Enhanced bio-decolourisation of acid orange 7 by Shewanella oneidensis through co-metabolism in a microbial fuel cell

The decolourisation of acid orange 7 (AO7) (C.I.15510) through co-metabolism in a microbial fuel cell by Shewanella oneidensis strain 14063 was investigated with respect to the kinetics of decolourisation, extent of degradation and toxicity of biotransformation products. Rapid decolourisation of AO7 (>98% within 30 h) was achieved at all tested dye concentrations with concomitant power production. The aromatic amine degradation products were recalcitrant under tested conditions. The first-order kinetic constant of decolourisation (k) decreased from 0.709 ± 0.05 h−1 to 0.05 ± 0.01 h−1 (co-substrate – pyruvate) when the dye concentration was raised from 35 mg l−1 to 350 mg l−1. The use of unrefined co-substrates such as rapeseed cake, corn-steep liquor and molasses also indicated comparable or better AO7 decolourisation kinetic constant values. The fully decolourised solutions indicated increased toxicity as the initial AO7 concentration was increased. This work highlights the possibility of using microbial fuel cells to achieve high kinetic rates of AO7 decolourisation through co-metabolism with concomitant electricity production and could potentially be utilised as the initial step of a two stage anaerobic/aerobic process for azo dye biotreatment.

The east of Suez decision

A witness seminar on Britain's decision to withdraw from East of Suez was held by the Institute of Contemporary British History at King's College London on 16 November 1990. It was introduced by a short paper by David Greenwood of the Centre for the Study of Defence Economics, University of Aberdeen. Those participating were Professor Lawrence Freedman (Chairman), David Greenwood, Sir Frank Cooper, C.W. Wright, Sir Patrick Nairne, Richard Hastie‐Smith, J.K. Wright, Sir Ewen Broadbent, Peter Hudson, Sir Robert Andrew, Sir George Leitch, Sir Arthur Drew, Lord Thomson of Monifieth, Lord Zuckerman, Lord Mayhew and Field Marshal Lord Carver. The Institute of Contemporary British History would like to record its thanks to BP for its sponsorship of this event.

Monetary policy, exchange rates and stock prices in the Middle East region

A structural vector autoregressive model is employed to investigate the impact of monetary policy and real exchange rate shocks on the stock market performance of Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. In order to identify the structural shocks both short run and long run restrictions are applied. Unlike previous literature the contemporaneous interdependence between the financial variables are left unrestricted to give a more accurate depiction of the relationships. The heterogeneity of the results reflect the different monetary policy frameworks and stock market characteristics of these countries. Mainly, monetary policy and the real exchange rate shocks have a significant short run impact on the stock prices of the countries that apply a relatively more independent monetary policy and flexible exchange rates.

Media ‘Globalization’ as Survival Strategy for Authoritarian Regimes In the Arab Middle East

Sakr challenges the notion that transnational media technologies have forced states in the Arab Middle East to cede ever more control to non-state players since the 1990s. Taking account of a long history of foreign political engineering in Arab countries, she probes the realities of Arab broadcasting privatization, intra-regional harmonization of government communication policies, and external financial support for media freedom and reform, to show how Arab governments were large successfully in harnessing forces implicated in media globalization in a way that entrenched authoritarian elements of the status quo. The findings validate an alternative to globalization theory that places a dual focus on the agency of national ruling elites and the international structures that underpin the power of those elites today, as in the past.

Cross-National Differences in Managerial Discretion: Insights from the Middle East

Our study examines the effect of cultural practices on CEO discretion across six Middle Eastern countries. Using a panel of senior management consultants, we extend the national-level framework of managerial discretion and find that an encompassing array of cultural practices play a crucial role in shaping the degree of discretion provided to CEOs’ of public firms headquartered in these countries. We empirically demonstrate that power distance, future and performance orientation along with gender egalitarianism and assertiveness have positive relationships with managerial discretion. However, institutional collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and humane orientation negatively affect the degree of discretion provided to CEOs. As such, our results indicate that executives are able to take idiosyncratic and bold actions to the extent to which the cultural environment allows them to do so. As such, we contribute to the strategic leadership literature by finding new national-level antecedents of managerial discretion that haven’t been considered in earlier studies and confirm the context dependency of the discretion construct.

Heading east this time: critical readings on gender in southeast Asia

This essay intends to discuss some critical readings of fictional and theoretical texts on gender condition in Southeast Asian countries. Nowadays, many texts about women in Southeast Asia apply concepts of power in unusual areas. Traditional forms of gender hegemony have been replaced by other powerful, if somewhat more covert, forms. We will discuss some universal values concerning conventional female roles as well as the strategies used to recognize women in political fields traditionally characterized by male dominance. Female empowerment will mean different things at different times in history, as a result of culture, local geography and individual circumstances. Empowerment needs to be perceived as an individual attitude, but it also has to be facilitated at the macrolevel by society and the State. Gender is very much at the heart of all these dynamics, strongly related to specificities of historical, cultural, ethnic and class situatedness, requiring an interdisciplinary transnational approach.

Implementação de uma marca de produção e distribuição de citrinos biológicos: Orange made in Algarve

Trabalho de projeto apresentado à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Publicidade e Marketing.

Are the L'oreal hair care brands currently operating in the Kenyan mass market adequately positioned and adapted to the Kenyan consumers?: A recommendation to the new L'oreal East Africa Office concerning the hair care brand positioning and portfolio in Kenya

NSBE - UNL

Critérios de adequação em ecocardiografia e a repercussão clinica no outcome do paciente: a realidade do Lister Hospital - East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, Reino Unido

RESUMO - Introdução: Os critérios de adequação (Appropriate Use Criteria - AUC) em Ecocardiografia Transtorácica (ETT) foram publicados com o intuito de permitir o uso racional da ecocardiografia, de influenciar decisões clinicas, prestar cuidados de saúde de elevada qualidade e melhorar o outcome dos pacientes. A relação entre a adequação destes e o seu impacto clinico ainda não se encontra largamente estudada. Objectivo: Neste estudo pretendeu-se avaliar o grau de adesão aos AUC em ETT, em diferentes contextos de atendimento e de acordo com diferentes especialidades, bem como o impacto clínico do exame no outcome do paciente, num hospital público terciário no Reino Unido. Metodologia: 859 ETTs realizados consecutivamente no mês de Janeiro de 2014, foram revistos por forma a avaliar a sua adequação e foram classificados como adequados, incertos ou inadequados de acordo com as guidelines de 2011. De seguida os registos dos pacientes foram revistos com o intuito de avaliar o impacto clinico dos ETTs e foram classificados de acordo com uma das 3 seguintes categorias: (1) alteração ativa dos cuidados – por continuação ou descontinuação dos cuidados como resultado do ETT, (2) continuação dos cuidados – sem continuação ou descontinuação dos cuidados, mas comunicação ao paciente dos resultados do ETT, (3) sem alteração dos cuidados – os cuidados ao paciente já estavam a ser aplicados previamente ao resultado do ETT, causa de sintomas já estabelecida no momento da requisição para exame, exame prévio explicativo dos sintomas e sem indicação aguda para novo ETT, terapêutica não alterada ou inexistência de documentação relativa aos achados ecocardiográficos. Pacientes cujos registos não se encontravam disponíveis foram excluídos (259). Todas as classificações foram avaliadas por uma cardiologista independente, sem relação direta com o estudo. Resultados: A nossa amostra apresentou uma média de idades de 63 ± 17 anos, com uma equilíbrio de géneros. A maioria dos exames foi solicitada em contexto de ambulatório (81,4%), pela Cardiologia (50,3%) e pela Medicina Geral e Familiar (13,4%). Relativamente aos achados ecocardiográficos dos exames, 7,6% demonstraram disfunção sistólica do ventrículo esquerdo moderada a grave, 4,0% revelaram doença valvular grave e 5,1% hipertensão pulmonar significativa. Em relação à adequação dos pedidos para ETTs, 76,5% foram adequados, 7,1% inadequados e 12,6% incertos. Relativamente ao impacto clínico dos ETTs, 42,7% dos exames revelaram uma alteração ativa nos cuidados, 15,6% mostraram uma continuação dos cuidados e 11,5% demonstraram não haver alteração nos cuidados. A idade (P=0,05), o contexto de atendimento (P<0,01) e o pedido realizado pela especialidade medicina geral e familiar (MGF) (P=0,02) foram os preditores mais importantes de uma alteração ativa nos cuidados. Numa perspectiva de prestação de cuidados a uma população mais idosa, o contexto de atendimento, a presença de achados ecocardiográficos significativos e a não alteração dos cuidados apresentam uma relação significativa com a idade. Conclusões: Os dados demonstram que quase 8 em cada 10 ETTs foram considerados adequados e que 4 em cada 10 exames não apresentaram alteração ativa dos cuidados.

East African Breweries LTD Alcoholic beverages industry

Equity research report

Meta-analysis identifies multiple loci associated with kidney function-related traits in east Asian populations.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), impairment of kidney function, is a serious public health problem, and the assessment of genetic factors influencing kidney function has substantial clinical relevance. Here, we report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for kidney function-related traits, including 71,149 east Asian individuals from 18 studies in 11 population-, hospital- or family-based cohorts, conducted as part of the Asian Genetic Epidemiology Network (AGEN). Our meta-analysis identified 17 loci newly associated with kidney function-related traits, including the concentrations of blood urea nitrogen, uric acid and serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate based on serum creatinine levels (eGFRcrea) (P < 5.0 × 10(-8)). We further examined these loci with in silico replication in individuals of European ancestry from the KidneyGen, CKDGen and GUGC consortia, including a combined total of ∼110,347 individuals. We identify pleiotropic associations among these loci with kidney function-related traits and risk of CKD. These findings provide new insights into the genetics of kidney function.

Investigation of business models of free zones and possible implications in South East Finland

Tutkielma tarkastelee vapaa alue konseptia osana yritysten kansainvälistä toimitusketjua. Tarkoituksena on löytää keinoja, millä tavoin vapaa alueen houkuttelevuutta voidaan lisätä yritysten näkökulmasta ja millaista liiketoimintaa yritysten on vapaa alueella mahdollista harjoittaa. Tutkielmassa etsitään tekijöitä, jotka vaikuttavat vapaa alueen menestykseen ja jotka voisivat olla sovellettavissa Kaakkois-Suomen ja Venäjän raja-alueelle ottaen huomioon vallitsevat olosuhteet ja lainsäädäntö rajoittavina tekijöinä. Menestystekijöitä ja liiketoimintamalleja haetaan tutkimalla ja analysoimalla lyhyesti muutamia olemassa olevia ja toimivia vapaa alueita. EU tullilain harmonisointi ja kansainvälisen kaupan vapautuminen vähentää vapaa alueen perinteistä merkitystä tullivapaana alueena. Sen sijaan vapaa alueet toimivat yhä enenevissä määrin logistisina keskuksina kansainvälisessä kaupassa ja tarjoavat palveluita, joiden avulla yritykset voivat parantaa logistista kilpailukykyään. Verkostoituminen, satelliitti-ratkaisut ja yhteistoiminta ovat keinoja, millä Kaakkois-Suomen alueen eri logistiikkapalvelujen tarjoajat voivat parantaa suorituskykyään ja joustavuutta kansainvälisessä toimitusketjussa.

International Partnering strategy for e-learning provider in emerging economies: Evidence from East Africa learning institutions

International partnership has received growing interest in the literature during the past decades due to globalization, increased technological approaches and rapid changes in competitive environments. The study specifically determines the support provided by international partners on promotion of e-learning in East Africa, assess the motives of partner selection criteria, the determinants of selecting partners, partner models and partner competence of e-learning provider. The study also evaluates obstacles of e-learning partnering strategy in East Africa learning institutions. The research adopts a descriptive survey design. Target population involved East Africa learning institutions with a list of potential institutions generated from the Ministry of Higher Education database. Through a targeted reduction of the initial database, consisting of all learning institutions, both public and private, the study created a target sample base of 200 learning institutions. Structured questionnaires scheduled were used to collect primary data. Study findings showed the approach way East African communities in selecting their e-learning partners depend on international reputation of partners, partner with ability to negotiate with foreign governments, partner with international and local experiences, nationality of foreign partner and partners with local market knowledge.