to compare the effect of earnings management with that of the main sample that uses shares. The accounting and market data for each company are obtained from Datastream for the time period of 1999 to 2003. The transaction values and the method of payment are gathered from different sources: National Statistics Bureau, Journal Monthly Acquisition and Hemscott premium websites. The results obtained by using the modified Jones model and 'other' measures highlight a positive and statistically significant difference between the share and cash sample. It indicates that in the years prior to M&A, acquiring firms manage earnings upward. It can be argued therefore that, acquiring firms' use accounting procedures in an attempt to increase their stock price, prior to stock for stock merger or acquisition. In addition, ratio analysis reveals that, firms that offer stock significantly under-perform those offering cash. Supplied by The British Library - 'The world's knowledge

Dengue virus downregulates TNFR1- and TLR3-stimulated NF-kB activation by targeting RIPK1

Dengue virus (DENV) infection is the most prevalent arthropod-borne virus disease and is endemic in more than 100 countries. Several DENV proteins have been shown to target crucial human host proteins to evade innate immune responses and establish a productive infection. Here we report that the DENV NS3 protein targets RIPK1 (Receptor Interacting Protein Kinase I), a central mediator of inflammation and cell death, and decreases intracellular RIPK1 levels during DENV infection. The interaction of NS3 with RIPK1 results in the inhibition of NF-κB activation in response to TNFR or TLR3 stimulation. Also, we observed that the effects of NS3 on RIPK1 were independent of NS3 protease activity. Our data demonstrate a novel mechanism by which DENV suppresses normal cellular functions to evade host innate immune response

Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Apoptosis in Cumulus Cells of Type I Diabetic Mice

Impaired oocyte quality has been demonstrated in diabetic mice; however, the potential pathways by which maternal diabetes exerts its effects on the oocyte are poorly understood. Cumulus cells are in direct contact with the oocyte via gap junctions and provide essential nutrients to support oocyte development. In this study, we investigated the effects of maternal diabetes on the mitochondrial status in cumulus cells. We found an increased frequency of fragmented mitochondria, a decreased transmembrane potential and an aggregated distribution of mitochondria in cumulus cells from diabetic mice. Furthermore, while mitochondrial biogenesis in cumulus cells was induced by maternal diabetes, their metabolic function was disrupted as evidenced by lower ATP and citrate levels. Moreover, we present evidence suggesting that the mitochondrial impairments induced by maternal diabetes, at least in part, lead to cumulus cell apoptosis through the release of cytochrome c. Together the deleterious effects on cumulus cells may disrupt trophic and signaling interactions with the oocyte, contributing to oocyte incompetence and thus poor pregnancy outcomes in diabetic females

Effects of the redox state dependent second-sphere complexing agent lasalocid A anion on electron transfer energetics of ruthenium ammine complexes Hydrogen-bond mediated long-range electronic coupling in inorganic model systems

N