Prevalence of overweight and obesity and body image perception amongst black South African female nurses practicing in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Master of Science in Dietetics and Human Nutrition. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2018.Abstract available in PDF file

Fracture energy of geopolymer concrete

Use of fly ash based geopolymer as an alternative binder can help reduce CO2 emission of concrete. Effect of the geopolymer binder on fracture energy of concrete (GPC) has been investigated by testing both geopolymer and ordinary portland cement (OPC) concrete notched beams in accordance with the recommendations of RILEM TC 50 – FMC. The fracture failures of the GPC specimens were more brittle with relatively smooth fracture planes as compared to the OPC concrete specimens. Fracture energy of geopolymer concrete tends to be higher than OPC concrete for high compressive strengths

Regulation of Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling as a Therapeutic Approach in Autoimmune Diseases, with an Emphasis on Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating, presumably autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Among the available MS therapies, interferon (IFN)β and the recently introduced statins have been reported to exert their immunomodulatory effects through the induction of SOCS1 and SOCS3 in various inflammatory cell subsets. The SOCS proteins negatively regulate cytokine and Toll-like receptors- (TLR-) induced signaling in the inflammatory cells. SOCS1 and SOCS3 have been reported to play an important role in the regulation of Th17-cell differentiation through their effects on the cells of the innate and adaptive immune systems. IFNβ and statins inhibit Th17-cell differentiation directly and indirectly via induction of SOCS1 and SOCS3 expression in monocytes, dendritic cells (DCs), and B-cells. Due to their rapid induction and degradation, and SOCS-mediated regulation of multiple cytokine-signaling pathways, they represent an attractive therapeutic target in the autoimmune diseases, and particularly relapsing remitting (RR) MS

Identity, place and displacement in the visual art of female artists at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), 1994-2004

The first ten years of democracy (1994-2004) in South Africa was an important period marked by a plethora of research activities in South Africa. The 2004 exhibition of artworks by academic staff from the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) was an example of one such event. A critical reading of these artworks exhibited diverse representations of their world views and also informed the initial research for this study. All the artworks on exhibition illustrated a commonality of purpose in the artists’ interrogation and representation of their fragmented identities in a transforming political landscape. Therefore, this thesis considers a political reading of the ideas of identity, place and displacement in the artworks of thirteen female artists at VUT from 1994 to 2004. The rationale of this thesis was to examine in what way the artists’ construction and representations of identity, place and displacement were influenced by the environmental factors of the historical, political and academic culture in the microcosm of the Vaal region. However, the inclusion of Tracey Rose in this study extended the discourses of identity, place and displacement to consider the disjunctures and continuities of cultural practices in ethnicities in South Africa. This thesis furthermore proposed to address the gendered omissions of female artists from contemporary literature and therefore focuses on the creative productions of female artists from VUT. The significance of this study lies in the contribution of knowledge on the existing body of literature of art and artists in South Africa and in initiating the exercise of documenting the visual history of the Vaal region. The theoretical underpinnings are informed by the discourses of cultural studies, postcolonial studies and feminism/s. The thesis delimits the political and historical events of South Africa from pre-history to contemporary South Africa. A postcolonial reading of history is carried out in order to draw attention to inconsistencies and fallacies inherent in the colonial recording of historical events relevant to this study. The influential historical and political events in the discourse of place and displacement have been included in view of their depiction or references made by the artists discussed in this study and to contextualise the geopolitical space of the Vaal Triangle. The political events before and after the decline of apartheid were included to frame the strategy of decolonisation of the new political dispensation. A context for the shifting identities of the artists in a neoliberal democracy, namely the political and historical events germane to the Vaal Triangle and to the artists dealt with in this study, is provided to position the ideological divide between Afrikaner nationalism and a neoliberal democracy. The thesis provides a brief overview of South African art in order to delineate a national perspective and framework for the discussion of the artworks later in the study that are located predominantly in the Vaal Triangle. An average of three artworks per artist were selected for discussion. The selected artworks reflect heterogeneous interpretations of the discursive themes of landscape, the positions of women, shifting timelines and contemporary politics in South African social and cultural practice. There was an observable divide in the artworks that displayed explicit and implicit signifiers referring to the constructs of identity, place and displacement. Identities formed in the spaces of colonisation and in the dislocated, displaced, raced and gendered identities, inform the world views of the artists selected for this study.Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2011.Visual Artsunrestricte

The Pricing of Water in Louisiana.

In L o u i s i a n a , t h e p r i m a r y w a t e r p r o b l e m i s o n e o f p r o p e r a l l o c a t i o n o f w a t e r among r e s i d e n t i a l , i n d u s t r i a l and a g r i c u l t u r a l u s e r s . In t h i s c o n t e x t , t h i s s t u d y e v a l u a t e s c u r r e n t p r i c e s t r u c t u r e s and p r i c i n g p o l i c i e s i n o r d e r t o e x p l o r e t h e u s e o f e c o n o m i c c r i t e r i a f o r an e f f i c i e n t a l l o c a t i o n o f t h e r e s o u r c e . D a ta c o l l e c t e d p e r t a i n e d t o t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f w a t e r s u p p l y i n g u n i t s , t h e i r p r o d u c t i o n and d i s t r i b u t i o n s y s t e m s , p r i c e s c h e d u l e s , b a s e s o f p r i c e d e t e r m i n a t i o n , and t h e f i n a n c i a l s t a t u s o f e a c h u n i t . To p u t t h i s s t u d y i n t o p e r s p e c t i v e , t h e r o l e o f p r i c e t h e o r y i n a l l o c a t i o n o f w a t e r r e s o u r c e s was e x a m in e d and a r e v i e w o f w a t e r p r i c i n g p o l i c i e s i n a r i d and humid r e g i o n s o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s was a c c o m p l i s h e d . R e s i d e n t i a l w a t e r s u p p l i e s i n L o u i s i a n a a r e p r o v i d e d by r e g u l a t e d w a t e r u t i l i t i e s owned by p r i v a t e i n v e s t o r s , m u n i c i p a l g o v e r n m e n t s , o r by g r o u p s o f i n d i v i d u a l s o r g a n i z e d t o form n o n p r o f i t c o r p o r a t i o n s w h o s e i n v e s t m e n t f u n d s a r e p r o v i d e d b y t h e Fa rmers Home A d m i n i s t r a t i o n . A c o m p a r a t i v e a n a l y s i s i n d i c a t e d t h a t FHA s p o n s o r e d w a t e r u t i l i t i e s c h a r g e d $1 0 . 0 8 f o r 1 0 , 0 0 0 g a l l o n s o f w a t e r w h i l e p r i v a t e and m u n i c i p a l u t i l i t i e s c h a r g e d$ 7 . 9 0 an d $6 . 7 4 , r e s p e c t i v e l y . A v e r a g e a n n u a l o p e r a t i n g c o s t s p e r c a p i t a was$ 1 3 . 3 7 f o r m u n i c i p a l w a t e r u t i l i t i e s , $1 6 . 6 3 f o r FHA w a t e r u t i l i t i e s , and$ 1 7 . 7 4 f o r p r i v a t e w a t e r u t i l i t i e s . x i i i Of t h e 231 w a t e r u t i l i t i e s s u r v e y e d , 71 p e r c e n t had a m e t e r e d r a t e s y s t e m b a s e d on d e c l i n i n g b l o c k r a t e s , and t h e g r e a t e r d i s c o u n t s i n p r i c e w e r e g i v e n by m u n i c i p a l w a t e r u t i l i t i e s . Most w a t e r u t i l i t i e s c o n s i d e r e d t h e f i r s t b l o c k a s c o n s t i t u t i n g t h e minimum m o n t h l y c h a r g e . R e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s i s b e t w e e n p o p u l a t i o n s e r v e d and t o t a l a n n u a l o p e r a t i n g c o s t r e v e a l e d a p o s i t i v e l i n e a r r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e s e two v a r i a b l e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e n a t u r e o f o w n e r s h i p o f w a t e r u t i l i t i e s . The l e v e l o f t h e s e c o s t s i n r e l a t i o n t o inc om e r e s u l t e d i n one o u t o f t h r e e w a t e r u t i l i t i e s i n c u r r i n g a n e t l o s s i n 1 9 7 1 . L o s s e s w e r e more f r e q u e n t among p r i v a t e w a t e r u t i l i t i e s w h e r e t h e u s e o f f l a t r a t e s was m o s t common. S p e c i a l c h a r g e s i n c l u d e d r a t e s f o r f i r e p r o t e c t i o n , o u t s i d e - l i m i t s c u s t o m e r s , t a p p i n g f e e , c u s t o m e r d e p o s i t s , m e t e r i n s t a l l a t i o n , r e c o n n e c t i o n f e e s , a i r - c o n d i t i o n i n g and l a w n - s p r i n k l i n g . T h e s e s p e c i a l c h a r g e s an d w a t e r r a t e s w e r e a l l b a s e d on t h e a v e r a g e c o s t o f t h e s e r v i c e . Wa te r u s e d i n a g r i c u l t u r e i n L o u i s i a n a i s p r i m a r i l y f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f r i c e and i s e i t h e r s e l f - s u p p l i e d o r p r o v i d e d by c a n a l c o m p a n i e s . The c o s t f o r w a t e r from a c a n a l company i s g e n e r a l l y b a s e d on a p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e r i c e c r o p . A c o m p a r a t i v e a n a l y s i s b e t w e e n a s u b s u r f a c e p i p e l i n e and a s u r f a c e c a n a l t o i r r i g a t e a 1 3 6 . 5 a c r e r i c e farm was made. The p r i c e o f w a t e r by c a n a l c o m p a n i e s ra n g ed from $4 . 8 0 t o$ 1 3 . 4 5 p e r a c r e - f o o t w h i l e t h e r a n g e was $3 . 6 1 t o$ 8 . 9 0 f o r a s e l f - s u p p l i e d s y s t e m . The s u p p l y o f w a t e r f o r i n d u s t r y i s p r e d o m i n a n t l y s e l f - s u p p l i e d and o n c e t h e w a t e r s y s t e m i s e s t a b l i s h e d , c o s t s r e l a t e o n l y t o pumping and t r a n s m i s s i o n . A l o c a l c h e m i c a l p l a n t e s t i m a t e d c o s t s a t $0 . 0 8 p e r x i v 1 . 0 0 0 g a l l o n s and a m e t a l p r o d u c t s f i r m b e t w e e n$ 0 . 1 0 t o $ 0 . 1 7 p e r 1 . 0 0 0 g a l l o n s o f w a t e r . I n v i e w o f t h e d i v e r s i t y o f p r i c i n g p o l i c i e s and t h e t e n d e n c y t o a v e r a g e - c o s t p r i c i n g by w a t e r u t i l i t i e s , i t i s recommended t h a t a m a r g i n a l - c c s t p r i c i n g p o l i c y be a p p l i e d f o r more e f f i c i e n t a l l o c a t i o n o f w a t e r . A s e r v i c e c h a r g e e q u a l t o t h e s e m i - f i x e d m a r g i n a l c o s t s and a p e r u n i t c h a r g e e q u i v a l e n t t o t h e s e a s o n a l v a r i a b l e m a r g i n a l c o s t s c o n s t i t u t e s t h e b a s i c r a t e p r o p o s a l . A p r o p e r t y t a x o r an i n c r e a s e i n t h e s e r v i c e c h a r g e c o u l d be u s e d t o f i n a n c e t h e inc om e d e f i c i t i n s y s t e m s w i t h d e c r e a s i n g a v e r a g e c o s t s o f p r o d u c t i o n . For i n d u s t r y and s e l f - s u p p l i e d a g r i c u l t u r a l u s e r s , t h e a s s i g n m e n t o f w a t e r r i g h t s o r q u o t a s , o r t h e i m p o s i t i o n o f a u s e - t a x c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e d i v e r g e n c e b e t w e e n m a r g i n a l s o c i a l and p r i v a t e c o s t s was r e c o m n e n d e d

Characterization of CMX-13 and evaluation of efficacy and mechanisms of action in animal model of autoimmunity

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Size-partitioning of an urban aerosol to identify particle determinants involved in the proinflammatory response induced in airway epithelial cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The contribution of air particles in human cardio-respiratory diseases has been enlightened by several epidemiological studies. However the respective involvement of coarse, fine and ultrafine particles in health effects is still unclear. The aim of the present study is to determine which size fraction from a chemically characterized background aerosol has the most important short term biological effect and to decipher the determinants of such a behaviour.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ambient aerosols were collected at an urban background site in Paris using four 13-stage low pressure cascade impactors running in parallel (winter and summer 2005) in order to separate four size-classes (PM_0.03–0.17(defined here as ultrafine particles), PM_0.17–1(fine), PM_1–2.5(intermediate) and PM_2.5–10(coarse)). Accordingly, their chemical composition and their pro-inflammatory potential on human airway epithelial cells were investigated. Considering isomass exposures (same particle concentrations for each size fractions) the pro-inflammatory response characterized by Granulocyte Macrophage-Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) release was found to decrease with aerosol size with no seasonal dependency. When cells were exposed to isovolume of particle suspensions in order to respect the particle proportions observed in ambient air, the GM-CSF release was maximal with the fine fraction. In presence of a recombinant endotoxin neutralizing protein, the GM-CSF release induced by particles is reduced for all size-fractions, with exception of the ultra-fine fraction which response is not modified. The different aerosol size-fractions were found to display important chemical differences related to the various contributing primary and secondary sources and aerosol age. The GM-CSF release was correlated to the organic component of the aerosols and especially its water soluble fraction. Finally, Cytochrome P450 1A1 activity that reflects PAH bioavailability varied as a function of the season: it was maximal for the fine fraction in winter and for the ultrafine fraction in summer.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In the frame of future regulations, a particular attention should thus be paid to the ultrafine/fine (here referred to as PM1) fraction due to their overwhelming anthropogenic origin and predominance in the urban aerosol and their pro-inflammatory potential.</p

T Cell LFA-1 Engagement Induces HuR-Dependent Cytokine mRNA Stabilization through a Vav-1, Rac1/2, p38MAPK and MKK3 Signaling Cascade

Engagement of the β2 integrin, lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1), results in stabilization of T cell mRNA transcripts containing AU-rich elements (AREs) by inducing rapid nuclear-to-cytosolic translocation of the RNA-stabilizing protein, HuR. However, little is known regarding integrin-induced signaling cascades that affect mRNA catabolism. This study examines the role of the GTPases, Rac 1 and Rac 2, and their downstream effectors, in the LFA-1-induced effects on mRNA.Engagement of LFA-1 to its ligand, ICAM-1, in human peripheral T cells resulted in rapid activation of Rac1 and Rac2. siRNA-mediated knockdown of either Rac1 or Rac2 prevented LFA-1-stimulated stabilization of the labile transcripts encoding IFN-γ and TNF-α, and integrin mediated IFN-γ mRNA stabilization was absent in T cells obtained from Rac2 gene-deleted mice. LFA-1 engagement-induced translocation of HuR and stabilization of TNF- α mRNA was lost in Jurkat cells deficient in the Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factor Vav-1 (J.Vav1). The transfection of J.Vav1 cells with constitutively active Rac1 or Rac2 stabilized a labile β-globin reporter mRNA, in a HuR-dependent manner. Furthermore, LFA-1-mediated mRNA stabilization and HuR translocation in mouse splenic T cells was dependent on the phosphorylation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase, MKK3, and its target MAP kinase p38MAPK, and lost in T cells obtained from MKK3 gene-deleted mice.Collectively, these results demonstrate that LFA-1-induced stabilization of ARE-containing mRNAs in T cells is dependent on HuR, and occurs through the Vav-1, Rac1/2, MKK3 and p38MAPK signaling cascade. This pathway constitutes a molecular switch that enhances immune and pro-inflammatory gene expression in T cells undergoing adhesion at sites of activation and effector function

T h1‐mediated experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis is CXCR 3 independent

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101816/1/eji2737.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101816/2/eji2737-sup-0001-FigureS1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101816/3/eji2737-sup-0001-supmat.pd

Self-complementary AAV Virus (scAAV) Safe and Long-term Gene Transfer in the Trabecular Meshwork of Living Rats and Monkeys

AAV vectors produce stable transgene expression and elicit low immune response in many tissues. AAVs have been the vectors of choice for gene therapy for the eye, in particular the retina. scAAVs are modified AAVs that bypass the required second-strand DNA synthesis to achieve transcription of the transgene. The goal was to investigate the ability of AAV vectors to induce long-term, safe delivery of transgenes to the trabecular meshwork of living animals