Identity, race, history: South Africa and the Pan-African context

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 12 August, 1996To study a society from a comparative perspective is rarely a straightforward matter. A series of strategic decisions regarding topics, time-frames, and angles of observation must be taken before any such project can begin. Since all societies are composed of multiple institutional spheres, and many potential avenues of investigation of scholarly and political interest exist, no obvious way of proceeding with any comparative endeavour is likely to present itself Appropriate angles for investigation are determined by what appear at any given point as relevant aspects of social life, suitable theoretical perspectives, and specific time and space co-ordinates for any particular project. None of these factors are static, and as a result no fixed agendas for comparative inquiry can be established. The study of South African society is no exception to this general rule, and research agendas should therefore be constantly reviewed in order to keep them attuned to shifting social and scholarly concerns

Identity, democracy and political rights: South Africa in a comparative perspective

Paper presented at the Wits History Workshop: Democracy, Popular Precedents, Practice and Culture, 13-15 July, 1994

The study of South African society: A proposed agenda for comparative historical inquiry

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 1 March, 1993The goal of this paper is to outline an agenda for comparative historical inquiry, examine the comparative literature on South Africa in light of that agenda and explore the implications such an analytical program might have for our understanding of South African history. The last part of the paper attempts to suggest new directions (stimulate new questions and point at possible new answers) in South African studies. The comparative field is of particular importance in the context of this paper since it allows us to focus more clearly on the theoretical issues involved in the study of history, and evaluate the relations between the general and the particular in concrete historical investigations. The relevance of some of the issues discussed in a comparative context may go beyond the specific field of comparative history, however

A Physiology-Driven Computational Model for Post-Cardiac Arrest Outcome Prediction

Patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest (CA) face a high risk of neurological disability and death, however pragmatic methods are lacking for accurate and reliable prognostication. The aim of this study was to build computational models to predict post-CA outcome by leveraging high-dimensional patient data available early after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). We hypothesized that model performance could be enhanced by integrating physiological time series (PTS) data and by training machine learning (ML) classifiers. We compared three models integrating features extracted from the electronic health records (EHR) alone, features derived from PTS collected in the first 24hrs after ICU admission (PTS24), and models integrating PTS24 and EHR. Outcomes of interest were survival and neurological outcome at ICU discharge. Combined EHR-PTS24 models had higher discrimination (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]) than models which used either EHR or PTS24 alone, for the prediction of survival (AUC 0.85, 0.80 and 0.68 respectively) and neurological outcome (0.87, 0.83 and 0.78). The best ML classifier achieved higher discrimination than the reference logistic regression model (APACHE III) for survival (AUC 0.85 vs 0.70) and neurological outcome prediction (AUC 0.87 vs 0.75). Feature analysis revealed previously unknown factors to be associated with post-CA recovery. Results attest to the effectiveness of ML models for post-CA predictive modeling and suggest that PTS recorded in very early phase after resuscitation encode short-term outcome probabilities.Comment: 51 pages, 7 figures, 4 supplementary figure

Modulation of vascular reactivity by perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT)

Purpose of Review: In this review we discuss the role of perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) in the modulation of vascular contractility and arterial pressure, focusing on the role of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and oxidative stress/inflammation. Recent Findings: PVAT possesses an relevant endocrine-paracrine activity, which may be altered in several pathophysiological and clinical conditions. During the last two decades it has been shown PVAT may modulate vascular reactivity. It has also been previously demonstrated that inflammation in adipose tissue may be implicated in vascular dysfunction. In particular, adipocytes secrete a number of adipokines with various functions, as well as several vasoactive factors, together with components of the renin-angiotensin system which may act at local or at systemic level. It has been shown that the anticontractile effect of PVAT is lost in obesity, probably as a consequence of the development of adipocyte hypertrophy, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Summary: Adipose tissue dysfunction is interrelated with inflammation and oxidative stress, thus contributing to endothelial dysfunction observed in several pathological and clinical conditions such as obesity and hypertension. Decreased local adiponectin level, macrophage recruitment and infiltration, and activation of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system could play an important role in this regards