The Changing Attitudes in the World Oil Community

This paper will examine the process of reform, focusing on the actions of the oil producing states and the rationale for the recent acts of expropriation and nationalization. The role international law has played and is now playing will also be examined. Finally, the attitudes of the states in which the oil companies are incorporated will be analyzed. Special attention will be given to the United States

Mapping next generation sequence data with BWA (Burrows-Wheel Aligner) on Galaxy software

Advancement of next-generation sequencing technologies introduces a vast amount of data which has become a challenge for researchers to organize and sequence data sets. BWA (Burrows-Wheeler Aligner) is one of the widely used software for aligning and mapping sequencing data against a reference genome. In my thesis, I present a comprehensive guide for analyzing genome sequences using BWA. I discuss the various steps involved in the process, including gathering the data, preparing the reference genome, aligning the sequences, and processing the data to visualize the results

Analyzing prominent genes in Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL)

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type of childhood cancer. Leukemia is a type of cancer that involves the bone marrow and blood. This research study examined prominent genes in the disease. Two groups of genes, tumor suppressor and cell differentiation, were compared using statistical analysis to compare their binding potential and epigenetic potential. It is most likely that I failed to detect significant differences either because these genes’ function in the disease etiology is not strongly contexed to changes in expression, or that the magnitude of the differences were too slight to be detected with these methods. Childhood cancer is the number one cause of disease in children in the United States yet receives only 4% of funding per year. This lack of funding could potentially close the door on discovering new, safer treatments for children

Precise Control of Molecular Self-Diffusion in Isoreticular and Multivariate Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Understanding the factors that affect self-diffusion in isoreticular and multivariate (MTV) MOFs is key to their application in drug delivery, separations, and heterogeneous catalysis. Here, we measure the apparent self-diffusion of solvents saturated within the pores of large single crystals of MOF-5, IRMOF-3 (amino-functionalized MOF-5), and 17 MTV-MOF-5/IRMOF-3 materials at various mole fractions. We find that the apparent self-diffusion coefficient of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) may be tuned linearly between the diffusion coefficients of MOF-5 and IRMOF-3 as a function of the linker mole fraction. We compare a series of solvents at saturation in MOF-5 and IRMOF-3 to elucidate the mechanism by which the linker amino groups tune molecular diffusion. The ratio of the self-diffusion coefficients for solvents in MOF-5 to those in IRMOF-3 is similar across all solvents tested, regardless of solvent polarity. We conclude that average pore aperture, not solvent-linker chemical interactions, is the primary factor responsible for the different diffusion dynamics upon introduction of an amino group to the linker

Smart Flow Steering Agent for End-to-End Delay Improvement in Software-Defined Networks

لضمان الإستجابة للخطأ والإدارة الموزعة، يتم استخدام البروتوكولات الموزعة كأحد المفاهيم المعمارية الرئيسية التي تتضمنها شبكة الإنترنت. ومع ذلك، يمكن التغلب على عدم الكفاءة وعدم الاستقرار والقصور بمساعدة بنية الشبكات الجديدة التي تسمى الشبكات المعرفة بالبرمجيات SDN. الخاصية الرئيسية لهذه المعمارية هي فصل مستوى التحكم عن مستوى البيانات. إن تقليل التصادم سيؤدي إلى تحسين سرعة الإستجابة وزيادة البيانات المرسلة بصورة صحيحة، لهذا السبب يجب أن يكون هناك توزيع متجانس للحمل المروري عبر مسارات الشبكة المختلفة. تقدم هذه الورقة البحثية أداة توجيه ذكية SFSA لتوجيه تدفق البيانات بناءاً على ظروف الشبكة الحالية. لتحسين الإنتاجية وتقليل زمن الوصول، فإن الخوارزمية المقترحة SFSA تقوم بتوزيع حركة مرور البيانات داخل الشبكة على مسارات مناسبة ، بالإضافة إلى الإشراف على الإرتباطات التشعبية وحمل مسارات نقل البيانات. تم استخدام سيناريو خوارزمية توجيه شجرة الامتداد الدنياMST وأخرى مع خوارزمية التوجيه المعروفة بفتح أقصر مسار أولاً OSPF لتقييم جودة الخوارمية المقترحة SFSA . على سبيل المقارنة ، بالنسبة لخوارزميات التوجيه المذكروة آنفاً ، فقد حققت استراتيجيةSFSA المقترحة انخفاضاً بنسبة 2٪ في معدل ضياع حزم البيانات PDR ، وبنسبة تتراوح بين 15-45٪ في سرعة إستلام البيانات من المصدر إلى الالوجهة النهائية لحزمة البيانات وكذلك انخفاض بنسبة 23 ٪ في زمن رحلة ذهاب وعودة RTT . تم استخدام محاكي Mininet ووحدة التحكم POX لإجراء المحاكاة. ميزة أخرى من SFSA على MST و OSPF هي أن وقت التنفيذ والاسترداد لا يحمل تقلبات. يتقوم أداة التوجيه الذكية المقترحة في هذه الورقة البحثية من فتح أفقاً جديداً لنشر أدوات ذكية جديدة في شبكة SDN تعزز قابلية برمجة الشبكات وإدارتها .To ensure fault tolerance and distributed management, distributed protocols are employed as one of the major architectural concepts underlying the Internet. However, inefficiency, instability and fragility could be potentially overcome with the help of the novel networking architecture called software-defined networking (SDN). The main property of this architecture is the separation of the control and data planes. To reduce congestion and thus improve latency and throughput, there must be homogeneous distribution of the traffic load over the different network paths. This paper presents a smart flow steering agent (SFSA) for data flow routing based on current network conditions. To enhance throughput and minimize latency, the SFSA distributes network traffic to suitable paths, in addition to supervising link and path loads. A scenario with a minimum spanning tree (MST) routing algorithm and another with open shortest path first (OSPF) routing algorithms were employed to assess the SFSA. By comparison, to these two routing algorithms, the suggested SFSA strategy determined a reduction of 2% in packets dropped ratio (PDR), a reduction of 15-45% in end-to-end delay according to the traffic produced, as well as a reduction of 23% in round trip time (RTT). The Mininet emulator and POX controller were employed to conduct the simulation. Another advantage of the SFSA over the MST and OSPF is that its implementation and recovery time do not exhibit fluctuations. The smart flow steering agent will open a new horizon for deploying new smart agents in SDN that enhance network programmability and management

Adaptive chebyshev fusion of vegetation imagery based on SVM classifier

A novel adaptive image fusion method by using Chebyshev polynomial analysis (CPA), for applications in vegetation satellite imagery, is introduced in this paper. Fusion is a technique that enables the merging of two satellite cameras: panchromatic and multi-spectral, to produce higher quality satellite images to address agricurtural and vegetation issues such as soiling, floods and crop harvesting. Recent studies show Chebyshev polynomials to be effective in image fusion mainly in medium to high noise conditions, as per real-life satellite conditions. However, its application was limited to heuristics. In this research, we have proposed a way to adaptively select the optimal CPA parameters according to user specifications. Support vector machines (SVM) is used as a classifying tool to estimate the noise parameters, from which the appropriate CPA degree is utilised to perform image fusion according to a look-up table. Performance evaluation affirms the approach’s ability in reducing the computational complexity to perform fusion. Overall, adaptive CPA fusion is able to optimize an image fusion system’s resources and processing time. It therefore may be suitably incorporated onto real hardware for use on vegetation satellite imagery

Stomach versus heart: case report of a giant hiatal hernia with perforated gastric ulcer with obstructive shock

A giant paraesophageal hernia is defined when at least 30% of the stomach has moved to the thorax or the presence of another intra-abdominal organ.  We describe the presentation of a clinical case of a giant hiatal hernia with perforated gastric ulcer in a 52-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with pain in the inguinal region developing obstructive shock. Presentation of hiatal hernias is usually asymptomatic and in some cases with atypical signs and symptoms involving cardiovascular and respiratory disorders. In patients with a history of gastroesophageal reflux disease/ with atypical thoracic symptoms, hiatal hernia and its complications should be ruled out.

An immunohistochemical study of the distribution of p 16 protein in oral mucosa in smokers, non-smokers and in frictional keratosis

Objective: Our study aimed to characterize alteration in the immunohistochemical p16 expression in normal oral mucosa and non-neoplastic hyperproliferative disorders (i.e. frictional keratosis and mucosa from smokers). Study design: 43 specimen of oral mucosa were examined using immunohistochemistry. Results: In normal mucosa, there was strong positive nuclear staining in a proportion of fibroblasts and endothelial cells in the lamina propria, with variable expression in nuclei of the epithelial layer. However, when the patient?s tobacco smoking was examined, p16 nuclear staining in oral epithelium was seen in 4/20 (20%) of smokers and 0/23 (0%) of non-smokers. In every case of frictional keratosis (n=11), there was strong nuclear staining of some basal and supra-basal cells. In addition, there was strong nuclear staining of parakeratinizing squamous in a band above the spinous layer. In clinically normal oral epithelium of smokers and in frictional keratosis, basal and supra-basal cells expressed strong p16 nuclear staining which was absent in the control tissue examined. Conclusion: Our data suggest that p16 expression may be involved in the long-term loss of proliferation in cell senescence of oral mucosa

Immunohistochemical Expression of p53 in Pleomorphic Adenoma and Carcinoma Ex Pleomorphic Adenoma

Context. Immunohistochemical stains for p53 are used as a diagnostic marker associated with malignancy in several histologic types of salivary gland tumors. This marker may be useful in differentiating pleomorphic adenoma (PA) from carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (CPA), as these tumors are often difficult to distinguish on the basis of morphology alone. Objective. to evaluate whatever inactivation of tumor suppressor gene (p53) increases with the tumor progression from normal salivary tissue to PA and eventually CPA. Design. Paraffin blocks of 29 cases of PA, which were surrounded by normal parotid gland, and 27 cases of carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma were retrieved and validated. In all cases of carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma, a PA “ghost” was identified, and the malignant element was either undifferentiated carcinoma or adenocarcinoma. Results. The results showed negative nuclear expression of P53 in normal parotid gland. Nuclear P53 was expressed strongly in 6/29 (20.7%) pleomorphic salivary adenoma and 10/27 (37%) carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma. Conclusion. Our data suggest that inactivation of p53 may play an important role in the evolution of pleomorphic salivary adenoma and carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma

Assessing the association between unstimulated whole salivary flow rate (UWSFR) and oral health status among healthy adult subjects : a cross-sectional study

This study aimed to test the association between the unstimulated whole salivary flow rate (UWSFR) and the oral health status represented by dental and gingival status among healthy adult subjects. This work was a cross-sectional study of patients attending the undergraduate dental clinics at AlFarabi College for Dentistry and Nursing, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study population consisted of 502 systemically healthy adults aged 18?35 years. UWSFR was collected for all study participants and expressed as ml/min. Oral health status was estimated using the Community Periodontal Index (CPI) and the Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S). The number of decayed teeth and the number of available teeth were also calculated to evaluate dental status. The mean UWSFR was 0.42 (±0.3) ml/min, and the male participants significantly had more UWSFR than the females. UWSFR was significantly affected by CPI, OHI-S, body mass index (BMI) and gender as indicated in the univariate analysis. However, multiple regression analysis revealed that only gender was a significant predictor of UWSFR. The male subjects were shown to have a higher average of 0.133 ml/min than the females. High BMI scores, moderate-to-severe gingivitis and low level of oral hygiene increased UWSFR. However, further longitudinal studies are recommended to test the role of salivary cytokine levels to validate the exact association between the UWSFR and the oral health status