Post Conviction Legal Aid in County Jails: A Model Law Student Counseling Program

Authors: Peter Van Name Esser, et al

Post Conviction Legal Aid in County Jails: A Model Law Student Counseling Program

Authors: Peter Van Name Esser, et al

Toxoplasmosis In South Africa- Old Disease In A New Context

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most widespread parasitic infections known. Clinical manifestation of toxoplasmosis because of immunosuppression is typically due to a reactivation of a chronic infection.  According to the UNAIDS 2008 report on the global AIDS epidemic, about 5.7 million South Africans were infected and living with HIV in 2007, with obvious risk and health resource implications for toxoplasmosis. T. gondii has been largely neglected as a health risk to the general population in the HIV era. Currently South Africa is burdened with ongoing HIV and TB pandemics. South Africa accounts for 17% of the global HIV burden and has a TB incidence of 950 per 100,000 as at 2012. Such high incidence of immunosuppressive infections puts the population at a high risk of opportunistic infections such as toxoplasmosis. Seroprevalence rates in Africa are high in both human and animal populations, but there are no reports on the significance of the pathogen within the food or water chain of African cultures. Future work should focus on a more systematic approach towards Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence data gathering and analysis in order to inform on effective approaches to its prevention and disease reduction, and on the molecular epidemiology of the pathogen within the South African context. Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii, behavior, toxoplasmosis, mental health, sero-prevalence, South Africa, disease burden, HEU, HUU

Identifying the Drivers Behind the Dissemination of Online Misinformation: A Study on Political Attitudes and Individual Characteristics in the Context of Engaging With Misinformation on Social Media

The increasing dissemination of online misinformation in recent years has raised the question which individuals interact with this kind of information and what role attitudinal congruence plays in this context. To answer these questions, we conduct surveys in six countries (BE, CH, DE, FR, UK, and US) and investigate the drivers of the dissemination of misinformation on three noncountry specific topics (immigration, climate change, and COVID-19). Our results show that besides issue attitudes and issue salience, political orientation, personality traits, and heavy social media use increase the willingness to disseminate misinformation online. We conclude that future research should not only consider individual’s beliefs but also focus on specific user groups that are particularly susceptible to misinformation and possibly caught in social media “fringe bubbles.

Epstein-Barr Virus Lymphoproliferative Disease Following Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Prediction and Early Intervention

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been associated with a variety of both infectious and malignant human diseases. These viruses are characterized by (B-cell) lymphotropism, their ability to establish latent infection in host cells and to induce proliferation of these latently infected cells. Approximately 90% of humans will become infected with EBV, generally without clinical evidence of disease. Primary infection usually occurs asymptomatically in childhood and results in a lifetime carrier state with periodic release of infectious virus into saliva which may cause infection of naive individuals. E.g. during adolescence, the latter type of infection may be referred to as kissing disease or Pfeiffer’s disease. EBV causes various benign syndromes, such as infectious mononucleosis, chronic active EBV infection, X-linked lymphoproliferative disease and oral hairy leukoplakia. EBV has also been associated with malignant diseases including nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Burkitt’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). PTLD refer to a range of hyperplastic to neoplastic lymphoid proliferations which occur after solid organ- or bone marrow transplantation, they mostly are of B-cell origin, and commonly (90%) contain EBV. The lack of early and accurate markers of EBV reactivation and disease has long hampered a timely diagnosis of post-transplant EBV lymphoproliferative disease. The introduction of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays, however, has allowed for sensitive and quantitative monitoring of viral DNA in peripheral blood samples. This thesis has addressed the question whether molecular monitoring of EBV-DNA would accurately predict for EBV-LPD and whether preventive and therapeutic strategies could be developed based on viral load monitoring

A diagnostic approach to recurrent respiratory tract infections in childhood : could it be primary immunodeficiency?

The recurrence of respiratory tract infections is a common problem in paediatric practice. Parental concerns around recurrent respiratory infections (RRTI) contribute significally towards doctor visits. This a a surprising lack of evidence, guidelines and appropriate ICD 10 cording for RRTI. Many of the children who present with RRTI are immunologically normal children but it is important to recognise the features of a possible immune deficit or other serious underlying disorder. The evaluation children who present with RRTI requires close attention to the history and clinical findings in order to differentiate those who warrant more extensive investigations from those who need reassurance directed toward their concerned parents. PID may be responsible for around 10% of RRTI in children. More than 50% of these are due to antibody defects and the majority can be diagnosed and treated effectively. The question that arises is when to start more extensive investigations and when to accept that this child is otherwise healthy. The purpose of this review is to assist the clinician with a diagnostic approach to differentiate the "normal" child from the child with a more serious underlying aetiology of RRTI, necessitating investigation.http://reference.sabinet.co.za/sa_epublication/caciam201

Importance, répartition et tendance évolutive des populations de grands herbivores et de l’autruche dans le parc national de Waza, Cameroun

Un dénombrement aérien des grands herbivores et des autru ches du Parc National de Waza a été effectué en utilisant un échantillonnage stratifié sur transects. On a divisé le parc en cinq « strates » différentes suivant les types de végétation et la densité des animaux. Les estimations d’effectifs de sept espèces sont pré sentées, ainsi que des cartes montrant la répartition spatiale et la densité des grands mammifères et de l’Autruche. Ces résultats sont comparés avec ceux d’un recensement précédent et avec d’autres estimations d’abondance. Les effectifs des damalisques, hippotragues et autruches mon trent un déclin important. Les reduncas, autrefois très communs dans le parc, sont devenus très rares ; de plus, les cobes onctueux ont complètement disparu de la région, aucun n’ayant été observé pendant le recensement. Les effectifs des éléphants et des girafes semblent station nâmes ou même en légère croissance. La population de cobes de Buffon, l’herbivore le plus abondant du parc est elle aussi en diminution, moins rapide cependant que celle des damalisques et des hippotragues. Les causes possibles de cette diminution de la grande faune sauvage du Parc National de Waza sont discutées. L’action directe et indirecte des activités humaines paraît prépondérante.An aerial sample count of larger herbivores and ostrich was carried out in the Waza National Park, Cameroons, using syste matic transect sampling. The park was divided in five zones according to vegetation type and animal density. Total population estimates are given and density/distribution maps are presented for seven species Results are discussed and compared with a previous aerial survey and with other estimates. Population sizes of Topi, Roan antelope and Ostrich show an important decline. Reedbuck, once a very common animal in the park, has become very rare, whereas Waterhuck has vir tually disappeared from the area ; Not a single individual was seen during the survey. Elephant and Giraffe seem to maintain their stock, or even to show a slight increase. The population of Kob, the most abundant larger herbivore in the park, is also decreasing but less rapidly than that of Roan antelope and Topi. Possible causes of this decline in numbers are discussed

Applying Laser Doppler Anemometry inside a Taylor-Couette geometry - Using a ray-tracer to correct for curvature effects

In the present work it will be shown how the curvature of the outer cylinder affects Laser Doppler anemometry measurements inside a Taylor-Couette apparatus. The measurement position and the measured velocity are altered by curved surfaces. Conventional methods for curvature correction are not applicable to our setup, and it will be shown how a ray-tracer can be used to solve this complication. By using a ray-tracer the focal position can be calculated, and the velocity can be corrected. The results of the ray-tracer are verified by measuring an a priori known velocity field, and after applying refractive corrections good agreement with theoretical predictions are found. The methods described in this paper are applied to measure the azimuthal velocity profiles in high Reynolds number Taylor-Couette flow for the case of outer cylinder rotation

Connecting the Sun and the Solar Wind: The First 2.5 Dimensional Self-consistent MHD Simulation under the Alfv\'en Wave Scenario

The solar wind emanates from the hot and tenuous solar corona. Earlier studies using 1.5 dimensional simulations show that Alfv\'{e}n waves generated in the photosphere play an important role in coronal heating through the process of non-linear mode conversion. In order to understand the physics of coronal heating and solar wind acceleration together, it is important to consider the regions from photosphere to interplanetary space as a single system. We performed 2.5 dimensional, self-consistent magnetohydrodynamic simulations, covering from the photosphere to the interplanetary space for the first time. We carefully set up the grid points with spherical coordinate to treat the Alfv\'{e}n waves in the atmosphere with huge density contrast, and successfully simulate the solar wind streaming out from the hot solar corona as a result of the surface convective motion. The footpoint motion excites Alfv\'{e}n waves along an open magnetic flux tube, and these waves traveling upwards in the non-uniform medium undergo wave reflection, nonlinear mode conversion from Alfv\'{e}n mode to slow mode, and turbulent cascade. These processes leads to the dissipation of Alfv\'{e}n waves and acceleration of the solar wind. It is found that the shock heating by the dissipation of the slow mode wave plays a fundamental role in the coronal heating process whereas the turbulent cascade and shock heating drive the solar wind.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap