Export Prospects of Manufacturing Industry

A symposium paper on export prospects of the manufacturing sector of the then Rhodesia. Paper Presented at Symposium on: Current Economic Problems: Export Development, (Day 2) November 03, 1972.The tremendous growth of Rhodesian secondary industry over the past seven years has brought important benefits to our economy by way of increased levels of economic activity and employment. Industrial growth has also contributed to our development both by the saving of foreign currency through import substitution and by the earning of foreign currency by exports. From being something of a stepchild of the economy, from a previous position when we had little protection against foreign imports with a small domestic base from which to compete with manufacturers in more developed countries, secondary industry has now reached a point where it accounts for the largest single sectoral share of our national income. Today it contributes as much as either Agriculture or Mining to the credit of Rhodesia’s balance of payments. The very rapid growth of recent years has led to occasional complaints from the other sectors that Industry is given too large a share of scarce import allocations to their detriment, also that their own claims to foreign exchange have a degree of priority which is not always afforded sufficient recognition by Government

Client and therapist experiences with a narrative therapeutic summary format

This qualitative research study explored the use of a narrative therapeutic summary letter format as an adjunctive intervention with clients engaged in individual therapy. The study’s sample consisted of six client subjects who received summary letters from six therapist subjects. Client subjects were furnished with written summaries of four consecutive counselling sessions. The summaries were based on pre-established narrative summary guidelines supplied to each respective therapist. After client subjects had received four consecutive summary letters, in-depth individual interviews were conducted with each client. The aim of these interviews was to explore and document clients’ experiences with the narrative therapeutic summary format. In addition, each of the six therapist subjects completed a 12 page questionnaire designed to document their experiences with and opinions of the proposed summary format. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed based on the guidelines outlined by Taylor and Bogdan (1984). Clients’ experiences with the narrative therapeutic summary format focused on four main areas. These were client usage of letters, positive impact of letters, non-helpful effects of letters and client preferences/suggestions for use of the letter format. Therapists’ experiences with the summary format were analyzed from the questionnaires and organized into five sections which focused on the use of the letter format, and therapists’ opinion of its utility. The results of the study are discussed in relation to the existing literature on written productions in psychotherapy. Both clients and therapists found the summary format to be a useful adjunct to standard verbal therapeutic discourse and largely agreed on the helpful aspects of the format. Differential use and impact of the summary letters is discussed. A number of limitations of the study are addressed, and implications for practice and future research are explored

Precise Flow-Control Using Photo-Actuated Hydrogel Valves and Pid-controlled LED Actuation

Herein we demonstrate remarkable control of flow within fluidic channels using photo-actuated hydrogel valves. By polymerizing the valves in situ it has been possible to create highlyreproducible valves. Through the use of an LED platform and a PID algorithm we have generated extremely accurate flow control and created prototype devices to document their potential application within the microfluidics field

Precision control of flow rate in microfluidic channels using photoresponsive soft polymer actuators

A novel approach that allows control of flow in microfluidic channels with unsurpassed performance using light is described. Valve structures have been created using photoresponsive hydrogels based on spiropyran-functionalised pNIPAAm hydrogels photopolymerised around pillar structures within the channels. Valve actuation is controlled from outside the fluidic system using externally located LEDs. Highly precise and accurate flow rates can be selected by passing real-time flow rate measurements into a PID algorithm. The optimised algorithm also minimises overshoot of the selected flow rate, eliminates flow rate drift, and improves the system response time. In addition to the dramatic improvements in flow rate control, the set up enables the polymer actuation behaviour to be rapidly characterised. The power supply to the LED also provides a useful system diagnostic for monitoring the performance of the valve over time. For example, degradation in the valve actuation due to photodegradation will manifest as an increasing power requirement over time, enabling predictive failure thresholds to be established for particular actuator designs and polymer compositions

Safety Interventions For Houseless Pedestrians

In 2016, the City of Portland adopted the Vision Zero Action Plan with the goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries on Portland’s streets. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) also makes a commitment in all of its plans to create a more equitable transportation system by prioritizing areas of the city with a disproportionate number of BIPOC community members and people with lower incomes, all of whom face a greater risk from traffic violence. To achieve its Vision Zero goals, the City and PBOT have undertaken a number of actions, including redesigning streets through traffic calming and traffic management, and outreach and education. While progress has been made since the Vision Zero plan’s adoption, there has recently been an alarming increase in traffic crashes and fatalities, particularly among people experiencing houselessness. The PBOT Vision Zero team partnered with Street Perspective—the Portland State University Master of Urban and Regional Planning student Workshop team—to examine how to mitigate the risk of traffic-related harm to people experiencing houselessness. Through this project, Street Perspective has developed a report of existing conditions, promising practices, site-specific analysis, outreach, and a toolkit of recommendations to better understand and address the needs and vulnerabilities of people experiencing houselessness in Portland

Functional Characterization of Bacteria Isolated from Ancient Arctic Soil Exposes Diverse Resistance Mechanisms to Modern Antibiotics

Using functional metagenomics to study the resistomes of bacterial communities isolated from different layers of the Canadian high Arctic permafrost, we show that microbial communities harbored diverse resistance mechanisms at least 5,000 years ago. Among bacteria sampled from the ancient layers of a permafrost core, we isolated eight genes conferring clinical levels of resistance against aminoglycoside, $\beta$-lactam and tetracycline antibiotics that are naturally produced by microorganisms. Among these resistance genes, four also conferred resistance against amikacin, a modern semi-synthetic antibiotic that does not naturally occur in microorganisms. In bacteria sampled from the overlaying active layer, we isolated ten different genes conferring resistance to all six antibiotics tested in this study, including aminoglycoside, $\beta$-lactam and tetracycline variants that are naturally produced by microorganisms as well as semi-synthetic variants produced in the laboratory. On average, we found that resistance genes found in permafrost bacteria conferred lower levels of resistance against clinically relevant antibiotics than resistance genes sampled from the active layer. Our results demonstrate that antibiotic resistance genes were functionally diverse prior to the anthropogenic use of antibiotics, contributing to the evolution of natural reservoirs of resistance genes.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Adenovirus E1A directly targets the E2F/DP-1 complex

Deregulation of the cell cycle is of paramount importance during adenovirus infection. Adenovirus normally infects quiescent cells and must initiate the cell cycle in order to propagate itself. The pRb family of proteins controls entry into the cell cycle by interacting with and repressing transcriptional activation by the E2F transcription factors. The viral E1A proteins indirectly activate E2F-dependent transcription and cell cycle entry, in part, by interacting with pRb and family members to free the E2Fs. We report here that an E1A 13S isoform can unexpectedly activate E2F-responsive gene expression independently of binding to the pRb family of proteins. We demonstrate that E1A binds to E2F/DP-1 complexes through a direct interaction with DP-1. E1A appears to utilize this binding to recruit itself to E2F-regulated promoters, and this allows the E1A 13S protein, but not the E1A 12S protein, to activate transcription independently of interaction with pRb. Importantly, expression of E1A 13S, but not E1A 12S, led to significant enhancement of E2F4 occupancy of E2F sites of two E2F-regulated promoters. These observations identify a novel mechanism by which adenovirus deregulates the cell cycle and suggest that E1A 13S may selectively activate a subset of E2F-regulated cellular genes during infection. © 2011, American Society for Microbiology

A critical role for suppressor of cytokine signalling 3 in promoting M1 macrophage activation and function in vitro and in vivo

Funded by Medical Research Council. Grant Number: 74804 NHS Grampian Endowments Research Trust. Grant Number: 12/16 Kidney Research UK. Grant Number: RP1/2012 Cunningham Trust. Grant Number: ACC/KWF/CT08/03Peer reviewedPublisher PD