Politics and trade in Africa : Does Sino-African trade and investment significantly influence Africa's United Nations General Assembly voting behaviour?

This paper is concerned with the political consequences of China's rapidly growing economic engagement in Africa. Whilst there has been much debate regarding the economic impact of China, few studies have been concerned with the foreign policy consequences of Sino-Africa trade relations. Using a panel of ten Sub-Saharan countries, this paper builds on the theoretical understanding of dependency theory, to explore the relationship between economic dependence and political alignment in the United Nations General Assembly (UN General Assembly). This research seeks to provide an understanding of whether states that rely heavily on China's export market are more likely to converge with China on foreign policy decisions. Acknowledging that convergence of votes with China will have implications for the United States, particularly in light of consistent foreign policy divergence between China and the US, this paper evaluates whether changes in trade relations with the US or US aid disbursements have a negative effect on voting alignment with China. The research includes two specific time periods, 1971-2011 and 2000- 2011, which isolates the effect of China's rapid emergence in the global economy and Africa in particular. Statistical analysis of the data prior to 2000 yields less convincing evidence of the relationship between export dependence and foreign policy convergence in the UN General Assembly. However, in the period thereafter, both export dependence on China and FDI from China have come to hold explanatory power in convergence of trade relations with voting convergence. Is China knowingly or unknowingly creating a level of export dependence as a way of bolstering support in the multilateral arena? Using ordinary least squares and fixed effects this paper finds evidence that greater trade in terms of exports to China promotes foreign policy convergence amongst SSA countries

Managing Acute Insomnia in Prison: Evaluation of a ‘one-shot’ Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) intervention

Insomnia is a serious condition that affects over 60% of the prison population and has been associated with aggression, anger, impulsivity, suicidality, and increased prison health care use. Nonpharmacological interventions for prison inmates are scarce despite the high prevalence and significant consequences of insomnia among those incarcerated. The aim of the present study was to examine the preliminary efficacy and effectiveness of a one-shot of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) for prison inmates with acute insomnia in an open trial. The intervention consisted of one 60-70 minute session of CBT-I and a self-management pamphlet. A consecutive series of 30 adult male offenders with acute insomnia from a UK prison completed measures of prospective sleep (daily sleep diary), insomnia symptoms severity (Insomnia Severity Index), and mood symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire and General Anxiety Disorder) one week before and four weeks after receiving the intervention. Pairwise t-tests revealed that a single-shot of CBT-I was effective in reducing the severity of insomnia in adult male offenders (t=(29), 12.65,p<0.001). Further, the results demonstrated high effect sizes for reductions in depressive (dz=1.07) and anxious (dz=1.06) symptoms, as well as insomnia severity (dz=2.25). A single shot session of CBT-I is effective in managing acute insomnia and mood (depression, anxiety) symptoms in adult male prison inmates. Future research should focus on testing if the single shot CBT-I intervention can be implemented and disseminated in other settings and populations (e.g., female and juvenile/youth offenders)

Subcellular effects of pavetamine on rat cardiomyocytes

The aim of this study was to investigate the mode of action of pavetamine on rat cardiomyocytes. Pavetamine is the causative agent of gousiekte (“quick-disease”), a disease of ruminants characterized by acute heart failure following ingestion of certain rubiaceous plants. Two in vitro rat cardiomyocyte models were utilized in this study, namely the rat embryonic cardiac cell line, H9c2, and primary neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Cytotoxicity of pavetamine was evaluated in H9c2 cells using the MTT and LDH release assays. The eventual cell death of H9c2 cells was due to necrosis, with LDH release into the culture medium after exposure to pavetamine for 72 h. Pavetamine did not induce apoptosis, as the typical features of apoptosis were not observed. Electron microscopy was employed to study ultrastructural alterations caused by pavetamine in H9c2 cells. The mitochondria and sarcoplasmic reticula showed abnormalities after 48 h exposure of the cells to pavetamine. Abundant secondary lysosomes with electron dense material were present in treated cells. Numerous vacuoles were also present in treated cells, indicative of autophagy. During this exposure time, the nuclei appeared normal, with no chromatin condensation as would be expected for apoptosis. Abnormalities in the morphology of the nuclei were only evident after 72 h exposure. The nuclei became fragmented and plasma membrane blebbing occurred. The mitochondrial membrane potential was investigated with a fluorescent probe, which demonstrated that pavetamine caused significant hyperpolarization of the mitochondrial membrane, in contrast to the depolarization caused by apoptotic inducers. Pavetamine did not cause opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, because cyclosporine A, which is an inhibitor of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, did not reduce the cytotoxicity of pavetamine significantly. Fluorescent probes were used to investigate subcellular changes induced by pavetamine in H9c2 cells. The mitochondria and sarcoplasmic reticula showed abnormal features compared to the control cells, which is consistent with the electron microscopy studies. The lysosomes of treated cells were more abundant and enlarged. The activity of cytosolic hexosaminidase was nearly three times higher in the treated cells than in the control cells, which suggested increased lysosomal membrane permeability. The activity of acid phosphatase was also increased in comparison to the control cells. In addition, the organization of the cytoskeletal F-actin of treated cells was severely affected by pavetamine. Rat neonatal cardiomyocytes were labelled with antibodies to detect the three major contractile proteins (titin, actin and myosin) and cytoskeletal proteins (F-actin, desmin and β-tubulin). Cells treated with pavetamine had degraded myosin and titin, with altered morphology of sarcomeric actin. Vacuoles appeared in the β-tubulin network, but the appearance of desmin was normal. F-actin was severely disrupted in cardiomyocytes treated with pavetamine and was degraded or even absent in treated cells. Ultrastructurally, the sarcomeres of rat neonatal cardiomyocytes exposed to pavetamine were disorganized and disengaged from the Z-lines, which can also be observed in the hearts of ruminants that have died of gousiekte. It is concluded that the pathological alteration to the major contractile and cytoskeleton proteins caused by pavetamine could explain the cardiac dysfunction that characterizes gousiekte. F-actin is involved in protein synthesis and therefore can play a role in the inhibition of protein synthesis in the myocardium of ruminants suffering from gousiekte. Apart from inhibition of protein synthesis in the heart, there is also increased degradation of cardiac proteins in an animal with gousiekte. The mitochondrial damage will lead to an energy deficiency and possibly to generation of reactive oxygen species. The sarcoplasmic reticula are involved in protein synthesis and any damage to them will affect protein synthesis, folding and post-translational modifications. This will activate the unfolded protein response (UPR) and sarcoplasmic reticula-associated protein degradation (ERAD). If the oxidizing environment of the sarcoplasmic reticula is disturbed, it will activate the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP) to clear aggregated and misfolded proteins. Lastly, the mitochondria, sarcoplasmic reticula and F-actin are involved in calcium homeostasis. Any damage to these organelles will have a profound influence on calcium flux in the heart and will further contribute to the contractile dysfunction that characterizes gousiekte.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010.Paraclinical Sciencesunrestricte

Local employment through the low-pressure solar water heater roll-out in South Africa

In February 2013, the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the post-2015 development agenda failed to identify climate change as a priority issue (United Nations 2013). The defined framing questions for the panel’s work and the most recent announcement highlight sustainable growth with equity, wealth through management of natural resources and partnerships - but not the detrimental impact of climate change on development (Field 2013). This shortcoming is a reflection of the current discourse. Even though changing, climate change and development are still located in two different camps. Although much work has gone into bridging this gap by potentially aligning policy agendas, the challenge to achieve integration of climate and development objectives is still obvious on the ground (Rennkamp 2012). Solar water heating in South Africa is one such on-ground example which, when investigated thoroughly, presents a learning opportunity

The production and evaluation of Pasteurella haemolytica leukotoxin in the supernatant of submerged cultures in fermenters

The optimal production of P. haemolytica leukotoxin in the culture supernatant of a fluid medium is dependent on a number of factors. The leukotoxin has to be produced by using a strain that is known for its ability to produce high quantities of leukotoxin, inoculated into the most suitable type of medium at the correct culture density containing the necessary supplements and harvested after a certain growth period. The volume in which it is produced may also have an influence. Two different procedures are described to produce the leukotoxin in 5 to 15-ℓ quantities in RPMI 1640 medium. The first method used to produce leukotoxin is one that has been repeatedly described since the presence of the leukotoxin was first established in 1978. Using this method seven batches of leukotoxin were produced in litre quantities with leukotoxin activity ranging from 23-67 u/mℓ. The seed culture inoculum is prepared in brain heart infusion broth, which is centrifuged before the organisms are inoculated into RPMI 1640 medium containing 3,5% foetal calf serum and incubated for only 1 h in a fermenter, after, which the leukotoxin is harvested. An improved alternative method was devised which yielded higher levels of leukotoxin activity by utilising the ability of the P. haemolytica organisms to grow and produce leukotoxin during the logarithmic growth phase in a fermenter. A seed culture harvested in the log phase was prepared in brain heart infusion broth by means of a series of cultures and inoculated into RPMI 1640 containing 3,5% foetal calf serum. Three hours of active growth were allowed during which the leukotoxin was measured by its biological activity and an ELISA assay, and the increase in cell mass by means of the optical density every 30 min. The average leukotoxin biological activity measured 260 u/mℓ and by means of the ELISA test the leukotoxin concentration measured 315 u/ℓ which is a substantial increase in leukotoxin production. In comparison the average optical density only measured 0,469 at 650 nm. Previous findings were substantiated that the highest cell density was not reflected in the highest leukotoxin activity. It is possible to induce high levels of leukotoxin secretion in submerged cultures with RPMI1640 medium containing foetal calf serum in the controlled environment of a fermenter in large enough quantities for use as a vaccine by the improved preparation of the seed culture inoculum.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat v.9 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

Use of human patient simulation to teach difficult airway management and improve patient safety in the nurse anesthesia student

Introduction. The objective of this study was to determine if scenario-based training (SB) was more effective than task-based (TB) training in teaching a difficult airway algorithm to nurse anesthesia student. Methods. Participants were second year nurse anesthesia students. Simulation was used as both a training and testing modality. Subjects were given a 2 scenario simulation based pre-test and a written test, randomized to receive either (1) lecture and task-based training or (2) lecture and scenario-based training. They were then post-tested with the same 2 simulation scenarios and an objective matched written posttest. Performance was videotaped and evaluated by 2 expert observers based on performance against an idealized algorithm, amount and time of desaturation, and time to secure the airway. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and students-t test. Levels of statistical significance were set at a of .05 (one-tail). Results. While performance improved in both groups on all outcome variables the SB group's improvement was statistically significant on the number of deviations from the airway algorithm (Pre-test TB = 23.09, Post-test TB = 16.27, Pre-test SB = 24.25, Post-test, SB = 12.83, interaction F = 2.91, p &lt; 0.05) and written exam (Pre-test TB = 69%, Post-test TB = 73%, Pre-test SB = 70%, Post-test, SB = 81%, interaction F = 3.30, p = 0.05). Conclusion. We found mixed evidence that SB training may offer specific advantages, including improved didactic knowledge and compliance with a complex algorithm, in teaching management of the patient with a difficult airway to novice anesthesia providers. Conversely, the total time of desaturation and lowest desaturation was not statistically significantly different. Subjectively both methods provided a high degree of self confidence in learning and student satisfaction as measured by the Student Satisfaction and Self Confidence in Learning Scale

Effects of the shared principles of middle school philosophy and culturally responsive education on the academic achievement of African American middle school students

This study was an investigation of the overlapping principles of relevance, rigor, and relationships inherent in both middle school philosophy and culturally responsive education to determine their effects on the academic achievement of African American middle school students. Utilizing a mixed-methods design, the following research questions were probed: (1) Is there a significant difference in the academic achievement of African American students in middle schools that highly implement the shared principles of middle school philosophy and culturally responsive education and those in middle schools that do not? (2) Describe the implementation of the shared principles of middle school philosophy and culturally responsive education in an exemplary middle school. Quantitative data included EOG test passing percentages of African American students in Schools to Watch (STW) and one-to-one matched non-Schools to Watch middle schools. Qualitative data was gathered through a case study of an urban STW middle school with a large African American student population. It consisted of student interviews and observations. There was no significant difference in the academic achievement of African American eighth graders in the two cohorts. The case study results detailed how the exemplary middle school employed the shared principles via (1) A shared vision of high expectations for all, (2) Support for the diverse needs of students, (3) Empowerment for decision-making and risk-taking, (4) Assessment and modification, (5) Real-world application, and (6) Firm, proactive, and positive discipline