The emergence and growth of dial-up internet service providers (ISPs) as a means of access to the internet in South Africa: a case study of M-Web and World Online

The desire amongst media scholars for the fulfilment of the ideal of a universally accessible public sphere by the media is such that virtually every new communications technology that has emerged over the past 1 ~O-odd years such as radio, television or the Internet has been welcomed with enthusiasm - by some - at the prospect of the newest communications innovation bringing about universal access to information. However, the history of communications media tells of the commercialisation of each new medium, from radio to television, and the imposition of barriers to access, based on cost. Access to communications media is open to those people who can afford to pay for them. 111e emergence of the Internet spawned renewed hoped that the public sphere ideal would be realised. 111is new technology seemed more powerful than anything that had come before it. The Internet offered the means whereby one could access a global repository of information, stored on a worldwide network of computer networks, and available 24 hours a day. With the Internet, it was also possible to communicate with people on the other side of the world within seconds, using electronic mail (e-mail). Here was a medium that permitted one to send text and pictures to colleagues and friends within a fraction of the time taken by traditional means such as fax, telephone or post. To enjoy the convenience of the Internet though, one had to have a means of access. In South Africa, access could be gained through a personal computer linked to the Internet either through a network in the workplace or an academic or research institution, or via a telephone link to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). What were the names of the first ISPs to emerge in South Africa? When did they emerge and how did they develop? Did the number of ISPs grow or decline? What do ISPs give access to, at what cost and to whom? Do they provide universal access to information? This study addresses these questions by examining South Africa's leading providers of home dial-up internet access, M-Web and World Online, and by exploring the histories of their emergence and development, within the context of current media trends of concentration, diversification and globalisation

The oesophagus and stomach of the African elephant : a histological, immunocytochemical and immunofluorescence study

Histological, immunocytochemical and immunofluorescence methods were employed to study the oesophagus and stomach of the elephant. The histological findings were in line with the situation in monogastric species like swine and man. In the mucosa of the stomach, endocrine cells were immunoreactive to gastrin, somatostatin, chromogranin A and serotonin. Nerve cells immunoreactive to somatostatin, bombesin, VIP, PHI and CGRP were detected in the submucosal and myenteric plexus of the stomach. In the stomach, the absence of glucagon cells and the presence of endocrine cells immunoreactive to PYY, are in contrast to the situation in mammals and need further investigation. Small gastric ulcers were observed in some of the specimens.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

The intestine and endocrine pancreas of the African elephant: a histological, immunocytochemical and immunofluorescence study

Histological, immunocytochemical and immunofluorescence methods were employed to study the intestine and endocrine pancreas of the elephant. The histological findings were in line with those in monogastric mammals. In the mucosa of intestine, endocrine cells were immunoreactive to somatostatin, gastrin, CCK, GIP, secretin, motilin, glucagon and NPY. Nerve cells immunoreactive to somatostatin, substance P, VIP, PHI, NPY, bombesin and CGRP were detected. No immunoreactivity to neurotensin was observed. Islets of the pancreas had insulin cells in their cores and glucagon and somatostatin cells in their mantles. The antisera employed failed to demonstrate PP cells in the pancreas, but NPY immunoreactive cells were present.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat X Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.PJ. de Villiers Booksellers, Bloemfontein.mn201

Commuting and wellbeing: A critical overview of the literature with implications for policy and future research

© 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This review provides a critical overview of what has been learnt about commuting’s impact on subjective wellbeing (SWB). It is structured around a conceptual model which assumes commuting can affect SWB over three time horizons: (i) during the journey; (ii) immediately after the journey; and (iii) over the longer term. Our assessment of the evidence shows that mood is lower during the commute than other daily activities and stress can be induced by congestion, crowding and unpredictability. People who walk or cycle to work are generally more satisfied with their commute than those who travel by car and especially those who use public transport. Satisfaction decreases with duration of commute, regardless of mode used, and increases when travelling with company. After the journey, evidence shows that the commute experience “spills over” into how people feel and perform at work and home. However, a consistent link between commuting and life satisfaction overall has not been established. The evidence suggests that commuters are generally successful in trading off the drawbacks of longer and more arduous commute journeys against the benefits they bring in relation to overall life satisfaction, but further research is required to understand the decision making involved. The evidence review points to six areas that warrant policy action and research: (i) enhancing the commute experience; (ii) increasing commute satisfaction; (iii) reducing the impacts of long duration commutes; (iv) meeting commuter preferences; (v) recognising flexibility and constraints in commuting routines and (vi) accounting for SWB impacts of commuting in policy making and appraisal

Communication about genetic testing with breast and ovarian cancer patients: a scoping review

© 2018, The Author(s). Genetic testing of patients with cancer is increasingly offered to guide management, resulting in a growing need for oncology health professionals to communicate genetics information and facilitate informed decision-making in a short time frame. This scoping review aimed to map and synthesise what is known about health professionals’ communication about genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer with cancer patients. Four databases were systematically searched using a recognised scoping review method. Areas and types of research were mapped and a narrative synthesis of the findings was undertaken. Twenty-nine papers from 25 studies were included. Studies were identified about (i) information needs, (ii) process and content of genetic counselling, (iii) cognitive and emotional impact, including risk perception and recall, understanding and interpretation of genetic test results, and anxiety and distress, (iv) patients’ experiences, (v) communication shortly after diagnosis and (vi) alternatives to face-to-face genetic counselling. Patients’ need for cancer-focused, personalised information is not always met by genetic counselling. Genetic counselling tends to focus on biomedical information at the expense of psychological support. For most patients, knowledge is increased and anxiety is not raised by pre-test communication. However, some patients experience anxiety and distress when results are disclosed, particularly those tested shortly after diagnosis who are unprepared or unsupported. For many patients, pre-test communication by methods other than face-to-face genetic counselling is acceptable. Research is needed to identify patients who may benefit from genetic counselling and support and to investigate communication about hereditary breast and ovarian cancer by oncology health professionals

Preferences for the Sex of Offspring and Demographic Behavior in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Germany: an Examination of Evidence From Village Genealogies

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68167/2/10.1177_036319908000500202.pd

Mediterranean diet intervention alters the gut microbiome in older people reducing frailty and improving health status : the NU-AGE 1-year dietary intervention across five European countries

Objective Ageing is accompanied by deterioration of multiple bodily functions and inflammation, which collectively contribute to frailty. We and others have shown that frailty co-varies with alterations in the gut microbiota in a manner accelerated by consumption of a restricted diversity diet. The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is associated with health. In the NU-AGE project, we investigated if a 1-year MedDiet intervention could alter the gut microbiota and reduce frailty. Design We profiled the gut microbiota in 612 non-frail or pre-frail subjects across five European countries (UK, France, Netherlands, Italy and Poland) before and after the administration of a 12-month long MedDiet intervention tailored to elderly subjects (NU-AGE diet). Results Adherence to the diet was associated with specific microbiome alterations. Taxa enriched by adherence to the diet were positively associated with several markers of lower frailty and improved cognitive function, and negatively associated with inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein and interleukin-17. Analysis of the inferred microbial metabolite profiles indicated that the diet-modulated microbiome change was associated with an increase in short/branch chained fatty acid production and lower production of secondary bile acids, p-cresols, ethanol and carbon dioxide. Microbiome ecosystem network analysis showed that the bacterial taxa that responded positively to the MedDiet intervention occupy keystone interaction positions, whereas frailty-associated taxa are peripheral in the networks. Conclusion Collectively, our findings support the feasibility of improving the habitual diet to modulate the gut microbiota which in turn has the potential to promote healthier ageing.Peer reviewe

Management of adverse events associated with idelalisib treatment: expert panel opinion

Idelalisib is a first-in-class selective, oral, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase delta (PI3Kδ) inhibitor approved for the treatment of several types of blood cancer. Idelalisib has demonstrated significant efficacy and a tolerable safety profile in clinical trials. However, the US prescribing information contains a black box warning for fatal and/or severe diarrhea or colitis, hepatotoxicity, pneumonitis and intestinal perforation. An expert panel was convened to review the pathology of these treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) to propose key management tools for patients receiving idelalisib therapy. This article provides an overview of idelalisib TEAEs reported in clinical trials, and a summary of the panel's recommendations for identification and management of idelalisib treatment-emergent diarrhea or colitis as well as a discussion of transaminitis and pneumonitis. For idelalisib-related diarrhea or colitis (including unresolved grade 2 and grade ≥ 3), after exclusion of infectious causes, the panel recommends individualized treatment with budesonide or oral or intravenous steroid therapy

Phylogenetic diversity of Amazonian tree communities

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Honorio Coronado, E. N., Dexter, K. G., Pennington, R. T., Chave, J., Lewis, S. L., Alexiades, M. N., Alvarez, E., Alves de Oliveira, A., Amaral, I. L., Araujo-Murakami, A., Arets, E. J. M. M., Aymard, G. A., Baraloto, C., Bonal, D., Brienen, R., Cerón, C., Cornejo Valverde, F., Di Fiore, A., Farfan-Rios, W., Feldpausch, T. R., Higuchi, N., Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, I., Laurance, S. G., Laurance, W. F., López-Gonzalez, G., Marimon, B. S., Marimon-Junior, B. H., Monteagudo Mendoza, A., Neill, D., Palacios Cuenca, W., Peñuela Mora, M. C., Pitman, N. C. A., Prieto, A., Quesada, C. A., Ramirez Angulo, H., Rudas, A., Ruschel, A. R., Salinas Revilla, N., Salomão, R. P., Segalin de Andrade, A., Silman, M. R., Spironello, W., ter Steege, H., Terborgh, J., Toledo, M., Valenzuela Gamarra, L., Vieira, I. C. G., Vilanova Torre, E., Vos, V., Phillips, O. L. (2015), Phylogenetic diversity of Amazonian tree communities. Diversity and Distributions, 21: 1295–1307. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12357, which has been published in final form at 10.1111/ddi.12357Aim: To examine variation in the phylogenetic diversity (PD) of tree communities across geographical and environmental gradients in Amazonia. Location: Two hundred and eighty-three c. 1 ha forest inventory plots from across Amazonia. Methods: We evaluated PD as the total phylogenetic branch length across species in each plot (PDss), the mean pairwise phylogenetic distance between species (MPD), the mean nearest taxon distance (MNTD) and their equivalents standardized for species richness (ses.PDss, ses.MPD, ses.MNTD). We compared PD of tree communities growing (1) on substrates of varying geological age; and (2) in environments with varying ecophysiological barriers to growth and survival. Results: PDss is strongly positively correlated with species richness (SR), whereas MNTD has a negative correlation. Communities on geologically young- and intermediate-aged substrates (western and central Amazonia respectively) have the highest SR, and therefore the highest PDss and the lowest MNTD. We find that the youngest and oldest substrates (the latter on the Brazilian and Guiana Shields) have the highest ses.PDss and ses.MNTD. MPD and ses.MPD are strongly correlated with how evenly taxa are distributed among the three principal angiosperm clades and are both highest in western Amazonia. Meanwhile, seasonally dry tropical forest (SDTF) and forests on white sands have low PD, as evaluated by any metric. Main conclusions: High ses.PDss and ses.MNTD reflect greater lineage diversity in communities. We suggest that high ses.PDss and ses.MNTD in western Amazonia results from its favourable, easy-to-colonize environment, whereas high values in the Brazilian and Guianan Shields may be due to accumulation of lineages over a longer period of time. White-sand forests and SDTF are dominated by close relatives from fewer lineages, perhaps reflecting ecophysiological barriers that are difficult to surmount evolutionarily. Because MPD and ses.MPD do not reflect lineage diversity per se, we suggest that PDss, ses.PDss and ses.MNTD may be the most useful diversity metrics for setting large-scale conservation priorities.FINCyT - PhD studentshipSchool of Geography of the University of LeedsRoyal Botanic Garden EdinburghNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)Gordon and Betty Moore FoundationEuropean Union's Seventh Framework ProgrammeERCCNPq/PELDNSF - Fellowshi