Questioning the media-democracy link: South African’s journalists’ views

ABSTRACT It is often assumed that a robust, free and independent media will contribute to the deepening of democracy by keeping governments accountable and broadening citizen participation in deliberative democratic debates. But in new democracies such as South Africa, the deepening and broadening of democratic participation is often curtailed by challenges such as unequal access to the media, the orientation of mainstream media towards elite audiences and renewed attempts by sources of power to control the free flow of information. Despite the promise of a peaceful, equitable and democratic society after the end of apartheid, conflicts continue to erupt due to continued social polarisation, vast socio-economic inequalities and new struggles for power. In South Africa these conflicts include social protests on a daily basis, repeated outbreaks of xenophobic violence and disruptions to the parliamentary process. This paper probes the role of the media in these conflicts from the perspective of journalists who have reported on these issues. The paper explores ways in which journalists critically reflect on their abilities to perform the roles expected of them within a normative framework informed by the Habermasian ideal of deliberative democracy. The reasons they offer for not fulfilling these roles, and the conditions underpinning these failures, lead them to question the ability of the South African media to contribute to an emerging democracy

WNK1-OSR1 kinase-mediated phospho-activation of Na+-K+-2Cl- cotransporter facilitates glioma migration

Background: The bumetanide (BMT)-sensitive Na+-K+-2Cl- cotransporter isoform 1 (NKCC1) maintains cell volume homeostasis by increasing intracellular K+ and Cl- content via regulatory volume increase (RVI). Expression levels of NKCC1 positively correlate with the histological grade and severity of gliomas, the most common primary adult brain tumors, and up-regulated NKCC1 activity facilitates glioma cell migration and apoptotic resistance to the chemotherapeutic drug temozolomide (TMZ). However, the cellular mechanisms underlying NKCC1 functional up-regulation in glioma and in response to TMZ administration remain unknown. Methods: Expression of NKCC1 and its upstream kinases With-No-K (Lysine) kinase 1 (WNK1) and oxidative stress-responsive kinase-1 (OSR1) in different human glioma cell lines and glioma specimens were detected by western blotting and immunostaining. Live cell imaging and microchemotaxis assay were applied to record glioma cell movements under different treatment conditions. Fluorescence indicators were utilized to measure cell volume, intracellular K+ and Cl- content to reflect the activity of NKCC1 on ion transportation. Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of WNK1 or OSR1 was used to explore their roles in regulation of NKCC1 activity in glioma cells. Results of different treatment groups were compared by one-way ANOVA using the Bonferroni post-hoc test in the case of multiple comparisons. Results: We show that compared to human neural stem cells and astrocytes, human glioma cells exhibit robust increases in the activation and phosphorylation of NKCC1 and its two upstream regulatory kinases, WNK1 and OSR1. siRNA-mediated knockdown of WNK1 or OSR1 reduces intracellular K+ and Cl- content and RVI in glioma cells by abolishing NKCC1 regulatory phospho-activation. Unexpectedly, TMZ activates the WNK1/OSR1/NKCC1 signaling pathway and enhances glioma migration. Pharmacological inhibition of NKCC1 with its potent inhibitor BMT or siRNA knockdown of WNK1 or OSR1 significantly decreases glioma cell migration after TMZ treatment. Conclusion: Together, our data show a novel role for the WNK1/OSR1/NKCC1 pathway in basal and TMZ-induced glioma migration, and suggest that glioma treatment with TMZ might be improved by drugs that inhibit elements of the WNK1/OSR1/NKCC1 signaling pathway

Prioritization of VHTR system modeling needs based on phenomena identification, ranking and sensitivity studies.

Quantification of uncertainty is a key requirement for the design of a nuclear power plant and the assurance of its safety. Historically the procedure has been to perform the required uncertainty assessment through comparison of the analytical predictions with experimental simulations. The issue with this historical approach has always been that the simulations through experiments could not be at full scale for the practical reasons of cost and scheduling. Invariably, only parts of the system were tested separately or if integral testing was performed for the complete system, the size or scale of the experimental apparatus was significantly smaller than the actual plant configuration

Topical Report: Natural Convection Shutdown Heat Removal Test Facility (NSTF) Evaluation for Generating Additional Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS) data.

As part of the Department of Energy (DOE) Generation IV roadmapping activity, the Very High Temperature gas cooled Reactor (VHTR) has been selected as the principal concept for hydrogen production and other process-heat applications such as district heating and potable water production. On this basis, the DOE has selected the VHTR for additional R&D with the ultimate goal of demonstrating emission-free electricity and hydrogen production with this advanced reactor concept. One of the key passive safety features of the VHTR is the potential for decay heat removal by natural circulation of air in a Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS). The air-cooled RCCS concept is notably similar to the Reactor Vessel Auxiliary Cooling System (RVACS) that was developed for the General Electric PRISM sodium-cooled fast reactor. As part of the DOE R&D program that supported the development of this fast reactor concept, the Natural Convection Shutdown Heat Removal Test Facility (NSTF) was developed at ANL to provide proof-of-concept data for the RVACS under prototypic natural convection flow, temperature, and heat flux conditions. Due to the similarity between RVACS and the RCCS, current VHTR R&D plans call for the utilization of the NSTF to provide RCCS model development and validation data, in addition to supporting design validation and optimization activities. Both air-cooled and water-cooled RCCS designs are to be included. In support of this effort, ANL has been tasked with the development of an engineering plan for mechanical and instrumentation modifications to NSTF to ensure that sufficiently detailed temperature, heat flux, velocity and turbulence profiles are obtained to adequately qualify the codes under the expected range of air-cooled RCCS flow conditions. Next year, similar work will be carried out for the alternative option of a water-cooled RCCS design. Analysis activities carried out in support of this experiment planning task have shown that: (a) in the RCCS, strong 3-D effects result in large heat flux, temperature, and heat transfer variations around the tube wall; (b) there is a large difference in the heat transfer coefficient predicted by turbulence models and heat transfer correlations, and this underscores the need of experimental work to validate the thermal performance of the RCCS; and (c) tests at the NSTF would embody all important fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena in the RCCS, in addition to covering the entire parameter ranges that characterize these phenomena. Additional supporting scaling study results are available in Reference 2. The purpose of this work is to develop a high-level engineering plan for mechanical and instrumentation modifications to NSTF in order to meet the following two technical objectives: (1) provide CFD and system-level code development and validation data for the RCCS under prototypic (full-scale) natural convection flow conditions, and (2) support RCCS design validation and optimization. As background for this work, the report begins by providing a summary of the original NSTF design and operational capabilities. Since the facility has not been actively utilized since the early 1990's, the next step is to assess the current facility status. With this background material in place, the data needs and requirements for the facility are then defined on the basis of supporting analysis activities. With the requirements for the facility established, appropriate mechanical and instrumentation modifications to NSTF are then developed in order to meet the overall project objectives. A cost and schedule for modifying the facility to satisfy the RCCS data needs is then provided

Initial VHTR Accident Scenario Classification: Models and Data.

Nuclear systems codes are being prepared for use as computational tools for conducting performance/safety analyses of the Very High Temperature Reactor. The thermal-hydraulic codes are RELAP5/ATHENA for one-dimensional systems modeling and FLUENT and/or Star-CD for three-dimensional modeling. We describe a formal qualification framework, the development of Phenomena Identification and Ranking Tables (PIRTs), the initial filtering of the experiment databases, and a preliminary screening of these codes for use in the performance/safety analyses. In the second year of this project we focused on development of PIRTS. Two events that result in maximum fuel and vessel temperatures, the Pressurized Conduction Cooldown (PCC) event and the Depressurized Conduction Cooldown (DCC) event, were selected for PIRT generation. A third event that may result in significant thermal stresses, the Load Change event, is also selected for PIRT generation. Gas reactor design experience and engineering judgment were used to identify the important phenomena in the primary system for these events. Sensitivity calculations performed with the RELAP5 code were used as an aid to rank the phenomena in order of importance with respect to the approach of plant response to safety limits. The overall code qualification methodology was illustrated by focusing on the Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS). The mixed convection mode of heat transfer and pressure drop is identified as an important phenomenon for Reactor Cavity Cooling System (RCCS) operation. Scaling studies showed that the mixed convection mode is likely to occur in the RCCS air duct during normal operation and during conduction cooldown events. The RELAP5/ATHENA code was found to not adequately treat the mixed convection regime. Readying the code will require adding models for the turbulent mixed convection regime while possibly performing new experiments for the laminar mixed convection regime. Candidate correlations for the turbulent mixed convection regime for circular channel geometry were identified in the literature. We describe the use of computational experiments to obtain correction factors for applying these circular channel results to the specialized channel geometry of the RCCS. The intent is to reduce the number of laboratory experiments required. The FLUENT and Star-CD codes contain models that in principle can handle mixed convection but no data were found to indicate that their empirical models for turbulence have been benchmarked for mixed convection conditions. Separate effects experiments were proposed for gathering the needed data. In future work we will use the PIRTs to guide review of other components and phenomena in a similar manner as was done for the mixed convection mode in the RCCS. This is consistent with the project objective of identifying weaknesses or gaps in the code models for representing thermal-hydraulic phenomena expected to occur in the VHTR both during normal operation and upsets, identifying the models that need to be developed, and identifying the experiments that must be performed to support model development

Prehospital score for acute disease: a community-based observational study in Japan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ambulance usage in Japan has increased consistently because it is free under the national health insurance system. The introduction of refusal for ambulance transfer is being debated nationally. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between prehospital data and hospitalization outcome for acute disease patients, and to develop a simple prehospital evaluation tool using prehospital data for Japan's emergency medical service system.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The subjects were 9,160 consecutive acute disease patients aged ≥ 15 years who were transferred to hospital by Kishiwada City Fire Department ambulance between July 2004 and March 2006. The relationship between prehospital data (age, systolic blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration rate, level of consciousness, SpO₂level and ability to walk) and outcome (hospitalization or non-hospitalization) was analyzed using logistic regression models. The prehospital score component of each item of prehospital data was determined by beta coefficients. Eligible patients were scored retrospectively and the distribution of outcome was examined. For patients transported to the two main hospitals, outcome after hospitalization was also confirmed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 8,330 (91%) patients were retrospectively evaluated using a prehospital score with a maximum value of 14. The percentage of patients requiring hospitalization rose from 9% with score = 0 to 100% with score = 14. With a cut-off point score ≥ 2, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 97%, 16%, 39% and 89%, respectively. Among the 6,498 patients transported to the two main hospitals, there were no deaths at scores ≤ 1 and the proportion of non-hospitalization was over 90%. The proportion of deaths increased rapidly at scores ≥ 11.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The prehospital score could be a useful tool for deciding the refusal of ambulance transfer in Japan's emergency medical service system.</p