Njinga

This piece is based upon my experiences over the course of 18 months in Lusaka, Zambia with the Cen- ter for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ). I worked with patients in HIV/AIDS clinics across the country, coordinating community health initiatives and assisting in small business develop- ment for HIV support groups. In this setting, the limits and discrepancies in access to health care, nutri- tion, employment and education were stark and sobering, but it wasn’t necessary to venture into the heart of a compound to witness the risk factors faced by most Zambians. A simple commute to work was enough to see the effects of poverty and the threat of disease. My work and time in Zambia has im- pressed upon me the importance of understanding a patient’s life and context outside of the clinic, in order to treat them effectively within the clinic

A SCALE-DEPENDENT EXAMINATION OF STOPOVER DECISIONS IN MIGRATORY PASSERINES AT LONG POINT, ONTARIO

Stopovers, periods o f rest and refuelling between migratory flights, play an integral role in determining fitness o f migrating passerines. Migration success is dependent on decisions made about when to arrive and leave particular stopover sites and how to utilize regional landscapes. I used mark-recapture analysis o f bird banding data from a stopover site and direct measurements from radio telemetry data covering a stopover landscape of~20 x 40 km at Long Point, Ontario, to examine stopover decisions. Specifically, I estimated probabilities that individuals would leave a site in relation to age, fat stores, season, and the extent to which decisions made in the landscape influence decisions at particular sites. I found decisions to leave a stopover site are largely age-dependent regardless of fat stores or season with adults having higher departure probabilities than young. Additionally, these initial decisions are primarily determined by landscape scale decisions prior to landfall although divergent life histories favour different strategies. Knowledge of the evolution and ecology of migration and for conservation o f migratory passerines requires an integrated understanding o f how migrants use local sites and broad landscapes to optimize their migration

The Court of Justice of the European Communities: The Scope of its Jurisidction and the Evolution of its Case Law under the EEC Treaty

The European Court of Justice, as the sole judicial institution of the European Communities, has evolved into a vigorous body asserting a strong cohesive influence upon the Member States through application of the principles asserted in the Communities\u27 Treaties. In this article, Lord Mackenzie Stuart examines the jurisdiction of the Court in light of recent case law. In particular, Judge MacKenzie Stuart discusses doctrines of jurisdiction adopted by the Court and the application of these doctrines to recent developments involving free movement of goods and of persons within the Communities and other Treaty principles such as equal pay for men and women

The Court of Justice of the European Communities: The Scope of its Jurisidction and the Evolution of its Case Law under the EEC Treaty

The European Court of Justice, as the sole judicial institution of the European Communities, has evolved into a vigorous body asserting a strong cohesive influence upon the Member States through application of the principles asserted in the Communities\u27 Treaties. In this article, Lord Mackenzie Stuart examines the jurisdiction of the Court in light of recent case law. In particular, Judge MacKenzie Stuart discusses doctrines of jurisdiction adopted by the Court and the application of these doctrines to recent developments involving free movement of goods and of persons within the Communities and other Treaty principles such as equal pay for men and women

G protein-coupled receptor 35: an emerging target in inflammatory and cardiovascular disease

G protein-coupled receptor 35 (GPR35) is an orphan receptor, discovered in 1998, that has garnered interest as a potential therapeutic target through its association with a range of diseases. However, a lack of pharmacological tools and the absence of convincingly defined endogenous ligands have hampered the understanding of function necessary to exploit it therapeutically. Although several endogenous molecules can activate GPR35 none has yet been confirmed as the key endogenous ligand due to reasons that include lack of biological specificity, non-physiologically relevant potency and species ortholog selectivity. Recent advances have identified several highly potent synthetic agonists and antagonists, as well as agonists with equivalent potency at rodent and human orthologs, which will be useful as tool compounds. Homology modeling and mutagenesis studies have provided insight into the mode of ligand binding and possible reasons for the species selectivity of some ligands. Advances have also been made in determining the role of the receptor in disease. In the past, genome-wide association studies have associated GPR35 with diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, type 2 diabetes, and coronary artery disease. More recent functional studies have implicated it in processes as diverse as heart failure and hypoxia, inflammation, pain transduction and synaptic transmission. In this review, we summarize the progress made in understanding the molecular pharmacology, downstream signaling and physiological function of GPR35, and discuss its emerging potential applications as a therapeutic target

Benjamin Franklin in Scotland

Benjamin Franklin in Scotlan

Brussels 1992 - Philadelphia 1787

Brussels 1992 - Philadelphia 178

Microchemostat technologies for characterization of efflux pumps associated with multidrug resistance in mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Microbiology. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2016.Abstract available in PDF file

Reflexes evoked by electrical vestibular stimulation and their clinical application

The vestibular system provides vital information about head position and motion; which is used for the control of balance through vestibulospinal reflexes. Chapter 2 explores the process of transforming head position to body coordinates, with and without vision. The results show when vision is available, the evoked response is less precise. Chapter 3 explores the transformation process before and after 60 days of bedrest. After this period of inactivity, participants swayed more, and their EVS-evoked sway response was less precise. This decrement in precision appears to begin recovery 6 days postbedrest. Chapter 4 focuses on vestibulo-ocular reflexes rather than postural reflexes. Electrical vestibular stimulation is used to evoke measurable torsional eye-movements. The magnitude of the response is modulated by stimulus frequency. Results suggest that CNS interprets electrical vestibular stimulation as a velocity signal rather than a position or acceleration signal. This technique is an ideal measure of pure vestibular function, Chapter 5 utilised the technique in a clinical environment. Vestibular schwannoma patients, with known unilateral vestibular deficit, were tested to identify if the proposed technique can detect this deficit. Results showed that asymmetries could be detected, and, the test may be more sensitive than previously used measures of vestibular asymmetries

The effects of Tulbaghia violacea leaf, bulb and stalk extracts on Jurkat cells.

Thesis (M.Med.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.Studies have shown that the traditional healers have used Tulbaghia violacea (TV) (also known as ‘wild garlic’) for the treatment of a number of ailments including fever, tuberculosis, stomach problems, and oesophageal cancer. However, little is known with regards to the anticancer and antiproliferative properties of this plant. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of TV and domesticated garlic extracts on Jurkat cells, in order to determine whether or not these extracts possess anti-proliferative properties. Cultured Jurkat cells were treated with IC50 concentrations of garlic (14μg/ml), TV leaf (256μg/ml), TV bulb (225μg/ml) and TV stalk (216μg/ml) extracts as determined by the methylthiazol tetrazolium assay. Free radical production was measured using the thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) and nitric oxide (NO) assays, while glutathione (GSH) concentration was measured using the GSH-Glo™ assay. The apoptosis inducing properties of each extract were measured using flow cytometry (Annexin V- Fluos and JC-1 assays) and luminometry (caspases 3/7, 8, 9 and ATP). Western blots were run to determine protein expression, while comet and DNA fragmentation assays were used to determine the level of DNA damage induced. Wild and domesticated garlic extracts induced a significant increase in malondialdehyde concentration ([MDA]), with TV bulb extract inducing the highest concentration (p<0.0001). A significant increase in NO concentration was observed in the bulb (p<0.0001) and stalk (p<0.001) extracts, and leaf (p<0.05) and stalk (p<0.05) TV extracts significantly increasing GSH concentration. The longest comet tails were observed in TV bulb extracts (p<0.0001) and comprised mainly of single strand breaks, while the comets induced following garlic exposure contained double strand breaks. All extracts, except TV leaf, increased the percentage of cells undergoing apoptosis. Tulbaghia violacea leaf induced a significant (p<0.0001) increase in percentage of cells undergoing necrosis, whereas TV bulb resulted in a significant (p<0.0001) decrease. All TV extracts induced caspase 3/7 and 9 activity, with the most significant increase in caspase 9 activity observed for TV leaf and bulb. No significant change in caspase 3/7 activity was evident for domesticated garlic. Cleavage of PARP and expression of NF B and HSP 70 occured for all extracts. However, HSP 70 was not differentially expressed. Exposure to wild and domesticated garlic extracts induced peroxidative lipid and DNA damage within the cells, indicating oxidative stress. This damage occurred in conjunction with increased percentage of cells undergoing apoptosis and expression of caspase 3/7. Therefore, these findings suggest that TV is inducing cell death through apoptosis in Jurkat cells using a number of mechanisms, including the induction of oxidative stress. This is of clinical significance, as cell death through apoptosis is the preferred method of action for anti-cancer drugs