Group theoretic methods in elementary particle physics

Imperial Users onl

Building Unity Through State Narratives: The Evolving British Media Discourse During World War II, 1939-1941

The British media discourse evolved during the first two years of World War II, as state narratives and censorship began taking a more prominent role. I trace this shift through an examination of newspapers from three British regions during this period, including London, the Southwest, and the North. My research demonstrates that at the start of the war, the press featured early unity in support of the British war effort, with some regional variation. As the war progressed, old political and geographical divergences came to the forefront in coverage of events such as Prime Minister Chamberlain\u27s resignation. The government became increasingly concerned about the grim portrayals of the Dunkirk Evacuation in the press, as Britain\u27s wartime situation deteriorated. I argue that as censorship and propaganda increased, newspapers fell into line, adhering to state narratives and uniting behind a circumscribed version of the events that molded a heroic presentation of Dunkirk. Censorship from the government came in various forms, often utilizing softer methods such as the control of information flow and warning publications, which complied in order to appear patriotic and avoid further suppression. My analysis of these papers indicates that this censorship and unity of the press continued during coverage of the Blitz, as the media discourse became more cohesive and supportive of the government\u27s goals

Retinopathy in diabetic patients evaluated at a primary care clinic in Cape Town

Please cite as follows: Read, O. & Cook, C. 2007. Retinopathy in diabetic patients evaluated at a primary care clinic in Cape Town. South African Medical Journal, 97(10):941-945.The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.zaDiabetic retinopathy is the fifth leading cause of global blindness, affecting an estimated 1.8 billion people and responsible for 4.8% of blindness.1 In South Africa, it is the third leading cause of blindness after cataract and glaucoma, and is responsible for 5% of blindness (0.04% of the total population). Cataract and refractive error are prioritised for the first phase of Vision 2020 in South Africa, while strategies to deal with diabetic retinopathy are recommended as a priority for the second phase.2 These strategies will include provision of adequate screening and argon laser treatment. The prevalence of diabetes differs in different population groups in South Africa. Among black and coloured South Africans, diabetes has risen from 3% to 12% over the past 10 years. Overall, the prevalence is conservatively estimated to be 3 - 5% (30 000 - 50 000 per million population).2 The prevalence of retinopathy in people with diabetes is estimated to be 20% (6 000 - 10 000 per million population), and the prevalence of blindness among these is estimated to be 5% (300 - 500 blind per million population).2 The objective of this study was to evaluate the retinopathy status of patients with diabetes seen at a primary care clinic in Cape Town and to assess the adequacy of the current diabetic screening programmes.Publishers versio

South Africa's cataract surgery rates – why are we not meeting our targets?

Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in South Africa, responsible for about 50% of the prevalence of blindness1 and identified as a national health priority. The cataract surgery rate (CSR) should be at least 2 000 per million population per year for elimination of cataract blindness. The national CSR target was planned to increase from 1 000 in 2005 to 2 000 in 2010, but since CSRs have failed to reach targets each year, the national target for 2010 was reduced from 2 000 to 1 500. We reviewed data from a situational analysis in 2007 of cataract surgery services to ascertain the obstacles to achieving CSR targets

Structural Investigation of Bacilliredoxins: Enzymes Involved in Bacillithiol Redox Metabolism

Bacillithiol is an important compound involved in intracellular redox homeostasis and fosfomycin resistance mechanisms of some Gram-positive bacterial pathogens. Cellular regeneration of active bacillithiol (BSH) from a disulfide (BSSB) or mixed disulfide state (BSS-Protein) involves the bacilliredoxin enzymes BrxA/B. An X-ray crystallographic structure of apo BrxA from Bacillus subtilis has been previously characterized, but no BrxB or BSSB-bound Brx structure currently exists. Here we present an X-ray crystallographic structure of BrxA from the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus with a bacillithiol disulfide (BSSB) bound in the active site. Elucidation of this structure will help researchers to understand how BSSB binds in bacilliredoxins, and provide insight into the Brx catalytic mechanism. Functional activity of YpdA, another enzyme involved in BSH regeneration, is also investigated

Phaco-emulsification versus manual small-incision cataract surgery in South Africa

OBJECTIVES: To compare the results of phaco-emulsification cataract surgery and manual small-incision cataract surgery. METHODS: Consecutive patients aged >50 years undergoing surgery for age-related cataract were recruited into a randomised prospective clinical trial. Randomisation was done using opaque sequentially numbered envelopes opened by the surgeon immediately prior to surgery. The patients were seen after 1 day, 2 weeks, and 8 weeks. Outcome measures. The primary outcome measure was the uncorrected visual acuity at week 8. The secondary outcome measures were the uncorrected visual acuity on day 1, the best corrected visual acuity at week 8, the refraction at week 8, and the intra- and postoperative complications. RESULTS: One hundred patients were recruited into each arm of the study. There was no difference in the incidence of intra-ocular complications (p=0.19). There was no difference in the day 1 visual acuities (p=0.28). However, both the uncorrected and the corrected week 8 visual acuities were better in the eyes that had phaco-emulsification (p=0.02 and p=0.03), and there was less astigmatism (p=0.001) at week 8 in the eyes that had phaco-emulsification. CONCLUSIONS: While manual small-incision surgery has been recommended as an acceptable alternative to phaco-emulsification in middle- and low-income countries, we have found that the results of phaco-emulsification are better. Where appropriate, consideration should be given to encouraging a transition to phaco-emulsification in our Vision 2020 programmes in Africa

Managing information in eye care programmes: the health systems perspective

As eye care workers, we don’t treat eyes, we treat people. Similarly, eye care does not take place in a vacuum; it is part of the wider health care system

Emergency management: optic nerve compression

Increased orbital pressure compresses the optic nerve, which can lead to irreversible vision loss in a matter of hours

Development and Persistence of 'Static' or 'Dead' Zones in Flows

Certain ceramic products are formed through extrusion processes, where a slurry is forced through small openings to form such products as filters. At the top is a large tank. The slurry is forced through the tank into an extrusion chamber, and then out through slots to form the finished product. [The slurry may be thought of as a mixture of clay (or other polymers), water, and other binders. There are many ways to model this mixture, some of which will be discussed in this report. For instance, the slurry can be modeled as a non-Newtonian fluid, a two-phase flow with liquid and solids, or a viscoelastic fluid. One can also model the mixture as an elongated particle suspension in water, where changes in the orientation of the particles could affect the flow.] After the extrusion process is complete, one finds that ‘dead zones’ of dry paste accumulate in two areas. Most prominently, they occur at the lower corners of the tank. They also occur on the floor of the extrusion chamber near the slots, both near and away from the walls. Since we will consider wall effects in the tank, for the extrusion chamber we consider only flow cells sufficiently far away from the walls. Then we may exploit the periodic nature of the device and consider only a single flow cell. The aim of this project is to determine the formation mechanisms of these dead zones, and see how they affect the overall flow