HOMELESS IN OBSERVATORY, CAPE TOWN THROUGH THE LENS OF MAX-NEEF'S FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN NEEDS TAXONOMY

The level of homelessness on the streets of South Africa is regarded as a slow-moving tragedy. The aim of this article is to explain the profile of the homeless in Observatory, Cape Town using Max-Neef’s Fundamental Human Needs taxonomy. A concurrent mixed-methods research design was implemented including 48 homeless persons living on the streets in Observatory. The quantitative data were analysed with SPSS and the qualitative data with Creswell’s guideline for thematic analysis. The results clearly show the complexity of the lives of the homeless and that assistance to move out of homelessness will require complex and holistic efforts

Homeless in Observatory, Cape Town through the lens of Max-Neef's Fundamental Human Needs taxonomy

The suburb of Observatory, also affectionately known as ''Obs'', is one of the older suburbs of the City of Cape Town, home to multiple cultures, a student population from the University of Cape Town, a variety of churches, the Provincial Government Groote Schuur Hospital, the Government Psychiatric Hospital Valkenburg, and the home of the South African Astronomical Observatory built in 1897 - hence the name of the suburb. It is one of the oldest areas of Cape Town. Unfortunately Observatory also has a high crime rate and many homeless people. In the beginning of 2014 concerned community members of Observatory approached the authors of this article to conduct a research study to profile the homeless in Observatory. The aim of this article is therefore to describe the profile of the homeless in Observatory, Cape Town and to develop some understanding of the lives of the homeless.ScieL

RELATIONAL ASPECTS OF FAMILY FUNCTIONING AND FAMILY SATISFACTION WITH A SAMPLE OF FAMILIES IN THE WESTERN CAPE

Family functioning may affect how satisfied family members are within the family. This study assessed the relational aspects between family functioning and family satisfaction with a conveniently sampled group of families. This study applied a quantitative methodology with a cross-sectional correlational design. The sample consisted of 204 participants (57% females, 50% Black Africans and 39% speaking isiXhosa). The average age was 31 years (SD=11.07). The results suggest that families could be at risk in terms of family functioning and this predicted being satisfied with the family. Implications for social work practice are provided

Soil biochemistry and microbial activity in vineyards under conventional and organic management at Northeast Brazil.

The São Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that orgThe São Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that organic fertilization can improve soil quality, we compared the effects of conventional and organic soil management on microbial activity and mycorrhization of seedless grape crops. We measured glomerospores number, most probable number (MPN) of propagules, richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) species, AMF root colonization, EE-BRSP production, carbon microbial biomass (C-MB), microbial respiration, fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activity (FDA) and metabolic coefficient (qCO2). The organic management led to an increase in all variables with the exception of EE-BRSP and qCO2. Mycorrhizal colonization increased from 4.7% in conventional crops to 15.9% in organic crops. Spore number ranged from 4.1 to 12.4 per 50 g-1 soil in both management systems. The most probable number of AMF propagules increased from 79 cm-3 soil in the conventional system to 110 cm-3 soil in the organic system. Microbial carbon, CO2 emission, and FDA activity were increased by 100 to 200% in the organic crop. Thirteen species of AMF were identified, the majority in the organic cultivation system. Acaulospora excavata, Entrophospora infrequens, Glomus sp.3 and Scutellospora sp. were found only in the organically managed crop. S. gregaria was found only in the conventional crop. Organically managed vineyards increased mycorrhization and general soil microbial activity

Immunosuppressive niche engineering at the onset of human colorectal cancer

The evolutionary dynamics of tumor initiation remain undetermined, and the interplay between neoplastic cells and the immune system is hypothesized to be critical in transformation. Colorectal cancer (CRC) presents a unique opportunity to study the transition to malignancy as pre-cancers (adenomas) and early-stage cancers are frequently resected. Here, we examine tumor-immune eco-evolutionary dynamics from pre-cancer to carcinoma using a computational model, ecological analysis of digital pathology data, and neoantigen prediction in 62 patient samples. Modeling predicted recruitment of immunosuppressive cells would be the most common driver of transformation. As predicted, ecological analysis reveals that progressed adenomas co-localized with immunosuppressive cells and cytokines, while benign adenomas co-localized with a mixed immune response. Carcinomas converge to a common immune “cold” ecology, relaxing selection against immunogenicity and high neoantigen burdens, with little evidence for PD-L1 overexpression driving tumor initiation. These findings suggest re-engineering the immunosuppressive niche may prove an effective immunotherapy in CRC

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Using somatic evolution to unravel cell fate dynamics to gain tissue level insights

Cancer initiation and progression is an evolutionary process where somatic alterations convey fitness advantages to cells that exist in a complex environment acting to shape cell populations. Homeostasis, being the normal state of a tissue prior to disease, prioritizes and protects long lived stem cells that are capable of incurring these somatic alterations and contributes to the early evolutionary dynamics from which cancer initiation occurs. Research over the past two decades has made substantial inroads into our understanding of somatic mutations through characterization of healthy tissue. In parallel, agent based mechanistic models have emerged as an important tool for understanding somatic mutation and stem cell dynamics in both cancer and homeostatic tissues. In this thesis we combine first principles mathematical modeling of homeostasis, complete with high-resolution genotypic information, with healthy patient sequence data in various tissue types to answer critical biological questions about somatic evolution, stem cell dynamics, and cancer initiation. We first develop a three-dimensional mechanistic model of the homeostatic epidermis and methodology necessary to incorporate base pair resolution mutation data. We use this model to examine neutrally expanding subclonal populations and compare simulations to healthy patient data. We then introduce functionally heterogenous oncogenic drivers in our in-silico model to examine non-neutral dynamics in the epidermis. Next, we develop a novel lineage tracing method using fluctuating methylation sites through analysis of patient data combined with a spatial model of a homeostatic intestinal crypt to determine stem cell dynamics in glandular tissue. Our spatial model reveals the necessary dynamics of fluctuating methylation sites to be used as fluctuating methylation clocks that allows us to determine stem cell behavior over short timescales in vivo. In the last chapters of this thesis, we focus on using our novel fluctuating methylation clock and somatic evolution as an important biomarker to understand clonal hematopoiesis. As the hematopoietic stem cells become homogenized through disease, a distinctive distribution emerges within patient data that can be exploited to diagnose clonal hematopoiesis without the need to understand somatic drivers. Combined, the work in this thesis reveals the power of somatic evolution on various timescales as a marker that can provide tissue level insights. We conclude by outlining a future direction where combining fluctuating methylation markers with DNA alteration could be a powerful tool in diagnostics and prognosis within the clinic

Poverty, Material Hardship, and Children’s Outcomes: A Nuanced Understanding of Material Hardship in Childhood

There are four distinct, related types of material hardship—basic expense hardship, food insecurity, housing hardship, and medical hardship. Extant research has not sufficiently accounted for the complex relationships between these different types of material hardship. Using 1997 and 2002 data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Study on a national sample of 3- to 17-year-old children (N = 3563), this study describes the prevalence of each type of material hardship, their relative correlations, and their associations with children’s behavior problems, and reading and math scores. Material hardship is more prevalent than income poverty and the four types of material hardship were only moderately correlated with each other. Only basic expense hardship, food security, and one type of medical hardship were associated with increased behavior problems. Only housing hardship was associated with lower math and reading scores. These findings highlight the need to more carefully investigate the distinctions between material hardship types in childhood and the importance of a diversified set of policy responses to protect children from the possible effects of distinct, but interrelated experiences of material hardship

RELATIONAL ASPECTS OF FAMILY FUNCTIONING AND FAMILY SATISFACTION WITH A SAMPLE OF FAMILIES IN THE WESTERN CAPE

Family functioning may affect how satisfied family members are within the family. This study assessed the relational aspects between family functioning and family satisfaction with a conveniently sampled group of families. This study applied a quantitative methodology with a cross-sectional correlational design. The sample consisted of 204 participants (57% females, 50% Black Africans and 39% speaking isiXhosa). The average age was 31 years (SD=11.07). The results suggest that families could be at risk in terms of family functioning and this predicted being satisfied with the family. Implications for social work practice are provided