Interpreting and dismissing the relevance of the “wait and wipe” finding from the circumcision studies conducted in Africa

Some of the secondary findings from the circumcision studies conducted in Africa, are both interesting and difficult to explain. This paper focuses on the finding that uncircumcised men who waited for ten minutes after sexual intercourse and then wiped their penises using a dry cloth, had lower rates of HIV infection compared to those who cleaned using a wet cloth or those who cleaned within three minutes of having intercourse. The paper also focuses on the finding on men who became infected and yet they reported no sexual acts or 100% condom use. Interpretations that have been provided so far in trying to explain these two interesting findings are somewhat inadequate. Because of the inadequate interpretation that has been provided, anti-circumcision lobbyist are presenting the “wait and wipe strategy” as an alternative to circumcision for HIV prevention. In this paper, we argue that waiting for ten minutes and wiping with a dry cloth does not prevent men from becoming infected by HIV. We therefore attempt to present some alternative views.

The role of the Indian Ocean sector and sea surface salinity for prediction of the coupled Indo-Pacific system

The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the potential downstream influence of the Indian Ocean (IO) on El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) forecasts through the oceanic pathway of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF), atmospheric teleconnections between the IO and Pacific, and assimilation of IO observations. Also the impact of sea surface salinity (SSS) in the Indo-Pacific region is assessed to try to address known problems with operational coupled model precipitation forecasts. The ITF normally drains warm fresh water from the Pacific reducing the mixed layer depths (MLD). A shallower MLD amplifies large-scale oceanic Kelvin/Rossby waves thus giving ~10% larger response and more realistic ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) variability compared to observed when the ITF is open. In order to isolate the impact of the IO sector atmospheric teleconnections to ENSO, experiments are contrasted that selectively couple/decouple the interannual forcing in the IO. The interannual variability of IO SST forcing is responsible for 3 month lagged widespread downwelling in the Pacific, assisted by off-equatorial curl, leading to warmer NINO3 SST anomaly and improved ENSO validation (significant from 3-9 months). Isolating the impact of observations in the IO sector using regional assimilation identifies large-scale warming in the IO that acts to intensify the easterlies of the Walker circulation and increases pervasive upwelling across the Pacific, cooling the eastern Pacific, and improving ENSO validation (r ~ 0.05, RMS~0.08C). Lastly, the positive impact of more accurate fresh water forcing is demonstrated to address inadequate precipitation forecasts in operational coupled models. Aquarius SSS assimilation improves the mixed layer density and enhances mixing, setting off upwelling that eventually cools the eastern Pacific after 6 months, counteracting the pervasive warming of most coupled models and significantly improving ENSO validation from 5-11 months. In summary, the ITF oceanic pathway, the atmospheric teleconnection, the impact of observations in the IO, and improved Indo-Pacific SSS are all responsible for ENSO forecast improvements, and so each aspect of this study contributes to a better overall understanding of ENSO. Therefore, the upstream influence of the IO should be thought of as integral to the functioning of ENSO phenomenon.

Biobanks: Experience of the School of Medicine and the “Dr. José Eleuterio González” University Hospital of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León

Medical research has greatly beneited from molecular biology and increasingly relies on tools from the “omics” disciplines (mainly genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics). The availability of biological samples preserved with high quality standards is a sine qua non condition for such studies and their repositories are referred to as biobanks. Biobanks support the transportation, storage, preservation, and initial pathological and analytical examinations of biospecimens, as well as the protection of relevant information and the comparison of clinical and laboratory findings. A biobank facility is one of the most valuable tools the academic medicine organizations can offer to their researchers to improve the competitiveness of their current and future medical research. it acts as an essential bridge and an effective catalyst for research synergies between basic and clinical sciences, and it can be potentiated with efforts to raise funds for acquiring and maintaining cutting-edge analytical infrastructure to better serve its clinical, pharmaceutical and biotech clients.

Phytopharmacological and ethnomedicinal uses of the Genus Berberis (Berberidaceae): A review

Plants belonging to Berberis are reported in several folklore medicinal pharmacopeias and are used in traditional medicines in Asia and European countries. The plants have been used in the preparation of various traditional and synthetic medicines since pre-historic times for wound healing, fever, eye disease, jaundice, vomiting during pregnancy, rheumatism, kidney and gall balder stones, and several other illnesses. Their healing properties are appear to be due to the presence of secondary metabolites and important alkaloids with different pharmacological activities. Their antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-diabetic, and anti-tumor activities as well as positive effects on the cardiovascular and body immune systems have been reported. Root extracts of some species of the plant genus contain quinine which acts as a powerful anti-malarial agent. The main chemical constituents of Berberis plants are alkaloids, steroids, glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids and reducing sugars. Of these alkaloids, berberine is the most important. The present review focuses on recent advances in phytopharmacological and ethnomedicinal uses of plants belonging to Berberis genus.

Memory, image, matter: Trauma and acts of un-forgetting

How might we conceive of the role of memory as a non-representational mode of commemoration that reconstitutes and transforms lived experience? In this paper I will draw on aspects on Indigenous epistemology and apply conceptions of memory outlines in works of Edward Casey, Henri Bergson and others to consider how social and psychological effects of trauma are manifested through generations. An understanding of the relationship between images, memory and matter and of memory as a primarily eidetic and material process may also help to suggest how some people may be able to avoid or overcome trauma. As image production, art-making generates images that like memory, perform acts of "unforgetting" through which the past is returned as a presence that is materially apprehended. This process can both sustain and transform individual and collective histories. Central to this idea is the notion that, the structure of mind and of memory are co-extensive with the external world an that the articulation of consciousness is crucially dependent on space and place.

A novel non-peptidic agonist of the ghrelin receptor with orexigenic activity in vivo

Loss of appetite in the medically ill and ageing populations is a major health problem and a significant symptom in cachexia syndromes, which is the loss of muscle and fat mass. Ghrelin is a gut-derived hormone which can stimulate appetite. Herein we describe a novel, simple, non-peptidic, 2-pyridone which acts as a selective agonist for the ghrelin receptor (GHS-R1a). The small 2-pyridone demonstrated clear agonistic activity in both transfected human cells and mouse hypothalamic cells with endogenous GHS-R1a receptor expression. In vivo tests with the hit compound showed significant increased food intake following peripheral administration, which highlights the potent orexigenic effect of this novel GHS-R1a receptor ligand.

Engaging the ‘maximal’ intentions of the citizenship curriculum: one teacher’s story

Exploring how the transformative intentions within the mandated citizenship curriculum framework for English schools demand a particular kind of citizenship teacher – one who ‘acts against the grain’ of the inequities and injustices of the social world – this paper presents Mr C's story. Mr C is a secondary teacher at an Upper School located north of London. The paper considers the significance of his philosophies and knowledge in enabling practice aimed at developing students' socially inclusive but critical understandings of diversity and difference. Mr C's well‐defined personal philosophies about justice and the ‘common good’ and his capacity to translate these philosophies into practice are presented as central to mobilising the transformative or ‘maximal’ intentions of the citizenship curriculum. In highlighting the complexities and sophistication in Mr C's approach, however, the issues presented in this paper further strengthen the critique regarding the curriculum's depoliticised approach. While Mr C draws on the curriculum as a political device to support equity goals, it cannot be assumed that citizenship teachers more generally will have the requisite philosophies and knowledge necessary to do so.

The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association

Annually, the association publishes a journal, The Proceedings, which consists of papers presented at the annual meeting. The First Decade of the Charleston Library Society by Anne King Gregorie Chinese Exclusion Acts, 1880-1904 by Ruth Boyd – Newberry High School The Germans and the German-Swiss in South Carolina, 1732-1765: Their Contribution to the Province by Gilbert P. Voigt – Wittenberg College Some Unexploited Fields in South Carolina History by D. D. Wallace – Wofford College

Fifth Annual Report OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA PUBLIC SERVICE AUTHORITY TO THE ADVISORY BOARD AND Audit Report OF THE SANTEE-COOPER PROJECT July 1, 1939-June 30, 1940

The South Carolina Public Service Authority makes annual reports to the Advisory Board, reports are submitted to the General Assembly by the Governor, in which full information as to all of the Acts of said Board of Directors shall be given, together with financial statement and full information as to the work of the Authority.

Eighth Annual Report OF THE Board of Directors of the South Carolina Public Service Authority TO THE Advisory Board AND AUDIT REPORT OF THE Santee-Cooper project JULY 1, 1942-JUNE 30, 1943

The South Carolina Public Service Authority makes annual reports to the Advisory Board, which reports shall be submitted to the General Assembly by the Governor, in which full information as to all of the Acts of said Board of Directors shall be given, together with financial statement and full information as to the work of the Authority.

In Situ Observation of the Thermal Decomposition of Weddelite by Heating Stage Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy

The morphological and chemical changes occurring during the thermal decomposition of weddelite, CaC2O4·2H2O, have been followed in real time in a heating stage attached to an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope operating at a pressure of 2 Torr, with a heating rate of 10 °C/min and an equilibration time of approximately 10 min. The dehydration step around 120 °C and the loss of CO around 425 °C do not involve changes in morphology, but changes in the composition were observed. The final reaction of CaCO3 to CaO while evolving CO2 around 600 °C involved the formation of chains of very small oxide particles pseudomorphic to the original oxalate crystals. The change in chemical composition could only be observed after cooling the sample to 350 °C because of the effects of thermal radiation.

Thermal decomposition of the synthetic hydrotalcite iowaite

The thermal stability and thermal decomposition pathways for synthetic iowaite have been determined using thermogravimetry in conjunction with evolved gas mass spectrometry. Chemical analysis showed the formula of the synthesised iowaite to be Mg6.27Fe1.73(Cl)1.07(OH)16(CO3)0.336.1H2O and X-ray diffraction confirms the layered structure. Dehydration of the iowaite occurred at 35 and 79°C. Dehydroxylation occurred at 254 and 291°C. Both steps were associated with the loss of CO2. Hydrogen chloride gas was evolved in two steps at 368 and 434°C. The products of the thermal decomposition were MgO and a spinel MgFe2O4. Experimentally it was found to be difficult to eliminate CO2 from inclusion in the interlayer during the synthesis of the iowaite compound and in this way the synthesised iowaite resembled the natural mineral.