Go Jozi: Using informal trade and urbanathletics to re-imagine public space in Johannesburg's inner city

This thesis is an exploration of a new public space in the inner city of Johannesburg which attracts new people and becomes a catalyst for futer renewal and development. For this purpose the focus of my design methodology becomes the re-imagining of public space so as to achieve an iconic and unique space within the city. Two urban user groups who re-imagine urban space through their actions become my primary case studies. This group is made up of urban athletes and informal traders, who form the core of this thesis. For this reason my first step becomes the understanding of how these groups re-imagine space. This is achieved by studying and analysing their practices in the inner city of Johannesburg. With this documented I can discuss their potential as a resource for the design of a new public space in the city. First, however, I will establish, and discuss, the social and physical context of this new space by looking at Johannesburg’s historical and present day spatial makeup. This will ultimately validate my proposal and site selection. The design process begins with relevant public space precedent studies, followed by the definition of a programme and brief. These are carried forward into the design of my scheme, which includes a large plaza and supplementary building. The document will close with the design drawings and models

Deep seismic evidence of late Middle Proterozoic rifting beneath the Kalahari, Western Botswana

The full processing of seven reconnaissance, deep seismic reflection profiles recorded in western Botswana reveal the presence of a single, deep basin with a relatively uniform fill of 12 to 15 km of sedimentary rocks underlain by a mid to lower crust which shows considerable structure and reflectivity. Much of western Botswana falls within the broad physiographic region known as the Kalahari where much of the bedrock geology is concealed by Cretaceous to Recent Kalahari sands making regional tectonic interpretations difficult. Potential field data suggested the existence of deep sedimentary basins which prompted the Government of Botswana, with assistance from Petro-Canada International Assistance Corporation (PCIAC), to acquire approximately 1,000 km of 12 to 15 fold deep seismic reflection data in the western Kalahari region to evaluate its petroleum potential. A followup well drilled to a total depth of approximately 4 km along one of these profiles showed that a majority (> 2 km) of the rocks are sedimentary and of late Proterozoic (Ghanzi?) to early Cambrian (Nama) age. The stratigraphic break between the rocks of the Nama Group and those of the Permo-Carboniferous - Jurassic Karoo Supergroup is marked by a major unconformity and represents a considerable hiatus (≈ 200 - 300 Ma). The gross lithologic nature of "bright" mid to lower crustal reflectors is explored in a qualitative fashion by examining possible correlations between the potential field anomalies and these zones of increased reflectivity. These seismic data also indicate the possible presence of large-scale extensional structures suggestive of continental rifting. These extensional structures, along with an ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar date of 1,071.7 ± 11.1 Ma from a gabbroic body forming part of the Kalahari Line, and a series of continental rift sequences exposed along the northern and western fringes of the Kalahari region, all provide evidence of a widespread late Middle Proterozoic rifting event affecting much of the Kalahari region. This rifting may have marked the disassembly of a proposed Proterozoic supercontinent

Synchronous generator fault diagnosis using shaft signal measurements

Student Number :0008015M - MSc Dissertation - School of Electrical and Information Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built EnvironmentShaft voltages and currents are an unavoidable characteristic of rotating machines, though they are typically a nuisance this work shows that shaft signals can be used for fault diagnosis. This work focussed on shaft voltages present on synchronous generators. Measurements on a 4-pole generator found that the angular position of the shaft could be determined from the shaft voltage. An experimental 20 kVA 2-pole synchronous generator was designed and built which resembled a full-size 600 MVA turbo-generator. The effects of a static eccentricity on the shaft voltage were successfully determined firstly through FEM simulation and then verified with physical measurements. Shaft voltages can be used to diagnose static eccentricity, future work should investigate other faults. In addition, computer simulation was found to be effective and simulation and measurements of operating machines (such as turbo-generators) should be considered

Hepatic radioembolization from transradial access: initial experience and comparison to transfemoral access

PURPOSE:Despite the growing evidence in the cardiology literature that transradial approach has substantial benefits over transfemoral access, this technique is rarely used during interventions in the systemic circulation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of transradial approach for hepatic radioembolization and to compare it with transfemoral approach.METHODS:Sixty-four hepatic radioembolizations performed in 50 patients were included in the study. Thirty-three procedures were performed via radial access in 27 patients, and 31 procedures were performed via femoral access in 23 patients.RESULTS:There was 100% technical success in performing hepatic radioembolization in both groups. The majority (97%) of the patients who underwent transradial radioembolization reported preference for radial artery access. The fluoroscopy time was significantly longer (9.45±5.09 min vs. 5.72±3.67 min, P < 0.01) and the radiation dose was significantly higher (597.8±585.2 mGy vs. 302.8±208.3 mGy, P < 0.01) in the radial group compared with the femoral group. The direct cost savings using radial access versus femoral access is approximately $100/procedure. In addition, there was a one hour (50%) shorter postprocedural stay for patients who underwent the transradial procedure.CONCLUSION:Transradial access is feasible for hepatic radioembolization. The transradial approach is cheaper and offers improved patient comfort. However, it is technically challenging, with longer fluoroscopy times and higher radiation doses. Transradial approach should be considered as a primary choice in patients with low platelet count and/or morbid obesity. Transradial access should be in the procedural repertoire of every interventional radiologist

The Confluence of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy and Tumor Immunology

Stereotactic radiation approaches are gaining more popularity for the treatment of intracranial as well as extracranial tumors in organs such as the liver and lung. Technology, rather than biology, is driving the rapid adoption of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), also known as stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), in the clinic due to advances in precise positioning and targeting. Dramatic improvements in tumor control have been demonstrated; however, our knowledge of normal tissue biology response mechanisms to large fraction sizes is lacking. Herein, we will discuss how SABR can induce cellular expression of MHC I, adhesion molecules, costimulatory molecules, heat shock proteins, inflammatory mediators, immunomodulatory cytokines, and death receptors to enhance antitumor immune responses

The SABRTooth feasibility trial protocol: a study to determine the feasibility and acceptability of conducting a phase III randomised controlled trial comparing stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) with surgery in patients with peripheral stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) considered to be at higher risk of complications from surgical resection.

Background Stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is potentially curable, and surgery is considered to be the standard of care for patients with good performance status and minimal co-morbidity. However, a significant proportion of patients with stage I NSCLC have a poorer performance status and significant medical co-morbidity that make them at higher risk of morbidity and mortality from surgery. Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), which uses modern radiotherapeutic techniques to deliver large doses of radiation, has shown superiority over conventional radiotherapy in terms of local control and toxicity and is a standard of care for patients with stage I NSCLC who are at too high risk for surgery. However, it is not known whether surgery or SABR is the most effective in patients with stage I NSCLC who are suitable for surgery but are less fit and at higher risk surgical complications. Previous randomised studies have failed to recruit in this setting, and therefore, a feasibility study is required to see whether a full randomised control trial would be possible. Methods/design SABRTooth is a UK-based, multi-centre, open-label, two-group individually (1:1) randomised controlled feasibility study in patients with peripheral stage I NSCLC considered to be at higher risk from surgical resection. The study will assess the feasibility of conducting a definitive large-scale phase III trial. The primary objective is to assess recruitment rates to provide evidence that, when scaled up, recruitment to a large phase III trial would be possible; the target recruitment being 54 patients in total, over a 21-month period. There are multiple secondary and exploratory objectives designed to explore the optimum recruitment and data collection strategies to help optimise the design of a future phase III trial. Discussion To know whether SABR is a better, equivalent or inferior alternative to surgery for higher risk patients is a key question in lung cancer. Other studies comparing SABR to surgery have closed early due to poor recruitment, and therefore, the SABRTooth feasibility study has been designed around the UK National Health Service (NHS) cancer pathway incorporating many design features in order to maximise recruitment for a future definitive phase III trial

Aristotle for nursing

This article aims: 1) to introduce the wider philosophy of Aristotle to nurses and health care practitioners; 2) to show that Aristotle's philosophical system is an interdependent whole; and 3) to defend its plausibility and usefulness despite its ancient and alien origins. Aristotle's system can be set out as a hierarchy, with metaphysics at the top and methodology running throughout. Beneath metaphysics are the sciences, with theoretical, practical and productive (or craft) sciences in hierarchical order. This hierarchy does not imply that, say, metaphysics is superior to biology or nursing, but rather that metaphysics can be understood without reference to the other two but, as we shall see, not vice versa. Two themes run through Aristotelian philosophy. The first is Aristotle's method of inquiry, central to which is that our starting point is not pure empirical data but rather current puzzles; complementing this method is a realist philosophy. The second theme is teleology, the understanding of action in the world in terms of ends, as when we say a plant grows roots in order to reach water and nutrients. Implications for nursing. Good health is the good functioning of the material aspect of humans; flourishing is good functioning of humans per se. The goals of nursing, which are based in health, are subsumed by the overall human goal of flourishing, and this helps us to understand and set boundaries to health care. Two examples illustrate this. The first is that mental illness is strongly within the purview of nursing and health care whereas bad decisions, such as smoking, are only marginally so. The second is ethics, where it is argued that the attempt to describe ethical decision-making as in addition to and separate from the decisions made within nursing and health care itself cannot be sustained

External beam irradiation of myocardial carcinoid metastases: a case report

The heart is an exceedingly rare site of metastatic involvement in carcinoid tumors. Only nineteen cases have been described in the literature over the past 30 years. We report here on a patient who presented with progressive carcinoid syndrome despite surgical resection of her liver metastases. She was found to have cardiac metastases on inidium-111-pentetreotide scintigraphy and subsequently underwent external beam radiation to the heart resulting in symptomatic palliation of her syndrome and objective radiographic response. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of metastatic cardiac carcinoid treated with external beam irradiation