Safety critical systems are growing more complex. To keep these systems safe, methods and techniques are necessary to prevent accidents from happening. Earlier when the engineered systems were smaller and the possibility for large scale destruction was not there, we had the luxury of being in a position to learn from experience. Due to the catastrophes safety critical systems can cause today, w...

The fundamental theorem of algebra (FTA) tells us that every complex polynomial of degree n has precisely n complex roots. The first published proofs (J. d’Alembert in 1746 and C. F. Gauss 1799) of this conjecture from the seventeenth century had flaws, though Gauss’s proof was generally accepted as correct at the time. Gauss later published three correct proofs of the FTA (two in 1816 and the ...

The fluorescent treponemal antibody (FTA) test developed by Deacon, Falcone, and Harris (1957) and later modified with the absorption procedure by Hunter, Deacon, and Meyer (1964) has contributed much to the better diagnosis and control of syphilis in many parts of the world (WHO Scientific Group Report, 1970). The test combines the sensitivity and specificity of immunofluorescence with easy re...

The paper investigates the network of bilateral free trade agreements (FTA) in the context of a network formation game with transfers. Furusawa and Konishi (2002) show that without international transfers, countries with different industrialization levels may not sign an FTA, so that the global free trade network, in which every pair of countries sign an FTA, is not pairwise stable in general. ...

BACKGROUND Self-management support for people with type 2 diabetes is essential in diabetes care. Thus, mobile health technology with or without low-intensity theory-based health counseling could become an important tool for promoting self-management. OBJECTIVES The aim was to evaluate whether the introduction of technology-supported self-management using the Few Touch Application (FTA) diabe...

Fast track appraisal (FTA) was adopted by NICE in 2017. This faster and more simplified process is mainly used for novel pharmaceutical agents that are considered bioequivalent to an already recommended drug with added advantages or reduced costs. In June 2022 FTA recommend diroximel fumarate (Vumerity) the management of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). short article explores pote...

In this paper we compare and contrast the political viability of bilateral Free Trade Area (FTA) Agreements in the presence of tariffs and quotas. Assuming that the government maximizes a weighted sum of welfare and producer profits, we show that the political viability of FTAs varies according to whether trade restrictions take the form of tariffs or quotas. A key result is that whereas an FTA...

Extraction of DNA using magnetic bead based techniques on automated DNA extraction instruments provides a fast, reliable and reproducible method for DNA extraction from various matrices. However, the yield of extracted DNA from FTA-cards is typically low. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to repeatedly extract DNA from the processed FTA-disk. The method increases the yield from the nanog...

A small study comparing results of the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) teardrop card test performed in the field, with results of Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) and fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) tests performed in the laboratory on venous blood specimens from the same suspected yaws patients was undertaken in Columbia in July 1975. The results suggest that the RPR ...

Two evaluations of the automated fluorescent treponemal antibody (AFTA) test for the serodiagnosis of syphilis are described. The results of AFTA and manually performed fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption (FTA-ABS) tests were compared on serum samples from clinically defined donor groups, and the reproducibility of each procedure was studied. Significant improvement of AFTA test results ...