A randomised clinical trial investigating the efficacy of the use of Brantingham Protocol versus Hallux Abducto Valgus night splint, in the treatment of painful Hallux Abducto Valgus

Hallux Abducto Valgus (HAV) is a common cause of foot pain causing deformity and often disability. The female population is more frequently affected by HAV than the male population with the two main causative factors being congenital and inappropriate footwear. Surgery is the most prevalent treatment, but it does not take into consideration the biomechanical effects on the biomechanical chain and therefore the deformity frequently reoccurs and complications after surgery are many. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of the Brantingham protocol versus the HAV Night Splint in the treatment of painful HAV. Thirty participants were selected to participate in the study and certain criteria had to be met. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, Group 1 was treated using a chiropractic protocol. The Brantingham Protocol that consisted of mobilization and specific adjustment of the first metatarsophalangeal joint was used. Group 2 was treated by the use of a HAV Night Splint. Patients were treated over a 2-week period, twice a week with a 1-week follow up and a 1-month follow up. The lasting effect of the individual treatments was determined by the follow-up periods. Objective and subjective measurements were taken at each visit. Subjective measurements consisted of the McGill pain questionnaire (Melzack, 1975) (Appendix D), visual analogue scale (Masarsky and Todres-Masarsky, 2001) (Appendix B) and the foot function index pain scale (Saag et al., 1996) (Appendix C). Objective measurements consisted of passive Plantar and Dorsiflexion of the First metatarsophalangeal joint. The results indicated a statistical and numerical significance within and between each group both subjectively and objectively. Group 1 proved to be superior to Group 2 in the treatment of painful HAV. In conclusion, both the Brantingham Protocol and the HAV Night Splint proved to be effective in the treatment of painful HAV. However, Group 1 proved to be superior to Group 2 in the treatment of painful HAV.Dr. Birdsey Mr. Zipfe

Behavioural ecology of the Redbilled Woodhoopoe Phoeniculus purpureus in South Africa

Includes bibliographies.A study was made of two Redbilled (Green) Woodhoopoe Phoeniculus purpureus populations spanning an eight year period (1981-1988) and 258 'flock-years', in the eastern Cape Province of South Mrica. The main objectives of the study were to investigate (1) why woodhoopoes live in groups; (2) why nonbreeders do not breed; and, (3) why nonbreeders provision young that are not their own? Ecological and demographic data were gathered in addition to detailed behavioural observations of 54 woodhoopoe flocks. The following experimental manipulations were performed: (1) breeders were removed from flocks to (a) monitor dispersal patterns and restructuring of flocks; and, (b) observe behavioural reactions by remaining birds; (2) cavity availability was (a) decreased, to enable quantification of availability; and, (b) increased, by addition of nest/roost boxes to an area which supported no permanent woodhoopoe territories; and, (3) stimuli, associated with the food provisioning response of adult birds, were manipulated to investigate the evolutionary basis of allofeeding behaviour Variability in social and reproductive behaviour reflects environmental selection pressures, in the form of roost-cavity availability, with a reduction in cavity availability leading to increased group size. The group-territorial social system and high level of inbreeding of Redbilled Woodhoopoes have evolved primarily in response to environmental constraints on dispersal, rather than by particular benefits that arise from group living. Therefore, the habitat-saturation hypothesis best explains group living of woodhoopoes. Behavioural dominance hierarchies ensure that dominance relationships are well-defined among potential competitors (for breeding status), and thereby minimize disruption to flock cohesion upon the death (or removal) of a breeder. If competition for a breeding vacancy arose at the time of the breeder's death, the resultant delay in occupancy of the breeding vacancy would increase the likelihood of competition from unrelated birds. The establishment of such hierarchies is therefore adaptive in the context of the direct component of kin selection. The presence of nonbreeding helpers do not increase fledgling success, breeding frequency, survivorship (of any age, sex or social class), or number of breeder-offspring produced. Because no unambiguous indirect fitness benefits could be shown to result from helping behaviour (specifically allofeeding), I propose that the unselected (misdirected parental care) hypothesis is a viable alternative to the 'functional hypotheses.' This hypothesis is supported by observations/manipulations of misdirected food provisioning by both breeders and helpers

Methylation Quantitative Trait Loci Associated with PTSD in a South African Population

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2021.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex psychiatric disorder characterised by symptoms of intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviours, hyper-arousal and negative alterations to cognition and mood. PTSD is unique among psychiatric disorders in that it is a consequence of trauma exposure. Yet, studies previously conducted in the USA have shown that although 50-85% of individuals will encounter a traumatic event in their lifetime, the prevailing prevalence of PTSD lies approximately between 1.3 and 12.2%. This discrepancy serves to highlight the existence of factors granting individuals contingent resistance or vulnerability to the development of PTSD. While the molecular mechanisms elemental to PTSD remain largely unknown, prior heritability estimates and epigenome-wide association studies have suggested that the disorder presents both genetic and epigenetic components that mediate risk and resilience to PTSD. This study aimed to integrate genomic and epigenetic data to identify methylation quantitative trait loci (mQTLs) associated with PTSD. Variants of interest were identified through a polygenic risk score (PRS) model constructed to predict PTSD case-control status through the translation of European-derived PRS to a local South African population. The PRS model was subsequently assessed to determine whether DNA methylation variation in our sample was associated with an elevated polygenic risk burden for PTSD. Positional and dosage analysis was then conducted to investigate how any risk-conferring alleles identified were associated with specific methylated regions. PRS were constructed using data pertaining to the Psychiatric Genomic Consortium’s largest multi-ethnic genome-wide association study, but were not able to predict case-control status in a cohort of PTSD cases (n = 164) and trauma-exposed controls (n = 163) (p = 0.064). However, upon extracting the most predictive variants, the study was able to identify 44,614 mQTLs acting across 250 variants and 26,344 CpG probes. Moreover, the study identified evidence of substantial interconnectivity between the discovered mQTLs, wherein CpG sites were found to interact with a median of 2 different variants (IQR = 1 – 2) and each variant was found to interact with a median of 3 CpG probes (IQR = 1 – 10.5). Our results further support the hypothesis that the development of PTSD is dependent on an interconnected network of molecular interactions and highlight the need for future studies dedicated towards optimising PRS construction in multi-ethnic populations.AFRIKAANS OPSOMMING: Posttraumatiese stresversteuring (PTSV) is ‘n komplekse psigiatriese versteuring wat gekenmerk word deur simptome van indringende gedagtes, vermydingsgedrag, hiper-opwinding en negatiewe veranderinge aan kognisie en gemoedstoestand. PTSV is uniek onder psigiatriese versteurings omdat dit die gevolg is van blootstelling aan trauma. Tog het studies wat voorheen in die VSA gedoen is, getoon dat alhoewel 50-85% van alle individue gedurende hul leeftyd ‘n traumatiese gebeurtenis sal ervaar, die heersende voorkoms van PTSV ongeveer tussen 1.3 en 12.2% is. Hierdie teenstrydigheid beklemtoon die bestaan van faktore wat individue voorwaardelike weerstand of kwesbaarheid vir die ontwikkeling van PTSV bied. Alhoewel die molekulêre meganismes van PTSV grotendeels onbekend is, het vorige oorerflikheidsramings en epigenoom-wye assosiasie studies voorgestel dat die versteuring beide genetiese en epigenetiese komponente bevat wat die risiko en elastisiteit vir PTSV beinvloed. Hierdie studie het ten doel gehad om genomiese en epigenetiese data te integreer om die kwantitatiewe eienskap loci van metilering (mQTLs) geassosieer met PTSV te identifiseer. Variante van belang is geïdentifiseer deur middel van ‘n poligeniese risikotelling (PRT) model wat geskep is om die PTSV geval-kontrole status te voorspel deur die toepassing van Europese-afgeleide PRT na ‘n plaaslike Suid-Afrikaanse bevolking. Die PRT-model was vervolgens ondersoek om te bepaal of DNA-metilerings variasie in ons monster geassosieer is met ‘n verhoogde poligeniese risikolas vir PTSV. Posisionele- en doseringsanalises is daarna gedoen om te ondersoek hoe enige geïdentifiseerde risiko-allele geassosieer word met spesifieke gemetileerde streke. PRT is geskep met behulp van data wat verband hou met die grootste multi-etniese genome-wye assosiasie studie van die Psigiatriese Genomiese Konsortium, maar kon nie die geval-kontrole status in ‘n groep PTSV-gevalle (n = 164) en trauma-blootgestelde kontroles (n = 163) voorspel nie (p= 0.064). Na die onttrekking van die mees voorspellende variante kon die studie egter 44,614 mQTLs identifiseer wat interaksie toon met 250 variante en 26,344 CpG-posisies. Daarbenewens het die studie bewyse van aansienlike interkonnektiwiteit tussen die geïdentifiseerde mQTLs waargeneem, waarin gevind is dat CpG-posisies interaksie het met ‘n mediaan van 2 verskillende variante (IKV = 1 - 2), as ook dat elke variant interaksie het met ‘n mediaan van 3 CpG-posisies (IKV = 1 – 10.5). Ons resultate ondersteun verder die hipotese dat die ontwikkeling van PTSV afhanklik is van ‘n onderling gekoppelde netwerk van molekulêre interaksies en beklemtoon die behoefte aan toekomstige studies wat daarop gemik is om PRT-konstruksie in multi-etniese bevolkings te optimaliseer.Master

Mining a Chinese hyperthermophilic metagenome

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDMetagenomic sequencing of environmental samples provide direct access to genomic information of organisms within the respective environments. This sequence information represents a significant resource for the identification and subsequent characterization of potentially novel genes, or known genes with acquired novel characteristics. Within this context, the thermophilic environments are of particular interest due to its potential for deriving novel thermostable enzymes with biotechnological and industrial applications. In this work metagenomic library construction, random sequencing and sequence analysis strategies were employed to enhance identification and characterisation of potentially novel genes, from a thermophilic soil sample. High molecular weight metagenomic DNA was extracted from two Chinese hydrothermal soil samples. This was used as source material for the construction of four genomic DNA libraries. The combined libraries were estimated to contain in the order of 1.3 million genes, which provides a rich resource for gene identification. Approximately 70 kbp of sequence data was generated from one of the libraries as a resource for sequence-based analysis. Initial BLAST analysis predicted the presence of 53 ORFs/partial ORFs. The BLAST similarity scores for the investigated ORFs were sufficiently high (>40%) to infer homology with database proteins while also being indicative of novel sequence variants of these database matches. In an attempt to enhance the potential for deriving more full length ORFs a novel strategy, based on WGA technology, was employed. This resulted in the recovery of the near complete sequence of partial ORF5, directly from the WGA DNA of the environmental sample. While the full length ORF5 could not be recovered, the feasibility of this novel approach, for enhanced metagenomic sequence recovery was proved in principle. The implementation of multiple insilico strategies resulted in the identification of two ORFs, classified as homologs of the DUF29 and Usp protein families respectively. The functional inference obtained from the integrated in-silico predictions was furthermore highly suggestive of a putative nucleotide binding/interaction role for both ORFs. A putative novel DNA polymerase gene (denoted TC11pol) was identified from the sequence data. Expression and characterization of the full length TC11pol did however not result in detectable polymerase activity. The implementation of a homology modeling approach proved succesfull for deriving a structural model of the polymerase that was used for: (i) deriving functional inferences of the potential activities of the polymerase and (ii) deriving a 5’ exonuclease deletion mutant for functional analysis. Expression and subsequent functional characterization of the putative 5’exo- TC11pol mutant resulted in detectable polymerase and 3’-5’ exonuclease activity at 37 and 45 oC, following a heat denaturation step at 55 oC for 1 hour. It was, therefore concluded that the putative 5’exo- TC11pol mutant was functionally equivalent to the Klenow fragment of E. coli, while exhibiting increased thermostability.South Afric

Complete mitochondrial genomes of the African clawless (Aonyx capensis) and spotted necked (Hydrictis maculicollis) otter: structure, annotation, and interspecies variation

Otters are flagship species for pristine habitats and their southernmost distribution in Africa includes two species; Aonyx capensis and Hydrictis maculicollis. Here, we present novel full mitochondrial genomes of these otter species. The comparable mitogenomes consist of 36 genes including 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, and 22 tRNAs including a hypervariable region. Only 19 out of the 36 genes showed some level of variation between species with the smallest being trnV (68 bp difference) and the biggest being nad5 (1830 bp difference). Such variations may provide guidance in selecting gene regions during marker development for phylogenetic assessments

Genome Sequences of Three Vaccine Strains and Two Wild-Type Canine Distemper Virus Strains from a Recent Disease Outbreak in South Africa

Canine distemper virus causes global multihost infectious disease. This report details complete genome sequences of three vaccine and two new wild-type strains. The wild-type strains belong to the South African lineage, and all three vaccine strains to the America 1 lineage. This constitutes the first genomic sequences of this virus from South Africa.The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa and funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Professional Development Program.http://genomea.asm.orgam2018Veterinary Tropical Disease