Sifiso Mzobe’s Young Blood: Spaces of getting and becoming in post-apartheid Durban

Sifiso Mzobe’s Young blood (2010) generates much of its energy, this article will argue, through its representation of social and physical mobility and its articulation of space with modes of consumption in post-apartheid South Africa. The novel is set chiefly in the township of Umlazi, the city of Durban and some of its middle- class suburbs. The chief protagonist, a young car thief, moves between township, city and suburb with ease in stolen cars. The open space of the highway separates township and suburb, but also connects them. The novel shows how the spatial arrangements of power and control associated with apartheid are increasingly undermined and reconfigured by new practices of everyday life. Young blood suggests that a certain style of driving can offer new ways of inhabiting the South African city and of bringing its disparate parts together. The ability to move between places in the novel provides opportunities for upward mobility and also enables new forms of symbiosis, trade and consumption. Stealing and driving cars enable Sifiso and his friends to bridge the divide between township and suburb and turn the distance between the two places into a domain of attainment and performance. But the rapid upward social mobility that high-level criminal activity allows is exposed as uncertain and ephemeral by the end of the novel, and the slower route offered by education to self-improvement and class mobility is proffered in its place

A pragmatic randomized controlled trial of standard care versus steroids plus standard care for treatment of pneumonia in adults admitted to Kenyan hospitals (SONIA)

Background: It is unclear if adjunctive steroid therapy reduces mortality in community-acquired pneumonia, as very few studies have had mortality as a primary outcome. This question has become even more relevant following demonstration of a mortality benefit of dexamethasone when used in patients with COVID-19 who had severe disease. This has led to increased prescription of steroids in adults with community acquired pneumonia in low-resource settings even when their COVID-19 diagnosis is uncertain due to low testing rates. This pragmatic parallel randomised-controlled open-label trial will determine if adjunctive low-dose steroids for treatment of adults admitted to hospital with community acquired pneumonia whose SARS-CoV-2 status is either unknown or negative reduces mortality. Methods: We will enroll and randomize 2180 patients admitted with a clinical diagnosis of community acquired pneumonia into two arms; in Stratum A-participants will receive standard care for the treatment of community acquired pneumonia. In Stratum B-participants will receive a 10-day course of low-dose oral corticosteroids in addition to standard care. All participants will be followed up to 30 days post randomization and their final status recorded (alive or dead). An immunology sub study will be conducted on a subset of the trial participants (50 per arm) to determine the correlation of pre-existing and treatment induced immune and metabolic changes with study outcomes. Discussion: Mortality among adults admitted to hospital with community acquired pneumonia in resource-limited settings is high. Steroids are readily available in these settings. If the addition of steroids to standard care for community acquired pneumonia is found to be beneficial, this easily scalable intervention would significantly reduce the currently high mortality associated with the illness

Delineating Signaling Mechanisms Involved in Lymphocyte Chemotaxis, Immune Homeostasis and Allergic Asthma

The vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) signaling axis constitutes VIP and its two G protein coupled receptors (GPCR) termed vasoactive intestinal/pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (VPAC) 1 and 2. This signaling axis regulates numerous biological actions within the endocrine system, the nervous system and the immune system. Working as a gut hormone, VIP can increase cAMP signaling within beta-islet cells of the pancreas to impact insulin production. As a neurotransmitter, it acts as a master circadian regulator controlling light and dark cycling. Lastly, VIP regulates immune processes such as activation, chemotaxis, development and cytokine secretion. The focus of my doctoral research was to delineate VIP signaling mechanisms controlling immunity. We aimed at understanding: 1.) the molecular mechanism of VIP-induced T cell trafficking 2.) ability for VPAC2 signaling to regulate immune homeostasis and 3.) a phenotype of a B cell subset during asthma, an immune pathology devoid of VIP protein due to excessive protease activity. Methods employed utilized isolated primary mouse immune cells to measure a VIP-induced signaling pathway centered on the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a tyrosine kinase receptor, by qPCR and chemotaxis assays. Flow cytometry to enumerate immune cell numbers in VPAC2 deficient mice was done to accomplish aim 2. Lastly, using a published in vivo allergic asthma mouse model, we used qPCR, immunoblotting and flow cytometry analyses to measure expression of Hyaluronic acid binding proteins on B cells. Results from these studies revealed that VIP signaling in T cells is regulated by EGFR as inhibitors against its enzymatic activity abolished T cell movement towards VIP. Immune cell numbers were lowered as a consequence of VPAC2 deficiency, suggesting its involvement in homeostasis. Lastly, a unique B cell population homing to asthmatic lung secretes an anti-inflammatory mediator, TGF-beta, through the HA binding protein called RHAMM. Collectively, these data emphasize the importance of VIP signaling in the immune system controlling cell migration and homeostasis.R15 Al 101968 01A1R15 HL 117254 0

I Write What I Like

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Black Consciousness & the Quest for a True Humanity

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I Write What I Like

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