Evaluation of a novel design of masonry structures subject to ground movement

Imperial Users onl

The development of Saudisation practices in the Saudi supermarket industry : an institutional perspective

This thesis examines the development of Saudisation practices in the Saudi private sector. The focus of the empirical research is five supermarket firms operating in Saudi Arabia. The thesis investigates the development of Saudisation practices over time with a particular focus on the period between 2003 and 2007. Methodologically, this research adopts the mixed methods approach to data collection by using both quantitative and qualitative data. The study applies explanation-building and pattern-matching techniques to analyse the data collected. Theoretically, the study draws on analytical models from institutional theory, in particular from the work of Greenwood, Paauwe, Scott, Oliver and others. The thesis makes a further contribution to existing work by scholars of contextual human resources management and the Dutch HR network. The research findings show that Saudisation practices are an institutional field. The field has prime actors such as the Ministry of Labour, leading supermarket chains and young Saudis. Those primary actors and other secondary ones apply regulative, normative and culture-cognitive pressures. The result of these pressures is the isomorphism of Saudisation practices, in which practices are diffused in the industry. This study shows that under limited and contradictory institutional pressure, practices are not diffused. However, Saudisation practices are diffused under extensive pressure or where there is potential return for the business. This research also suggests that the leading firms tend to have a common demographic composition, both as entire organisations and also, in part, in their senior management teams

Harrison homology and the Quillen homology of commutative monoids

The cohomology theory for commutative monoids developed by P. A. Grillet is a case of a graded form of Harrison homology

Serum Copeptin As a Biomarker For IUGR

In obstetrical world, Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) occupies second slot as a cause of small for gestation neonates, first being premature birth, both of which result in potential neonatal morbidities and mortalities. IUGR is defined as an estimated fetal weight at one point in time at or below 10th percentile for gestational age. Annually about thirty million babies suffer from IUGR and out of these about 75% are Asians. IUGR has been found to be associated with increased levels of Copeptin. As copeptin is a marker of endogenous stress, so increased copeptin levels can indicate fetal and maternal stress in IUGR Objectives: The objectives of this study were to the compare maternal serum copeptin levels in pregnancies with IUGR and pregnancies with adequate for gestational age fetuses and to establish the significance of copeptin as a biomarker for IUGR. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional comparative study in which maternal serum copeptin levels were measured and compared in 60 patients divided in two groups, pregnancies with IUGR and normal pregnancies with adequate for gestation age fetuses between 28-35 weeks of gestation Results: Maternal serum copeptin levels were raised in pregnant women with IUGR as compared to that in pregnant women with adequate for gestational age fetuses. Mean ± SD maternal serum copeptin levels were 97.5 ± 6 pg/ml in pregnant women with AGA fetuses and 121 ± 7.8 pg/ml in pregnant women with IUGR. Conclusions: Maternal serum copeptin levels are raised in pregnancies with IUGR as compared to pregnancies with adequate for age fetuses which can represent as a possible clinical biomarker for identification of IUGR

In vivo and in vitro studies of immune responses induced by normal or attenuated 'Schistosoma mansoni' schistosomula

A schistosome vaccine would be of great value in controlling schistosomiasis. Exposure of experimental animals to live gamma-irradiated cercariae (GI) is highly effective and although not logistically feasible for human vaccination has provided insight into the immune mechanisms which may facilitate development of defined antigen vaccines. In mice the radiation attenuated vaccines induce IFN- γ dependent immunity following a single exposure and antibody mediated immunity following repeated exposure. In order to induce high levels of immunity the irradiated larvae need to survive for 2-3 weeks and to reach the lung stage in order to "arm" the lungs with sensitized cells, but it has been shown that larval infections with 500 larvae treated with the drug Ro11-3128 at just 2 days post-infection also results in high levels of immunity but with an apparently more focal and truncated exposure to living larvae in the skin. The focus of this thesis is to compare the immune mechanism underlying this Ro11-3128-induced vaccination (RoNI) (which induced >90% protection) with the GI (which induced 60-70% protection) and with infections which are both irradiated and drug treated which induce poor levels of immunity (RoGI) (induced only 30% protection). RoNI, GI, RoGI and a normal unattenuated infection (NI) all resulted in a Th 1 biased response (IFN-γ>IL-4) in the skin-draining lymph nodes (SLN), but RoNI and RoGI induced enhanced and more prolonged responses. RoNI was unique in causing highly elevated antigen specific IFN-γ responses in the spleen suggesting local but protracted stimulation of a strong systemic response. Studies in B6RAG 1-/- mice (no B or T cells), IFN-γ -/-, μ-MT mice (no B cells) and by in vivo depletion of IFN-γ with neutralizing monoclonal antibody during challenge showed that RoNI is mediated almost entirely by IFN-γ mediated mechanisms and antibody is not involved. Adding Ro11-3128 to cultures containing RoNI-sensitized SLN cells and living schistosomula enhanced the IFN-γ production in the presence of in vitro bone marrow (bm)-derived DCs suggesting that altered antigen presentation is induced by drug treatment. However, the superiority of Ro11-3128 in inducing immunity compared with other drugs could not be attributed simply to its ability to induce membraneous blebs as these were also produced by Ro11-3128-treated irradiated schistosomula. Furthermore, there was no evidence of the drug having a general adjuvant effect. To try to establish how the larval exposure induces the Th 1 biased response, living schistosomula were cultured with bone marrow-derived dendritic cells. This had no effect (up- or down- regulate) on surface activation maker expression (MHCII, CD86, CD40) even if the bm-DCs, were partially activated with LPS or TNF-α. There was also no cytokine production (IL-12p70, TNF-α, IL-10 or IL-6). However, schistosomula induced a differential dose-dependent reduction in cytokine production by LPS-activated bm-DCs (IL-12p70 >IL-6 and TNF-α) but IL-10 was relatively unaffected. Again this was unaffected by addition of Ro11-3128. This work indicates that it is possible to induce highly effective Th 1 mediated systemic immunity in mice by protracted but local stimulation of the skin/SLN suggesting that delivery of defined schistosome antigens by Th 1 promoting strategies such as prime- boosting with heterologous recombinant viruses delivered in the skin would be worth investigating. There was no evidence that the Th l response to larval infection is caused by direct action of larvae or larval products on dendritic cells and in fact there was evidence of an anti-inflammatory effect, which should be investigated further at the mRNA level. It is suggested that schistosomula may interact differently with other cells encountered in the skin e. g. keratinocytes in initiating the Th 1 bias.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Risk factors for prolonged ventilation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease presenting with acute respiratory failure

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-37).Patients with COPD presenting to the Emergency Unit with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure often require invasive mechanical ventilation and subsequent admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). These patients are at an increased risk of prolonged and complicated ventilation and often experience weaning difficulties. In addition, the impact of a previous episode of pulmonary tuberculosis that might have resulted in structural lung disease on the duration of mechanical ventilation in such patients has not previously been evaluated. Methods: All patients with COPD admitted to the Respiratory ICU at Tygerberg academic hospital from the 01st January 2004 until 31st December 2007 requiring intubation and invasive mechanical ventilation for acute hypercapnic respiratory failure were included in the study

Quality of YouTube TM videos on dental implants

Patients search YouTube for health-care information. To examine what YouTube offers patients seeking information on dental implants, and to evaluate the quality of provided information. A total of 117 videos were analyzed. The most commonly discussed topics were related to procedures involved in dental implantology (76.1%, n=89), and to the indications for dental implants (58.1%, n=78). The mean usefulness score of videos was poor (6.02 ±4.7 [range 0-21]), and misleading content was common (30.1% of videos); mainly in topics related to prognosis and maintenance of dental implants. Most videos (83.1%, n=97) failed to mention the source of information presented in the video or where to find more about dental implants. Information about dental implants on YouTube is limited in quality and quantity. YouTube videos can have a potentially important role in modulating patients? attitude and treatment decision regarding dental implants

The effect of a proposed training program for the foundation course on basic skills and Body Composition among members of karate clubs in the Governorate of Jenin - Palestine

The study aimed to identify the effect of a proposed training program for the foundation course of the basic skills and body composition of the members of karate clubs in the governorate of Jenin – Palestine. The researchers used the experimental approach due to its suitability to the nature and objectives of the study. To achieve this, the study was conducted on a carefully chosen sample of karate clubs (the Talented Academy of Physical Fitness and self Defense, Arrabah Karate Club and Zababdeh Karate Club). The sample consisted of 50 members, 10 of those members were of exploratory sample, and the rest 40 members were considered as a basic sample that had been divided randomly into two groups. 20 members of experimental group and 20 members of control group. The researchers used Tanita DC-360 P to measure body components and in addition to a set of tests that measure basic skills. The training program was applied for a period of (10) weeks with (3) training sessions per week. Each training session took (60) minutes. In addition, the statistical packages program was used to analyze the data. The results showed that there were differences among the members of the experimental group between the pre and post measurements of body composition and basic skills. The results also indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the members of the experimental and control groups in the post-measurement of body composition, while the results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the post-measurement of basic skills in karate, which came in favor of the members of the experimental group. The researchers recommended to the need to take account of the training program proposed by the coaches of karate clubs (kata) in the West Bank, especially in the training phase for basic karate skills

A 12-week community-based physical activity and mindfulness intervention: health outcomes and markers of autonomic nervous system function (Sweet Hearts biokinetics pilot study)

The prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has reached epidemic proportions in South Africa, coinciding with high levels of sedentary behaviour, urbanisation and stress. The nexus between stress, physical inactivity and non-communicable diseases may be regulated, in part, by changes in the autonomic nervous system (ANS). ANS function may be measured using a proxy of heart rate variability (HRV). Regular physical activity, controlled breathing and stress reduction have been shown to alter HRV. This paper presents preliminary data from a community-based biokinetics physical activity and mindfulness intervention (Sweet Hearts) on HRV. The study’s findings demonstrated favourable changes in measures of heart rate variability (HRV) – specifically in the low frequency (LF) spectrum that is associated with baroreflex function. The implications of these changes, in terms of health outcomes, along with efforts at addressing scalability and sustainability of community-based health promotion interventions may be important targets for future study

Intrinsic Thermodynamics of Protein-Ligand Binding by Isothermal Titration Calorimetry as Aid to Drug Design

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is one of the main techniques to determine specific interactions between molecules dissolved in aqueous solution. This technique is commonly used in drug development programs when low-molecular-weight molecules are sought that bind tightly and specifically to a protein (disease target) molecule. The method allows a complete thermodynamic characterization of an interaction, i.e., ITC enables direct determination of the model-independent observed interaction change in enthalpy (ΔH) and a model-dependent observed interaction affinity (change in Gibbs free energy, ΔG) in a single experiment. The product of temperature and change in entropy (TΔS) can be obtained by the subtraction of ΔG from ΔH, and the change in heat capacity (ΔC p ) can be determined as a slope of the temperature dependence of the binding ΔH. Despite the apparent value of ITC in characterization of interactions, it is often forgotten that many protein-ligand binding reactions are linked to protonation-deprotonation reactions or various conformational changes. In such cases, it is important to determine the linked-reaction contributions and obtain the intrinsic values of the changes in Gibbs energy (affinity), enthalpy, and entropy. These energy values can then be used in various SAR-type structure-thermodynamics and combined with structure-kinetics correlations in drug design, when searching for small molecules that would bind the protein target molecule. This manuscript provides a detailed protocol on how to determine the intrinsic values of protein-ligand binding thermodynamics by ITC