Influence of Spin-off and Private Companies in the process of Technology creation and Transfer at a University of Technology in South Africa

Abstract: Going by the assumption that technology is not created for its own sake, this paper gauges the peculiar role that of spin-off, and private companies play in the process of technology creation and transfer at a University of Technology(UoT) in South Africa, using academic entrepreneurs as the lens. Structured questionnaires were electronically administered to the 52 participants purposively drawn for the study. The sample was drawn from a database composed using UoT X’s in-house research records. Included in the database, were active and non-active academics in terms of technology creation and transfer. It was noted that most active researchers and innovators were involved in one form of university–industry collaboration or the other. Furthermore, it was observed that the private companies had a vital role to play as far as the process of technology transfer and commercialization is concerned. This is notably relevant given that the overwhelming majority of the participants (91.7%) reiterated the importance of university–industry partnerships in the transfer and commercialization of inventions. Moreover, highlighting the importance of private companies, a slight majority (52.8%) of the participants indicated that they were surely motivated to bring forth innovative products by private companies in the last five years

The role of academic entrepreneurs in the process of technology transfer and commercialization: the case of a University of Technology in South Africa

in academic entrepreneurship and creation of university spin-off companies has grown in South Africa. This study aims to establish the factors that inspire academics to engage in entrepreneurial activities and to identify the role that academic entrepreneurs play in the process of technology transfer and commercialization at University of Technology (UoT) X. A quantitative research approach is adopted throughout this study. As part of the quantitative research approach, structured questionnaires were directly administered to the respondents to collect the data. Specifically, 52 electronic survey questionnaires were distributed. The sample is drawn from two databases compiled, using UOTX’s internal research records. One of the databases, held a list of those academics who have been active in terms of research as evident in their research outputs – technology creation and transfer. The other database (control group) holds a list of those academics that have not been active. From both groups, a purposive sample is drawn for the survey questionnaire. This study notes that pull factors tend to influence the entrepreneurial activities of academics at UOT X more than push factors and that academics are key players in the process of technology transfer. Thus, this study may assist the university senior management to develop strategies to improve academic entrepreneurship for all faculties. In line with this, it is expected that the primary function of UOT X should be to instil a greater entrepreneurial spirit among the relevant stakeholders

Influence of Spin-off and Private Companies in the process of Technology creation and Transfer at a University of Technology in South Africa

Going by the assumption that technology is not created for its own sake, this paper gauges the peculiar role that of spin-off, and private companies play in the process of technology creation and transfer at a University of Technology (UoT) in South Africa, using academic entrepreneurs as the lens. Structured questions were electronically administered to the 52 participants purposively drawn for the study. The sample was drawn from a database composed using UoT X’s in-house research records. Included in the database, were active and non-active academics in terms of technology creation and transfer. It was noted that most active researchers and innovators were involved in one form of university–industry collaboration or another. Furthermore, it was observed that the private companies had a vital role to play as far as the process of technology transfer and commercialization is concerned. This is notably relevant given that the overwhelming majority of the participants (91.7%) reiterated the importance of university–industry partnerships in the transfer and commercialization of inventions. Moreover, highlighting the importance of private companies, a slight majority (52.8%) of the participants indicated that they were surely motivated to bring forth innovative products by private companies in the last five years

InterVA-4 as a public health tool for measuring HIV/AIDS mortality: a validation study from five African countries.

BACKGROUND: Reliable population-based data on HIV infection and AIDS mortality in sub-Saharan Africa are scanty, even though that is the region where most of the world's AIDS deaths occur. There is therefore a great need for reliable and valid public health tools for assessing AIDS mortality. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to validate the InterVA-4 verbal autopsy (VA) interpretative model within African populations where HIV sero-status is recorded on a prospective basis, and examine the distribution of cause-specific mortality among HIV-positive and HIV-negative people. DESIGN: Data from six sites of the Alpha Network, including HIV sero-status and VA interviews, were pooled. VA data according to the 2012 WHO format were extracted, and processed using the InterVA-4 model into likely causes of death. The model was blinded to the sero-status data. Cases with known pre-mortem HIV infection status were used to determine the specificity with which InterVA-4 could attribute HIV/AIDS as a cause of death. Cause-specific mortality fractions by HIV infection status were calculated, and a person-time model was built to analyse adjusted cause-specific mortality rate ratios. RESULTS: The InterVA-4 model identified HIV/AIDS-related deaths with a specificity of 90.1% (95% CI 88.7-91.4%). Overall sensitivity could not be calculated, because HIV-positive people die from a range of causes. In a person-time model including 1,739 deaths in 1,161,688 HIV-negative person-years observed and 2,890 deaths in 75,110 HIV-positive person-years observed, the mortality ratio HIV-positive:negative was 29.0 (95% CI 27.1-31.0), after adjustment for age, sex, and study site. Cause-specific HIV-positive:negative mortality ratios for acute respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS-related deaths, meningitis, tuberculosis, and malnutrition were higher than the all-cause ratio; all causes had HIV-positive:negative mortality ratios significantly higher than unity. CONCLUSIONS: These results were generally consistent with relatively small post-mortem and hospital-based diagnosis studies in the literature. The high specificity in cause of death attribution achieved in relation to HIV status, and large differences between specific causes by HIV status, show that InterVA-4 is an effective and valid tool for assessing HIV-related mortality

Cerebellar c9RAN proteins associate with clinical and neuropathological characteristics of C9ORF72 repeat expansion carriers.

Clinical and neuropathological characteristics associated with G4C2 repeat expansions in chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9ORF72), the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia, are highly variable. To gain insight on the molecular basis for the heterogeneity among C9ORF72 mutation carriers, we evaluated associations between features of disease and levels of two abundantly expressed "c9RAN proteins" produced by repeat-associated non-ATG (RAN) translation of the expanded repeat. For these studies, we took a departure from traditional immunohistochemical approaches and instead employed immunoassays to quantitatively measure poly(GP) and poly(GA) levels in cerebellum, frontal cortex, motor cortex, and/or hippocampus from 55 C9ORF72 mutation carriers [12 patients with ALS, 24 with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and 19 with FTLD with motor neuron disease (FTLD-MND)]. We additionally investigated associations between levels of poly(GP) or poly(GA) and cognitive impairment in 15 C9ORF72 ALS patients for whom neuropsychological data were available. Among the neuroanatomical regions investigated, poly(GP) levels were highest in the cerebellum. In this same region, associations between poly(GP) and both neuropathological and clinical features were detected. Specifically, cerebellar poly(GP) levels were significantly lower in patients with ALS compared to patients with FTLD or FTLD-MND. Furthermore, cerebellar poly(GP) associated with cognitive score in our cohort of 15 patients. In the cerebellum, poly(GA) levels similarly trended lower in the ALS subgroup compared to FTLD or FTLD-MND subgroups, but no association between cerebellar poly(GA) and cognitive score was detected. Both cerebellar poly(GP) and poly(GA) associated with C9ORF72 variant 3 mRNA expression, but not variant 1 expression, repeat size, disease onset, or survival after onset. Overall, these data indicate that cerebellar abnormalities, as evidenced by poly(GP) accumulation, associate with neuropathological and clinical phenotypes, in particular cognitive impairment, of C9ORF72 mutation carriers

Oncogenic gene expression and epigenetic remodeling of cis-regulatory elements in ASXL1-mutant chronic myelomonocytic leukemia

Myeloid neoplasms are clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorders driven by the sequential acquisition of recurrent genetic lesions. Truncating mutations in the chromatin remodeler ASXL1 (ASXL1MT) are associated with a high-risk disease phenotype with increased proliferation, epigenetic therapeutic resistance, and poor survival outcomes. We performed a multi-omics interrogation to define gene expression and chromatin remodeling associated with ASXL1MT in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). ASXL1MT are associated with a loss of repressive histone methylation and increase in permissive histone methylation and acetylation in promoter regions. ASXL1MT are further associated with de novo accessibility of distal enhancers binding ETS transcription factors, targeting important leukemogenic driver genes. Chromatin remodeling of promoters and enhancers is strongly associated with gene expression and heterogenous among overexpressed genes. These results provide a comprehensive map of the transcriptome and chromatin landscape of ASXL1MT CMML, forming an important framework for the development of novel therapeutic strategies targeting oncogenic cis interactions

Stellenbosch Media Forum 2008

Stellenbosch Media Forum is an annual publication written and produced by the BPhil (Journalism) class of that specific year in the Department of Journalism, Stellenbosch University.Earlier this year Koos Bekker, owner of Media24, said he would not buy the New York Times even though his company could afford it. According to Moneyweb.co.za Bekker said the days of print media are numbered and the New York Times is old news. Die afgelope klompie jare het die media 'n transformasie ondergaan. In Suid-Afrika spesifiek is talle beperkinge op die media in die post-94-era opgehef. Die media funksioneer in 'n vryemark-stelsel en die algemene persepsie is dat dit meer fokus op die kommersiele as tevore. Met die ekonomiese afplatting is daar boonop gerugte van personeelverminderings en word selfs meer verwag van die Gideonsbende wat in die nuuskantore oorbly. Exposure to a variety of TV channels and internet websites is increasing the visual stimulation of media audiences. Media products are being redesigned to satisfy specific needs, in specific niches. One big change in terms of design is that more - and bigger - visuals and less text are being used. Vanjaar het e.tv die eerste 24-uur-nuuskanaal in Suid-Afrika geloods en al hoe meer drukmediaprodukte fokus op hul aanlyn-teenwoordigheid. Die Mail & Guardian het in Junie sy webtuiste herontwerp en sy groepblog, Thoughtleader, het die prys vir die Beste Suid-Afrikaanse Blog in die 2008 Suid-Afrikaanse Blogtoekennnings gekry. The Times, die Sunday Times se interaktiewe dagblad, het vanjaar sy eerste verjaarsdag gevier en bewys (sover) dat die konsep van 'n koerant wat met 'n webblad geintegreer is, wel werk. We are living in exciting times as far as development in the media is concerned. And that is why this year's edition of SMF has as its theme "Change in the media". Die veranderende media is hoofsaaklik te danke aan die ontwikkeling van tegnologie, soos dat jy jou nuus op jou selfoon kan kry. Nuttig, veral in Suid-Afrika waar die toegang tot breebandinternet gebrekkig is. Die koms van blogs noop koerante nou om onmiddellikheid en interaksie na te volg. These developments also influence journalists, sources and their audiences. With the advent of democracy in South Africa, changes in the consumer demographics of certain media products have occurred. And, oh yes, women have also advanced in the media since 1994, both as producers of media, and how they are represented. And then there is the youth, who "owns" new media technologies. And the disabled, who can get access to a new world through media technology. But, there are still many people in South Africa who do not have access to media, because of socio-economic circumstances: too poor to own the latest technology; illiterate and forgotten by the media elites. Die rol van die media, om debat te stimuleer, as waghond op te tree en die stem van die stemloses te wees, word deur al hierdie veranderings uitgedaag. Toenemende kommersialisering kan mediavryheid van binne erodeer. En dan is daar steeds die moontlikheid van politieke inmenging, al is mediavryheid grondwetlik verskans. Tradisionele kunsvorme in die media, soos kortverhale, radiodramas en boekresensies word gemarginaliseer, maar tog is daar die moontlikheid dat hulle kan aanpas en bly voortbestaan. Another challenge is the media's coverage of environmental issues, which has to be in sync with the phenomenon of global warming. Sport reporting also has to adapt to new developments, with sport writers now needing to have a knowledge of economics and politics as well. Een ding is seker: maatskappye, mense, produkte en onderwerpe wat by die media betrokke is, sal soos 'n verkleurmannetjie moet aanpas om te kan oorleef

Genetic Divergence and Dispersal of Yellow Fever Virus, Brazil

Examining viral isolates collected over 66 years shows divergence into clades and potential dispersal by human migration

In Vivo T Cell Costimulation Blockade with Abatacept for Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease Prevention: A First-in-Disease Trial

AbstractWe performed a first-in-disease trial of in vivo CD28:CD80/86 costimulation blockade with abatacept for acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) prevention during unrelated-donor hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). All patients received cyclosporine/methotrexate plus 4 doses of abatacept (10 mg/kg/dose) on days −1, +5, +14, +28 post-HCT. The feasibility of adding abatacept, its pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and its impact on aGVHD, infection, relapse, and transplantation-related mortality (TRM) were assessed. All patients received the planned abatacept doses, and no infusion reactions were noted. Compared with a cohort of patients not receiving abatacept (the StdRx cohort), patients enrolled in the study (the ABA cohort) demonstrated significant inhibition of early CD4+ T cell proliferation and activation, affecting predominantly the effector memory (Tem) subpopulation, with 7- and 10-fold fewer proliferating and activated CD4+ Tem cells, respectively, at day+28 in the ABA cohort compared with the StdRx cohort (P < .01). The ABA patients demonstrated a low rate of aGVHD, despite robust immune reconstitution, with 2 of 10 patients diagnosed with grade II-IV aGVHD before day +100, no deaths from infection, no day +100 TRM, and with 7 of 10 evaluable patients surviving (median follow-up, 16 months). These results suggest that costimulation blockade with abatacept can significantly affect CD4+ T cell proliferation and activation post-transplantation, and may be an important adjunct to standard immunoprophylaxis for aGVHD in patients undergoing unrelated-donor HCT