179 research outputs found
Decoding the mechanism of hypertension through multiomics profiling
Hypertension, characterised by a constant high blood pressure, is the primary risk factor for multiple cardiovascular events and a major cause of death in adults. Excitingly, innovations in high-throughput technologies have enabled the global exploration of the whole genome (genomics), revealing dysregulated genes that are linked to hypertension. Moreover, post-genomic biomarkers, from the emerging fields of transcriptomics, proteomics, glycomics and lipidomics, have provided new insights into the molecular underpinnings of hypertension. In this paper, we review the pathophysiology of hypertension, and highlight the multi-omics approaches for hypertension prediction and diagnosis
Energy and Society: Public Views and Responses to the Emerging Energy Regime
This work represents an exploratory study of public attitudes about energy availability and measures related to addressing shortfalls in energy supplies. The study also examines household responses to increased energy costs during this earliest stages of a potential new energy regime. The study finds mixed views about energy availability, especially in the foreseeable future. Despite this, the study finds overwhelming support for energy conservation and alternative energy development. The study also finds that recent increases in energy costs caused substantial financial and economic hardships among Ohio households.The Social Responsibility Initiativ
N-Glycosylation profiles as a risk stratification biomarker for Type II Diabetes Mellitus and its associated factors
Worldwide, the prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases, particularly type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and to a lesser extent, metabolic syndrome (MetS), has increased dramatically. Despite this increase, there is still a lack of robust biomarkers for cardiometabolic diseases to secure better clinical outcomes. The enzymatic attachment of oligosaccharides (glycans) to proteins-glycosylation is of metabolic and physiological significance, as exploring aberrations of glycosylation profiles can reveal novel biomarkers. In parallel, this process could also explain the biological mechanisms that underpin a suboptimal health status (SHS), a reversible subclinical stage of a cardiometabolic disease. However, studies on the correlation between glycosylation and MetS/T2DM are scarce and none has thus far been performed on a West African population. Thus, the overall aim of this thesis was to explore complementary biomarker panels of healthy and diseased patients considered relevant to Ghanaian residents.
The thesis is structured in the form of five related studies, each addressing a specific aim. From January 2016 to October 2016, a longitudinal case-control study comprising 253 T2DM patients and 260 controls, aged 18-80 years was conducted in Ghana. Fasting plasma samples were collected for clinical assessment, after which plasma N-glycans were analysed by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) and statistical analyses performed. Central adiposity, underweight, high systolic blood pressure (SBP), high diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and high triglycerides (TG) were found to be independent risk factors associated with high SHS after adjusting for age and gender (Study I). SHS score was associated with age, physical inactivity, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), TG and MetS. MetS was associated with increased high branching (HB), trigalactosylated (G3), antennary fucosylated (FUC_A), triantennary (TRIA) and decreased low branching (LB) glycan structures (Study II). The levels of HB, G3, FUC_A, and TRIA N-glycans were increased in T2DM whereas levels of LB, non-sialylated (S0), monogalactosylation (G1), core fucosylation (FUC_C), biantennary galactosylation (A2G) and biantennary (BA) Nglycans were decreased compared to controls (Study III). Biguanides alone, or in combination with sulfonylurea and thiazolidinedione, did not improve glycaemic status at follow-up. Many participants using angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors achieved desired targets for blood pressure control while statins were effective for control of plasma lipids (Study IV). At a population level, the variability of N-glycan structures ranged from 11% to 56% at both baseline and follow-up, with an average coefficient of variation of 28% and 29%, respectively. The intra-individual N-glycan peak (GP) variations were minor except for GP1 and GP29. However, there were no statistically significant differences in N-glycosylation profiles from baseline to follow-up (Study V).
This thesis shows an association between SHS and MetS/T2DM while MetS and T2DM are characterised by increased levels of complex N-glycan structures, and these structures are stable in T2DM over six months. Many of the findings in this thesis agree with earlier studies from Chinese and Croatian populations with major differences attributed to genetic and environmental factors. Future longitudinal studies are required to provide a better understanding of the transition from SHS to T2DM, as well as to validate N-glycans as generic risk stratification biomarkers for a general population
The attitude of religious leaders towards violence in Nigeria: case study of mosques and churches
Most of the violence that led to the bloodshed in Nigeria flourished because
ofpolitical pungency stage-played through unverified incident wrap-up with faith
based encounter. Some of acclaimed religious leader ware turned to political
tacticians that focus in helping politician to unleash mayhem in their various
community for counter campaign mission which, many of such cases, resulted to
carnage that claimed many lives in Nigeria. This manuscript aims to scrutinize the
responsibility of a religious leader according to the Scripture (Qur’ān and Bible) in
quelling any violence cropped-up within their locality or clash between religious
sects.To achieve this aims, survey and comparative method used in selecting
relevant verses from both Qur’ān and Bible to expound the divine responsibility on
anyone with religious title. This study finds that, politicians corrupted most of
religious leaders in Nigeria to have attached political indulgence to the
imperatives of their religion. To the extent that, their major responsibility to
submerge the view of their people to harmonize their various community had been
exchanged with political assignment that breeds unreceptive violence. Since many
of this pastors and Imams were most respected in the society, the paper
recommends that, to have peace in Nigeria religious leader should be afraid of
Almighty God by not accepting a deal from politicians that can lead to bloodshed
and killing of innocent life
The role of social workers in curbing girl marriages : a FAMSA case study
Girl marriage has been identified by the United Nations (2015) as a harmful practice
and it has been listed as one of the global agendas to be ended by 2030. In South
Africa, protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuse is not only a basic
value, but also an obligation clearly set out in the Bill of Rights as enshrined in the
South African Constitution (RSA, 1996). Girl marriage is prevalent in the provinces of
KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape (Department of Social Development,
2015; Byrne, 2017).
The goal of the study was to explore and describe social workers’ role at FAMSA in
curbing girl marriages.
The qualitative study had both exploratory and descriptive research goals. It was an
applied study and used a case study design. The study population was FAMSA social
workers in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. The sample of the study was selected
purposively and included 12 participants. The data was collected through face-to-face
semi-structured interviews and data was analysed thematically.
Findings indicate that girls are vulnerable to early marriage owing to socioeconomic
conditions, self and peer pressure, patriarchal culture, stereotypes and religion. These
incentives result in long-term consequences entailing missed opportunities for
development, affecting the girls’ and their children’s futures. Social workers contribute
to curbing girl marriages through life skills education in schools, which empowers girls
to become activists claiming their rights. Social workers also engage in awareness
campaigns against girl marriage through dialogues, workshops, public meetings and
radio talks. The lack of stakeholder co-ordination, partnerships, organisational
resources and clear policy guidelines was identified as an obstacle in curtailing girl
marriage. The study concludes that the structural reasons and aftermaths of girl marriage are
interconnected and should be collectively addressed through stakeholder coordination,
partnerships, resource mobilisation, policy development and
implementation.
Recommendations include creating a platform for dialogue among all stakeholders,
strengthening existing programmes to include topics on girl marriage, developing a
peer education programme in schools and developing policy to end girl marriages.Mini Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2019.Social Work and CriminologyMSWUnrestricte
Local governments that offer greater incentives for businessesdo not retrench welfare services
In the pursuit of economic development and growth, many local governments in the US are increasingly turning to offering lucrative incentives to businesses such as tax incentives, loans and other subsidies. Many scholars and commentators have become concerned that these incentives are going hand in hand with the gutting of social welfare services. In new research, Lazarus Adua and Linda Lobao find no such relationship between counties putting in place business incentives and cutting services. In fact, such counties were actually more likely to provide a greater number of social services
Back-testing the VaR risk measure: an empirical study
This thesis verifies the worst case losses (Value-at-Risk) of financial returns over a specified time period with a certain level of confidence. The measurement of VaR hinges on the distribution of investment returns. In order to test whether or not the VaR model accurately represents reality, back-testing is carried out for one day horizon for a yearly rolling window. The standard VaR parametric model which is based on normal distribution of returns is tested on real data. Findings are that this model is better for historical VaR estimation for bigger exceedance probabilities such as 5%, 1%, 2% etc, while the Student’s t-distribution seems to be better for smaller exceedance probabilities such as 0.5%, 0.1% etc
THE ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS IN CURBING GIRL MARRIAGES: A FAMSA CASE STUDY
Girl marriage is a global problem which is also prevalent in South Africa. It imposes on the rights of children and is recognised as a harmful practice (United Nations, 2015). This paper reports on a case study with social workers of the Families and Marriage Society of South Africa (FAMSA) in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng. The study concludes that the developmental approach presents a framework for social workers to curb girl marriages. Resources, coordination among stakeholders, monitoring of programmes, interventions and policies are required to curb girl marriage. A rights-based policy and enforcement and monitoring of existing policies that protect children are key to ending the practice of girl marriage
Explaining Residential Energy Consumption: A Focus on Location and Race Differences in Natural Gas Use
Researchers have long considered factors related to residential energy consumption. We contribute to this genre of work by exploring how residential location (rural-urban) and race are related to residential natural gas consumption. We also consider whether these relationships, if they exist, are functions of differences in housing characteristics, investment in energy efficiency, and weather conditions. Analyzing four waves of the Residential Energy Consumption Surveys, we find that natural gas consumption differs by residential location only to the extent that investment in energy efficiency and weather conditions are not taken into consideration. We also find race differences in natural gas consumption, with African-Americans consuming more per year than whites. African-Americans’ higher natural gas consumption persists even after the effects of housing characteristics, investment in energy efficiency, weather conditions, and other critical covariates of energy consumption are statistically held constant. More work, especially field research, is needed to understand why African-Americans consume more natural gas than other groups
Il ruolo della struttura del paesaggio nella diversità floristica: il caso di studio della pianura veneta orientale
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