Exploring the role of Disciplinary Knowledge in Engineering when learning to Design

Three mechanical engineering teams are followed through their capstone design project as they navigate the ambiguous and contradictory requirements of a typical engineering design course. The pedagogy tends to be both weakly classified and weakly framed in terms introduced by Sociologist of Education, Basil Bernstein; leaving the decisions about what knowledge to draw on, in what sequence, and how, to the discretion of the students. The differential success of the three teams is analysed in terms of their use of disciplinary and practical knowledge to make decisions about their design and to produce a prototype. The semantics dimension of Legitimation Code Theory was used to analyse the data. The analysis suggests that meaning was completely encapsulated in the material product of design, at the expense of reflective or conceptual reasoning. While technical knowledge was evident in the process of design, it was the relation of this knowledge to the material artefact that mattered, but only secondarily to the functioning of the artefact. Consequently, simple artefacts were privileged over more complex artefacts, understandable in terms of simplifying the solution to a particular problem, but raising questions about dealing with more complex problems. When performance can be asserted with certainty without evidence of reflective or conceptual reasoning, it raises questions about technical solutions in the face of the uncertainty of the complex problems. If we want engineers to contribute to the grand challenges of our era, we need to think about how to reward both complexity and reflection, without losing simplicity and practicality

Congenital anomalies in black South African liveborn neonates at an urban academic hospital

Study objective. The aim was to study the spectrum of clinical problems and outcomes in infants born at an urban academic hospital. In consequence, as part of the overall study, the incidence of congenital anomalies and the outcomes of affected infants were recorded.Design. This was a prospective, hospital-based study, undertaken on liveborn infants born over a 3-year period, 1 May 1986 to 30 April 1989.Setting. Kalafong Hospital, Pretoria.Main results. A total of 17 351 liveborn infants was examined and the total congenital anomalies incidence was 11 ,87 per 1 000 Iivebirths. The central nervous system was the system most frequently involved (2,30 per 1 000 livebirths), followed by the musculoskeletal system (2,13 per 1 000 livebirths). The commonest individual congenital anomaly was Down syndrome (1,33 per 1 000 Iivebirths), followed by neural tube defects (0,99 per 1 000 livebirths) and ventricular septal defects (0,69 per 1 000 livebirths). In 11 % (2,25 per 1 000 livebirths) of neonatal deaths, infant loss was attributable to congenital anomalies.Conclusions. The incidence of congenital anomalies in black South African neonates, born in an urban setting, is as high as in other First- and Third-World countries, and the incidence of some individual congenital anomalies is higher. This study indicates the need for further research and the establishment of prenatal, genetics and paediatric facilities to manage these problems

Effect of ethical leadership and climate on effectiveness

ORIENTATION: The increasing prevalence of theft, sabotage and other deviant behaviours in the workplace has disastrous effects for organisations, such as lowered effectiveness, escalated costs and the organisation’s declining reputation. RESEARCH PURPOSE: The purpose of the research was to design and investigate the relationships among perceived leader effectiveness, ethical climate and ethical leadership. A further objective of the investigation was to validate a conceptual model clarifying the structural associations among the latent constructs in the South African corporate domain. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY: A successful leader is both an ethical and an effective leader. An organisation’s leadership is seen as the most critical element in establishing and maintaining an ethical climate in organisations. RESEARCH DESIGN, APPROACH AND METHOD: A convenient and multi-cultural sample comprised of 224 employees from various organisations in South Africa. The structure and content of the variables were analysed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), beside item analysis. MAIN FINDINGS: Satisfactory reliability was found for all the measurement scales. The results of CFA demonstrated acceptable fit with the data for the refined measurement and structural models. The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated positive relationships among ethical leadership, ethical climate and leader effectiveness. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Organisational leaders should take full responsibility for cultivating ethics through ethical leader behaviour and an ethical climate. By reinforcing these aspects, perceived leader effectiveness can be advanced, which will ultimately decrease corruption and other forms of counterproductive behaviour in South African organisations. CONTRIBUTION: The study provides further theoretical and empirical evidence that leadership effectiveness can be realised through instilling an ethical organisational climate in which ethical leadership is exhibited and encouraged.DHE

Heterogeneity of cell therapy products

Cellular therapy has become a billion-dollar industry and is set to become one of the therapeutic pillars of healthcare in the 21st century. Adult stem cells, which include haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) and mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs), is one of the major cell types currently under investigation for use in cell therapy. This review focuses on HSPCs and MSCs and discusses their heterogeneous nature and the problems faced in expanding these cells to therapeutic numbers for use in clinical applications

Hsp90 middle domain phosphorylation initiates a complex conformational program to recruit the ATPase-stimulating cochaperone Aha1

Complex conformational dynamics are essential for function of the dimeric molecular cha- perone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), including transient, ATP-biased N-domain dimer- ization that is necessary to attain ATPase competence. The intrinsic, but weak, ATP hydrolyzing activity of human Hsp90 is markedly enhanced by the co-chaperone Aha1. However, the cellular concentration of Aha1 is substoichiometric relative to Hsp90. Here we report that initial recruitment of this cochaperone to Hsp90 is markedly enhanced by phosphorylation of a highly conserved tyrosine (Y313 in Hsp90α) in the Hsp90 middle domain. Importantly, phosphomimetic mutation of Y313 promotes formation of a transient complex in which both N- and C-domains of Aha1 bind to distinct surfaces of the middle domains of opposing Hsp90 protomers prior to ATP-directed N-domain dimerization. Thus, Y313 represents a phosphorylation-sensitive conformational switch, engaged early after client loading, that affects both local and long-range conformational dynamics to facilitate initial recruitment of Aha1 to Hsp90

Outcomes of laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during resurgence driven by Omicron lineages BA.4 and BA.5 compared with previous waves in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare clinical severity of Omicron BA.4/BA.5 infection with BA.1 and earlier variant infections among laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases in the Western Cape, South Africa, using timing of infection to infer the lineage/variant causing infection. METHODS: We included public sector patients aged ≥20 years with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between 1-21 May 2022 (BA.4/BA.5 wave) and equivalent prior wave periods. We compared the risk between waves of (i) death and (ii) severe hospitalization/death (all within 21 days of diagnosis) using Cox regression adjusted for demographics, comorbidities, admission pressure, vaccination and prior infection. RESULTS: Among 3,793 patients from the BA.4/BA.5 wave and 190,836 patients from previous waves the risk of severe hospitalization/death was similar in the BA.4/BA.5 and BA.1 waves (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.12; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.93; 1.34). Both Omicron waves had lower risk of severe outcomes than previous waves. Prior infection (aHR 0.29, 95% CI 0.24; 0.36) and vaccination (aHR 0.17; 95% CI 0.07; 0.40 for at least 3 doses vs. no vaccine) were protective. CONCLUSION: Disease severity was similar amongst diagnosed COVID-19 cases in the BA.4/BA.5 and BA.1 periods in the context of growing immunity against SARS-CoV-2 due to prior infection and vaccination, both of which were strongly protective

Natural compulsive-like behaviour in the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii) is associated with altered gut microbiota composition

Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric illness that significantly impacts affected patients and available treatments yield suboptimal therapeutic response. Recently, the role of the gut–brain axis (GBA) in psychiatric illness has emerged as a potential target for therapeutic exploration. However, studies concerning the role of the GBA in OCD are limited. To investigate whether a naturally occurring obsessive–compulsive‐like phenotype in a rodent model, that is large nest building in deer mice, is associated with perturbations in the gut microbiome, we investigated and characterised the gut microbiota in specific‐pathogen‐free bred and housed large (LNB) and normal (NNB) nest‐building deer mice of both sexes (n = 11 per group, including three males and eight females). Following baseline characterisation of nest‐building behaviour, a single faecal sample was collected from each animal and the gut microbiota analysed. Our results reveal the overall microbial composition of LNB animals to be distinctly different compared to controls (PERMANOVA p < .05). While no genera were found to be significantly differentially abundant after correcting for multiple comparisons, the normal phenotype showed a higher loading of Prevotella and Anaeroplasma, while the OC phenotype demonstrated a higher loading of Desulfovermiculus, Aestuariispira, Peptococcus and Holdemanella (cut‐off threshold for loading at 0.2 in either the first or second component of the PCA). These findings not only provide proof‐of‐concept for continued investigation of the GBA in OCD, but also highlight a potential underlying aetiological association between alterations in the gut microbiota and the natural development of obsessive–compulsive‐like behaviours

The prevalence of nutritional anemia in pregnancy in an east Anatolian province, Turkey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anemia is considered a severe public health problem by World Health Organization when anemia prevalence is equal to or greater than 40% in the population. The purpose of this study was to determine the anemia prevalence with the associated factors in pregnant women and to determine the serum iron, folate and B12 vitamin status in anaemic pregnants in Malatya province.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a cross-sectional survey. A multi-sage stratified probability-proportional-to-size cluster sampling methodology was used. A total of 823 pregnant women from sixty clusters were studied. Women were administered a questionnaire related with the subject and blood samples were drawn. Total blood count was performed within four hours and serum iron, folate and B12 vitamin were studied after storing sera at -20 C for six months.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Anemia prevalence was 27.1% (Hb < 11.0 gr/dl). Having four or more living children (OR = 2.2), being at the third trimester (OR = 2.3) and having a low family income (OR = 1.6) were determined as the independent predictors of anemia in pregnancy. Anemia was also associated with soil eating (PICA) in the univariate analysis (p < 0.05). Of anaemic women, 50.0% had a transferrin saturation less than 10% indicating iron deficiency, 34.5% were deficient in B12 vitamin and 71.7% were deficient in folate. Most of the anemias were normocytic-normochromic (56.5%) indicating mixed anemia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In Malatya, for pregnant women anemia was a moderate public health problem. Coexisting of iron, folate and B vitamin deficiencies was observed among anaemics. To continue anemia control strategies with reasonable care and diligence was recommended.</p

Estimating the burden of disease attributable to four selected environmental risk factors in South Africa

The first South African National Burden of Disease study quantified the underlying causes of premature mortality and morbidity experienced in South Africa in the year 2000. This was followed by a Comparative Risk Assessment to estimate the contributions of 17 selected risk factors to burden of disease in South Africa. This paper describes the health impact of exposure to four selected environmental risk factors: unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene; indoor air pollution from household use of solid fuels; urban outdoor air pollution and lead exposure.The study followed World Health Organization comparative risk assessment methodology. Population-attributable fractions were calculated and applied to revised burden of disease estimates (deaths and disability adjusted life years, [DALYs]) from the South African Burden of Disease study to obtain the attributable burden for each selected risk factor. The burden attributable to the joint effect of the four environmental risk factors was also estimated taking into account competing risks and common pathways. Monte Carlo simulation-modeling techniques were used to quantify sampling, uncertainty.Almost 24 000 deaths were attributable to the joint effect of these four environmental risk factors, accounting for 4.6% (95% uncertainty interval 3.8-5.3%) of all deaths in South Africa in 2000. Overall the burden due to these environmental risks was equivalent to 3.7% (95% uncertainty interval 3.4-4.0%) of the total disease burden for South Africa, with unsafe water sanitation and hygiene the main contributor to joint burden. The joint attributable burden was especially high in children under 5 years of age, accounting for 10.8% of total deaths in this age group and 9.7% of burden of disease.This study highlights the public health impact of exposure to environmental risks and the significant burden of preventable disease attributable to exposure to these four major environmental risk factors in South Africa. Evidence-based policies and programs must be developed and implemented to address these risk factors at individual, household, and community levels