Marital violence and sexually transmitted infections among women in post-revolution Egypt.

To explore the relationship between past year physical or sexual partner violence against women and women's self-report of sexually transmitted infection (STI) symptoms in post-revolution Egypt; and to examine the effects of men's and women's risky sexual behavioural characteristics and structural dimensions of poverty and gender inequality on this relationship. This study uses the nationally representative cross-sectional demographic and health survey data conducted in 2014. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between past year partner violence and self-report of STI symptoms among currently married women. women's self-report of STI was based on their responses to three questions; whether in the past year they had: got a disease through sexual contact?, a genital sore or ulcer?, or a bad smelling abnormal genital discharge? Women who gave an affirmative response to one or more of these questions were assumed to self-report STI. Almost one-third of women self-reported symptoms of STI. Fourteen percent of women reported they had experienced physical or sexual violence by a male partner in the past 12months. Abused women had a 2.76 times higher odds of self-reported STI symptoms (95% CI 2.25-3.38). The significant relationship between self-reported STI and past year partner violence against women did not alter when adjusting for men's and women's behavioural characteristics and factors related to poverty and gender inequality. Public health interventions that address women's sexual and reproductive health need to consider violence response and prevention strategies

Emergence of best security systems for libraries: RFID

The state-of-art technology for library theft detection is RFID which is now mostly introduced and used by many library and information centres. It is a combination of radio-frequency-based technology and microchip technology to be utilized. It uses radio waves to identify individual items automatically and can be used any where that needed a unique identification. In this paper we present about various components of RFID, operations, advantages and essential requirements

Near-Optimal Complexity Bounds for Fragments of the Skolem Problem

Given a linear recurrence sequence (LRS), specified using the initial conditions and the recurrence relation, the Skolem problem asks if zero ever occurs in the infinite sequence generated by the LRS. Despite active research over last few decades, its decidability is known only for a few restricted subclasses, by either restricting the order of the LRS (upto 4) or by restricting the structure of the LRS (e.g., roots of its characteristic polynomial). In this paper, we identify a subclass of LRS of arbitrary order for which the Skolem problem is easy, namely LRS all of whose characteristic roots are (possibly complex) roots of real algebraic numbers, i.e., roots satisfying x^d = r for r real algebraic. We show that for this subclass, the Skolem problem can be solved in NP^RP. As a byproduct, we implicitly obtain effective bounds on the zero set of the LRS for this subclass. While prior works in this area often exploit deep results from algebraic and transcendental number theory to get such effective results, our techniques are primarily algorithmic and use linear algebra and Galois theory. We also complement our upper bounds with a NP lower bound for the Skolem problem via a new direct reduction from 3-CNF-SAT, matching the best known lower bounds

Variation Aware Placement for Efficient Key Generation using Physically Unclonable Functions in Reconfigurable Systems

With the importance of data security at its peak today, many reconfigurable systems are used to provide security. This protection is often provided by FPGA-based encrypt/decrypt cores secured with secret keys. Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) use random manufacturing variations to generate outputs that can be used in keys. These outputs are specific to a chip and can be used to create device-tied secret keys. Due to reliability issues with PUFs, key generation with PUFs typically requires error correction techniques. This can result in substantial hardware costs. Thus, the total cost of a $n$-bit key far exceeds just the cost of producing $n$ bits of PUF output. To tackle this problem, we propose the use of variation aware intra-FPGA PUF placement to reduce the area cost of PUF-based keys on FPGAs. We show that placing PUF instances according to the random variations of each chip instance reduces the bit error rate of the PUFs and the overall resources required to generate the key. Our approach has been demonstrated on a Xilinx Zynq-7000 programmable SoC using FPGA specific PUFs with code-offset error correction based on BCH codes. The approach is applicable to any PUF-based system implemented in reconfigurable logic. To evaluate our approach, we first analyze the key metrics of a PUF - reliability and uniqueness. Reliability is related to bit error rate, an important parameter with respect to error correction. In order to generate reliable results from the PUFs, a total of four ZedBoards containing FPGAs are used in our approach. We quantify the effectiveness of our approach by implementing the same key generation scheme using variation-aware and default placement, and show the resources saved by our approach

The Role of Fat Grafting and Adipose-Derived Stem Cells in Breast Reconstruction

Fat grafting is a common surgical procedure that involves the transfer of fat from one area of the body to another in order to improve contour deformities, such as in breast reconstruction. Advantages of the technique include using autologous tissue rather than a foreign body and the added benefit of having liposuction to remove fat from an undesirable location. Although adipose tissue could be the ideal soft tissue filler, fat grafting is plagued by tremendous variability in long-term retention, with volume survival rates of 20-80%, resulting in suboptimal outcomes and repetitive procedures. The mechanisms contributing to long-term fat graft survival and resorption are not well understood. The discovery of multipotent mesenchymal adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) in subcutaneous adipose tissue has encouraged the study of their role in fat graft survival. ASCs are observed to survive after grafting, and in fact play a major role in adipocyte survival, regeneration and differentiation through adipogenesis and paracrine effects. In fact, lipoaspirate supplemented with ASCs has been shown to improve angiogenesis and long-term graft retention through the release of factors. Many adipose graft enrichment strategies encompassing growth factors, platelet-rich plasma, stem cells, gene therapy and tissue engineering have been attempted to augment and improve the viability of fat grafts. Therefore, a systematic review was undertaken to optimize safety and outcomes related to these enrichment strategies. Recently, concerns have been raised from several regulatory bodies, including the FDA, regarding safety of fat grafting in the setting of breast reconstruction. ASCs within lipoaspirate have been postulated to create an inflammatory tumor microenvironment, to encourage angiogenesis, and to potentially contribute to tumorigenesis. Therefore, a review of both local data and a systematic review was undertaken to determine oncological outcomes of fat grafting to the breast. Finally, we test the hypothesis that ASCs derived from obese donors exhibit compromised ASC functionality, leading to reduced fat graft retention when compared to non-obese subjects. Collectively, the studies that comprise this dissertation generate and critically appraise evidence for the safety, efficacy and outcomes of fat grafting in the setting of breast reconstruction

Social protection interventions to attain sustainable development goal one in South Africa

Abstract: The article reviews social protection interventions in South Africa to determine how they give effect to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Of particular interest is SDG One, which targets the alleviation of poverty. South Africa lags behind in terms of achieving the targets of SDG One, and therefore invests hugely in social protection interventions aimed at fighting poverty. The aim of this article is to answer the question, “What is the role that social protection interventions in South Africa play in attaining sustainable development?” The findings explore that social protection requires state-led interventions to improve citizens’ welfare. A qualitative conceptual and documentary literature analysis was used as the research methodology, where a qualitative description of findings focuses on themes that emerged from the literature review and was conceptualised by way of unobtrusive research techniques. The article recommends that social protection interventions be prioritised in public policy implementation in pursuance of sustainable development

Evidence of Songbird Intoxication From Rozol Application at a Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colony

Concerns about avian poisonings from anticoagulant rodenticides have traditionally focused on secondary poisoning of raptors exposed by feeding on contaminated mammalian prey. However, ground foraging songbirds can be directly poisoned from operational applications of the anticoagulant rodenticide RozolH (0.005% chlorophacinone, active ingredient) applied as a grain bait, at black-tailed prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus colonies. A dead western meadowlark Sturnella neglecta recovered from the study prairie dog colony displayed hemorrhaging in brain and pectoral muscle tissue, and it contained chlorophacinone residue concentrations of 0.59 and 0.49 mg/g (wet weight) in the liver and intestinal contents, respectively. Chlorophacinone residues from two Rozol-colored songbird droppings found at the study colony were 0.09 and 0.46 mg/g (wet weight). The timing of the meadowlark mortality and the occurrence of discolored droppings show that songbird exposure and poisoning can occur weeks after a Rozol application

How do area-level socioeconomic status and gender norms affect partner violence against women? Evidence from Tanzania.

: To explore how area-level socioeconomic status and gender-related norms influence partner violence against women in Tanzania. : We analysed data from the 2010 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey and used multilevel logistic regression to estimate individual and community-level effects on women's risk of current partner violence. : Prevalence of current partner violence was 36.1 %; however, variation in prevalence exists across communities. Twenty-nine percent of the variation in the logodds of partner violence is due to community-level influences. When adjusting for individual-level characteristics, this variation falls to 10 % and falls further to 8 % when adjusting for additional community-level factors. Higher levels of women's acceptance towards wife beating, male unemployment, and years of schooling among men were associated with higher risk of partner violence; however, higher levels of women in paid work were associated with lower risk. : Area-level poverty and inequitable gender norms were associated with higher risk of partner violence. Empowerment strategies along with addressing social attitudes are likely to achieve reductions in rates of partner violence against women in Tanzania and in other similar low-income country settings.<br/

EMULSOMES FOR LIPOPHILIC ANTICANCER DRUG DELIVERY: DEVELOPMENT, OPTIMIZATION AND IN VITRO DRUG RELEASE KINETIC STUDY

Objective: The objective of the present study was to formulate and characterize paclitaxel (Ptx) loaded sterically stabilized emulsomes to provide non-toxic and biocompatible carriers with high Ptx loading efficiency. Methods: Plain (P-Es) and sterically stabilized emulsomes (SS-Es) were prepared by a modified solvent evaporation method using tristearin as solid lipid and optimized for lipid to (DSPC+CHOL+DSPE-PEG)/ tristearin ratio, lipid/lipid-PEG (DSPC+CHOL/DSPE-PEG) molar ratio, solid lipid concentration, phospholipid concentration, organic to aqueous phase volume and homogenization time based on their effect particle size and entrapment efficiency. Optimized emulsomes were characterized for morphological features, in vitro drug release kinetics and protection from plasma protein. Results: The emulsomes so formed were uniform in size with a mean particle diameter of 275±5.52 and 195±6.4 nm for P-Es and SS-Es respectively. All the formulations showed pH dependent drug release with a slow and sustained release profile. Slower drug release was observed from sterically stabilized emulsomes than the plain emulsomes. The drug release profile followed the Higuchi model with the Fickian diffusion pattern. The Pegylation of emulsomes significantly reduced the in vitro protein absorption. Conclusion: The sterically stabilized emulsome can serve as a novel non-toxic platform with longer circulatory time for the delivery of Paclitaxel and other poorly water-soluble drugs as well