The Catch-22 in Prison Privatization: The Problem with the Solution

A step into just about any state prison in the United States reveals an institution plagued by over-population, with just about every prison running at more than 100% capacity. The problem, of course, is not new but one that has received great attention. In the past decade or so the solution has been privatization of state prisons. Proponents of privatization have pushed forth the idea that private institutions are the solution to prison overcrowding. However, by looking to for-profit private institutions as a means to resolving the problems of the penal system, are legislators in fact ensuring that the problems continue? This article will show that there is indeed a “Catch-22.” Prison privatization is the solution to a problem, which if solved would render the need for privatization obsolete. Thus, if private institutions actually solved the prison population crisis there would be no need for privatization and no profits. The end result is that the privatization industry works to ensure the penal system’s problems continue and that they, the private companies, continue to exist as the solution

Some water quality parameters and zooplankton periodicity of the Baga in-take channel of Lake Chad

Assessment of some water quality parameters and zooplankton periodicity of the Baga in-take channel of Lake Chad was reviewed. Seven different species of zooplankton were identified at the two sampling stations of the channel. Each identified zooplankton species were grouped according to its major group of Copepods, Cladocera and Rotifera. The copepods dominated the total population with the highest number of occurrence as Cyc1opoids species. There was a mark evidence of organic manure nutrient on total zooplankton population. Surface water temperature in station 1 ranged from 22.8-28. 1degreesC the pH ranged from 6.10 - 7.12 while D.O ranges from 4.00mg/1 -6.20 mg/I. At station 2, temp ranged from 22.0-28.1 OdegreesC, pH ranged 7.1 - 8.6 while D.O. ranged from 4.00mg/1 - 6.20mg/1

Ethnic Association in Primary Systemic Vasculitis: A Systematic Review

Background: Literature described wide disparities in incidence and prevalence between different types of vasculitis. There were no comprehensive studies on ethnic or racial associations in all types of primary systemic vasculitis (PSV) in any published article, until this review commenced in 2020. The purpose of the review is to synthesize the evidence regarding the relation of ethnicity and the incidence and/or prevalence of different types of PSV. Methods: A total of 52 selected articles which include Clinical trials, cohorts, cross-sectional studies, case series, and case studies and have been published within the last 10 years in the human population, were reviewed by searching The Medline, PubMed, and Google Scholars databases using predefined keywords. The PRISMA diagrams were followed to identify relevant articles. The methodological qualities of the studies were assessed using the EPHPP tool. Finally, a summary of the evidence on the association between ethnic origin and PSV was painstakingly compiled. Results: The connection between ethnicity and different types of PSV has been found to be significantly diverse in this research such as vasculitis is more common in Asians and Scandinavians, Kawasaki disease and periarteritis nodules are more prevalent in Japanese and Alaska-natives, ANCA-associated vasculitis is more frequent in Caucasians, whereas Henoch-Schonlein purpura and Cogan syndrome more usual in Caucasians and Asians. Furthermore, Behçet's disease more commonly occurs on the "Silk Road", especially in Turkey. Conclusion: Genetic susceptibility and environmental elements could be the contributing factors to the global variation in the incidence and prevalence of primary systemic vasculitis

Combined application of foliar fertilizer with basal NPK enhances mulberry leaf yield and silkworm cocoon productivity in calcareous soil

One of the reason of low Mulberry plant (Morus spp.) production in calcareous soils is due to the low efficiency of soil applied fertilizers. Thus, in search of an alternative efficient fertilizer application method, field experiments were conducted at Bangladesh Sericulture Research and Training Institute (BSTRI), Rajshahi, Bangladesh in consecutive two years for achieving higher productivity of mulberry leaf and silkworm cocoon, Bombyx mori L. Four fertilizer management practices such as Control, Basal, Basal + Urea (B+U) and Basal + Foliar fertilizer (FF) were followed for mulberry plant production. Result showed that 3 times FF spray with basal application of NPK (305 kg N, 105 kg K and 66 kg P ha-1 yr-1 in 4 splits doses enhances biochemical constituents in mulberry leaf, leaf yield, silkworm growth as well as cocoon parameters. This study concluded that this treatment was regarded as the best fertilizer management practice which increased the mulberry leaf and cocoon productivity by 17.0 and 52.8 %, respectively over the control. Leaf quality of mulberry in terms of moisture, crude protein, soluble carbohydrate, reducing sugar and total mineral was increased by 14.0, 57.6, 85.8, 140.4 and 60.5 %, respectively in comparison with the control. Thus, foliar spray of foliar fertilizer had a good impact on sericultural productivity

Digitally programmable grounded capacitor oscillators usingoperational amplifier poles

New simple sinusoidal oscillator circuits are proposed. Each circuit uses an internally compensated operational amplifier, a resistor and a capacitor. The feasibility of obtaining digitally programmable sinusoidal oscillation is studied and a new digitally programmable capacitorless resistorless sinusoidal oscillator is develope

Digitally programmable grounded capacitor oscillators usingoperational amplifier poles

New simple sinusoidal oscillator circuits are proposed. Each circuit uses an internally compensated operational amplifier, a resistor and a capacitor. The feasibility of obtaining digitally programmable sinusoidal oscillation is studied and a new digitally programmable capacitorless resistorless sinusoidal oscillator is develope

Pharmacological, nutritional and antimicrobial uses of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaves in poultry nutrition: An updated knowledge

Recently, developing countries have focused on using innovative feed in poultry nutrition. The plant Moringa oleifera is native to India but grows worldwide in tropical and subtropical climates. Moringa is planted on a large scale as it can tolerate severe dry and cold conditions. All parts of this plant can be used for commercial or nutritional purposes, and it has a favorable nutritional profile. Beneficial phytochemicals, minerals, and vitamins are abundant in the leaves. The leaf extracts can be used to treat malnutrition; they also possess anticancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Further, moringa contains antinutritional substances, such as trypsin inhibitors, phytates, tannins, oxalates, cyanide, and saponins, which have a harmful effect on mineral and protein metabolism. Previous research suggested that including moringa in chicken diets boosts their growth and productivity. Therefore, this review focuses on the characterization and application of M. oleifera in poultry nutrition and its potential toxicity. Furthermore, we discuss the nutritional content, phytochemicals, and antioxidants of M. oleifera leaf meal and its applicability in poultry rations

Pathogenicity of three genetically distinct and highly pathogenic Egyptian H5N8 avian influenza viruses in chickens

In late 2016, Egypt encountered multiple cases of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus of the H5N8 subtype. In a previous study, three distinct genotypes, including A/common-coot/Egypt/CA285/2016 (H5N8) (CA285), A/duck/Egypt/SS19/2017 (H5N8) (SS19), and A/duck/Egypt/F446/2017 (H5N8) (F446), were isolated from wild birds, a backyard, and a commercial farm, respectively, during the first wave of infection. In this current study, we investigated the differences in the pathogenicity, replication and transmissibility of the three genotypes and A/chicken/Egypt/15S75/2015 (H5N1) (S75) was used as the control. The intravenous pathogenicity index was between 2.68 and 2.9. The chicken lethal dose 50 values of F446, SS19 and CA285 were 103.7, 103.7, an 104 with a natural route of infection, respectively. These strains took longer than S75 to cause death when infection was carried out through the natural route (HPAI H5N1). After inoculation with the original concentration of 105 and 106 egg infective dose 50 (EID50), F446 had a higher mortality rate with short mean death times of 4, and 7 days, respectively compared with the other H5N8 viruses. Chickens inoculated with F446 and contacted exposed chickens infected with F446 showed the highest viral titer with remarkable differences in all H5N8 tested swabs at 2-4 days postinfection (dpi) compared to S75 at 2 dpi. This indicates that F446 had a more efficient transmission and spread from contact exposed birds to other birds. All H5N8 viruses were able to replicate systematically in all organs (trachea, brain, lung, and spleen) of the chicken with high viral titer with significantly different and more pathological changes observed in F446 than in other H5N8 viruses at 2 and 4 dpi. Compared with H5N1, we recorded a significantly high viral titer in the samples obtained from the lung, brain and both cloacal and tracheal swabs at 2 and 4 dpi, respectively and in the samples obtained from the spleen at 2 and 4 dpi among the experimental chicken. The comparative pathogenesis study revealed that in comparison with the other HPAI H5N8 viruses, the genotype F446 was more pathogenic, and showed more efficient viral replication and transmissibility in chickens in Egypt. The genotype F446 also showed a high viral titer than HPAI H5N1 and short mean death time at the third day after inoculation with 106 and 105 EID50, which revealed a conservation of certain H5N8 genotypes and a decrease in the incidence of H5N1

Epidermis recreation in spongy-like hydrogels: New opportunities to explore epidermis-like analogues

[Excerpt] On the road to successfully achieving skin regeneration, 3D matrices/scaffolds that provide the adequate physico-chemical and biological cues to recreate the ideal healing environment are believed to be a key element [1], [2] and [3]. Numerous polymeric matrices derived from both natural [4] and [5] and synthetic [6], [7] and [8] sources have been used as cellular supports; nowadays, fewer matrices are simple carriers, and more and more are ECM analogues that can actively participate in the healing process. Therefore, the attractive characteristics of hydrogels, such as high water content, tunable elasticity and facilitated mass transportation, have made them excellent materials to mimic cells’ native environment [9]. Moreover, their hygroscopic nature [10] and possibility of attaining soft tissues-like mechanical properties mean they have potential for exploitation as wound healing promoters [11], [12], [13] and [14]. Nonetheless, hydrogels lack natural cell adhesion sites [15], which limits the maximization of their potential in the recreation of the cell niche. This issue has been tackled through the use of a range of sophisticated approaches to decorate the hydrogels with adhesion sequences such as arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) derived from fibronectin [16], [17] and [18], and tyrosine-isoleucine-glycine-serine-arginine (YIGSR) derived from laminin [18] and [19], which not only aim to modulate cell adhesion, but also influencing cell fate and survival [18]. Nonetheless, its widespread use is still limited by significant costs associated with the use of recombinant bioactive molecules