This PhD thesis addresses three questions. First, to what extent was the EU’s vision of ‘active ageing’ adopted in EU15 nations between 1995 and 2005? Second, what was the nature of policy reforms in these nations over this time period? Finally, which sub-groups within the older age cohort (here defined as between 50-74)1 were subject to active ageing policies in these countries? The methodology employed was cross-national policy analysis of EU15 nations’ policies for employment and retirement, encompassing the retention and re-engagement of older individuals in the labour market. The policy areas included are unemployment benefits, active labour market policies, state pension ages, early retirement routes and incentives for the deferral of pension receipt, in line with the EU targets and guidelines regarding ‘active ageing’. In addition, model biographies (divided according to age and contribution records) were employed to address the differential policy treatment of individuals within the older age cohort in terms of the various eligibility criteria and policy options available over the ten year period. The data indicates that though EU15 nations have made progress towards the EU policy prescriptions for active ageing, there is variation in a number of respects. First, nations differed in terms of their policy contexts, and as a result had lesser or greater distances to travel towards the EU vision of active ageing. Second, and related, these policy contexts to a degree directed subsequent national reforms and retrenchment, thus resulting in different policy approaches. Finally, at the micro-level, there is variation with regard to the policy treatment of individuals within the age cohort in EU15 nations. As a result, the active ageing policy logic is applied to older individuals differently. In terms of its contributions to knowledge, this thesis therefore provides more nuanced accounts of both the recommodification and reserve army of labour literatures. The recommodification of labour argument suggests that nations are moving away from decommodifying welfare arrangements to focus on the recommodification of labour yet the data demonstrate a great deal of variation in EU15 nations, in terms of their original policies for decommodification, their subsequent retrenchment and the type of policies introduced that recommodify labour. With regard to the reserve army of labour literature, the shift towards active ageing policies is part of a cyclical process whereby older workers are drawn into and ejected from the labour markets in periods of low and high unemployment respectively. The data however indicate that as the political economy of ageing literature suggests, ageing is not a homogenous experience and differential policy treatment within age cohorts maintains and exacerbates divergence at the micro level. Thus whilst the recommodification and reserve army of labour literatures suggest all individuals are being drawn into the labour market, the data emphasises differences at the micro level in terms of policy treatment, in line with the political economy of ageing literature

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La phosphorylation/déphosphorylation des protéines est un mécanisme de signalisation intracellulaire commun. Parmi les kinases végétales, les Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) sont impliquées dans de nombreux processus biologiques importants, comme la réponse aux stress biotiques et abiotiques, le développement et la dynamique du cytosquelette. Chez Arabidopsis thaliana et ce malgré de nombreux efforts, les fonctions des kinases impliquées dans les cascades MAPK restent peu inconnues. L'activation des kinases en utilisant des mutations mimant la phosphorylation des sites normalement phosphorylés est une approchequi a fait ses preuves dans le cas de MAP2Ks et a largement contribué à élucider leurs fonctions. Cette stratégie s’est révélée impossible dans le cas des MAPKs, puisque les résidus à muter restent encore à identifier. Pour contourner ce problème, nous avons adapté un crible basé sur la complémentation fonctionnelle d’un mutant MAPK de levure avec des formes aléatoirement mutées de MPK6d’Arabidopsis dans le but d'identifier des mutants présentant une activité constitutive. Nous en avons identifiés plusieurs et avons montré que ces formes constitutivement actives (CA) de MPK6 sont actives sans phosphorylation par les MAP2Ks. Par ailleurs, les mutations des résidus équivalents dans d'autres MAPKs les rendent également hyperactives, ce qui indique que cette stratégie peut être utilisée comme approche générale pour activer les MAPKs afin d’en comprendre les fonctions. L’étude des interactions protéine-protéine et l’analyse des profils dephosphorylation indiquent que les MAPKs CA conservent leur spécificité envers leurs substrats et interacteurs. Comme preuve de concept, nous avons généré des formes actives du MPK4. La MPK4 CA exprimée sous son propre promoteur a parfaitement complémenté le mutant mpk4. La caractérisation des lignées exprimant MPK4 CA confirme le rôle négatif de cette kinase dans les réponses de défense aux pathogènes des plantes que ce soit dans la PTI (PAMP Triggered Immunity) ou dans la ETI (Effector Triggered Immunity). Globalement, ce travail permettra de fournir des informations directes sur les cibles des MAPKs et devrait contribuer à la compréhension globale de la transduction du signal chez les plantes. / Protein phosphorylations and dephosphorylations are common events occurring duringintracellular signaling processes. Among plant kinases, Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) are involved in signaling of many important biological processes, including biotic and abiotic stresses, development and cytoskeleton organization. Despite an abundant literature on MAPKs, the exact roles and direct targets of many Arabidopsis thaliana MAPKs are not clear yet. The activation of kinases using phospho-mimicking mutations of the phosphorylated residues was a successful approach in the case of MAP2Ks, helping to elucidate their functions. This strategy failed in the case of MAPKs since the necessary residues to mutate remain unclear. To bypass this problem, we adapted a screen based on the functional complementation of a MAPK yeast mutant with randomly mutated Arabidopsis MPK6 in order to identify the ones mutants showing constitutive activity. We identified several clones and showed that these constitutively active (CA) of MPK6 candidates are indeed active without phosphorylation by MAP2Ks. Interestingly, mutations of the equivalent residues in other MAPKs triggered constitutive activity as well, indicating that this strategy may be used as a general approach to activate MAPKs and identify their functions. Interaction and phosphorylation assays indicatedthat CA MAPKs retain their substrate and interactor specificity. As proof-of-concept, we generated active versions of MPK4. CA MPK4 expressed under itsown promoter successfully complements mpk4 mutant plants. Characterization of CA MPK4 lines further confirmed the negative role of MPK4 in plant pathogen defense responses and its implication in both PTI (PAMP Triggered Immunity) and ETI (Effector Triggered Immunity). Overall, the work will help to provide direct information on all MAPK targets and should be an important contribution to the overall understanding of signal transduction in plants.

Yeung Nang Ching. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-74). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.I / ABSTRACT --- p.II / 摘要 --- p.III / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.IV / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.VII / LIST OF TABLES --- p.X / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Overview of filter --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- History --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Application of analog filter --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Category of continuous time filters --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.4 --- Problem issued from Active RC filter --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2 --- Motivation --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3 --- Outline --- p.8 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- FILTER FUNDAMENTAL --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1 --- Overview --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2 --- Terminology --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3 --- General Goals of Filter Design --- p.11 / Chapter 2.4 --- Standard Lowpass Filter Characteristic --- p.11 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Butterworth --- p.11 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Chebyshev --- p.12 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Elliptic-Function --- p.13 / Chapter 2.5 --- Study on Different Tuning Approaches --- p.13 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- CURRENT DIVISION NETWORK (CDN) --- p.18 / Chapter 3.1 --- Overview of Current Division Technique --- p.18 / Chapter 3.2 --- Second Order Effects --- p.23 / Chapter 3.3 --- Working Principle of CDN --- p.23 / Chapter 3.4 --- Performances of CDN --- p.25 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- General Properties of CDN --- p.25 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Input Resistances of CDN --- p.26 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Noise Performance of CDN --- p.27 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- REALIZATION OF THE FILTER --- p.31 / Chapter 4.1 --- Overview --- p.31 / Chapter 4.2 --- Traditional Kerwin Huelsman Newcomb (KHN) Biquad --- p.31 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- State Variable Method --- p.31 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- KHN Biquad --- p.32 / Chapter 4.3 --- Proposed Filter --- p.33 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Biquad with CDN --- p.33 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- A dvantages of Proposed Filter --- p.36 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Schematic of Proposed Filter --- p.38 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- LAYOUT CONSIDERATION --- p.41 / Chapter 5.1 --- Overview --- p.41 / Chapter 5.2 --- Process Information --- p.41 / Chapter 5.3 --- Transistor Layout Techniques --- p.42 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Multi-finger Layout Technique --- p.42 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Common-Centroid Structure --- p.43 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Guard Ring --- p.45 / Chapter 5.4 --- Passive Element Layout Techniques --- p.45 / Chapter 5.5 --- Layout of Whole Design --- p.47 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- SIMULATION RESULT --- p.49 / Chapter 6.1 --- Operational Amplifier --- p.49 / Chapter 6.2 --- Overall Performance of filter --- p.55 / Chapter CHAPTER 7 --- MEASUREMENT RESULT --- p.60 / Chapter 7.1 --- Measurement Setup --- p.60 / Chapter 7.2 --- Time Domain Measurement --- p.62 / Chapter 7.3 --- Frequency Domain Measurement --- p.63 / Chapter 7.4 --- Measurement of Non-Linearity --- p.66 / Chapter 7.5 --- Summary of the Performance --- p.69 / Chapter 7.6 --- Comparison on Tuning Ability --- p.70 / Chapter CHAPTER 8 --- CONCLUSION --- p.71 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.72

No description available.

No description available.

Esse estudo tem como tese que o comportamento de recém nascidos e bebês é ativo, ou seja, guiado a uma meta específica e baseado no conhecimento a respeito do ambiente ao seu redor. Também é assumido que essa capacidade de adaptação se fortaleça ao longo dos 4 primeiros meses após o nascimento. Foram investigadas as atividades manuais de recém nascidos e bebês, tendo em vista que as mãos são uma importante ferramenta de percepção e interação com o ambiente. Assim, os objetivos do estudo foram: a) descrever o comportamento de apertar ao longo dos 4 primeiros meses após o nascimento; e b) identificar acoplamentos entre apertos manuais e o contexto ambiental durante os quatro primeiro meses após o nascimento. Os resultados mostraram que os bebês alteraram a organização temporal dos apertos diferentemente nas situações de contingência e não contingência, um indicativo inicial do comportamento ativo nos apertos manuais / This thesis searched for evidences that newborns and infants behaviour are active, in the other words, intentional, guide by a goal and based in environment knowledge. Also, it is suggested that the adaptation capacity improve around the first 4 months of age Thereunto, the manual activities were investigate, because the hand is an important font of perception and interaction with the environment. So, the goals of the study were: a) to describe neonate and infant clutches around four first months after birth; and b) to verify the coupling between clutches and environmental outcomes during the first four months after birth. The results showed that infants could alter the temporal organization of clutches differently in contingent and no contingent conditions, an initial indicative of active clutch behaviour in young infants

Ge, Tianfang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-93). / Abstract also in Chinese. / EXAMINATION COMMITTEE LIST --- p.ii / DECLARATION --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iv / ABSTRACT --- p.v / ABSTRACT IN CHINESE --- p.vii / ABBREVIATIONS --- p.ix / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.xiii / Chapter 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Erythropoiesis --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- The TF-1 model --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- The erythroid marker glycophorin A (GPA) --- p.4 / Chapter 1.4 --- Reactive oxygen species (ROS) --- p.4 / Chapter 1.5 --- Oxidative stress in human erythrocytes --- p.6 / Chapter 1.6 --- Antioxidant defense systems --- p.6 / Chapter 1.7 --- Glucose provides the majority of reducing equivalents in human erythrocytes --- p.9 / Chapter 1.8 --- Glucose transporter type 1 (Glut l) transports glucose and vitamin C into human erythrocytes --- p.10 / Chapter 1.9 --- Hypothesis and objectives --- p.11 / Chapter 1.10 --- Long-term significance --- p.12 / Figure 1.1 Stages of mammalian erythropoiesis. Adapted from (Koury et al.，2002) --- p.13 / "Figure 1.2 Conversion of major ROS. Adapted from (Ghaffari," --- p.14 / Figure 1.3 Major oxidative defense in human erythrocytes --- p.15 / "Figure 1.4 Peroxide scavenging systems. Adapted from (Day," --- p.16 / Chapter 2 --- MATERIALS AND METHODS --- p.17 / Chapter 2.1 --- Cell culture --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Culture media --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Cell maintenance --- p.19 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Cell cryopreservation --- p.19 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Cell differentiation --- p.20 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- Cell treatments --- p.20 / Chapter 2.1.5.1 --- Antioxidant treatments --- p.21 / Chapter 2.1.5.2 --- H2O2 challenging --- p.22 / Chapter 2.1.5.3 --- Antibiotic treatment --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2 --- Flow cytometry --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Flow cytometers --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Analysis of erythroid differentiation --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Analysis of cell lineage --- p.24 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Analysis of intracellular ROS --- p.24 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Analysis of mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Δψm) --- p.25 / Chapter 2.2.6 --- Analysis of mitochondrial mass --- p.25 / Chapter 2.2.7 --- Analysis of cell death --- p.26 / Chapter 2.2.8 --- Analysis of caspase-3 activity --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2.9 --- FACS cell sorting --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2.10 --- Two-variant flow cytometric experiments --- p.28 / Chapter 2.2.11 --- Analysis of flow cytometry data --- p.28 / Chapter 2.2.12 --- Compensation --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2.12.1 --- Compensation matrix for Annexin V-PI double-staining --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2.12.2 --- Compensation matrix for Annexin V-TMRM double-staining --- p.30 / Chapter 2.2.12.3 --- Compensation matrix for CFSE- GPA double-staining --- p.31 / Chapter 2.2.12.4 --- Compensation matrix for CFSE- TMRM double-staining --- p.31 / Chapter 2.2.12.5 --- Compensation matrix for CM- H2DCFDA-GPA double-staining --- p.32 / Chapter 2.2.12.6 --- Compensation matrix for GPA- TMRM double-staining --- p.33 / Chapter 2.3 --- Western blot --- p.35 / Chapter 2.4 --- Statistical analysis --- p.37 / Chapter 3 --- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION --- p.38 / Chapter 3.1 --- The cells with high GPA staining were younger in cell lineage --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2 --- ROS was produced during TF-1 erythropoiesis --- p.40 / Chapter 3.3 --- ROS production was not essential for TF-1 erythropoiesis --- p.41 / Chapter 3.4 --- ROS production was not the cause of cell proliferation during TF-1 erythropoiesis --- p.41 / Chapter 3.5 --- ROS production was not the cause of sub-lethal mitochondrial depolarization in TF-1 erythropoiesis --- p.42 / Chapter 3.6 --- The cells showing mitochondrial depolarization were mother cells that gave rise to differentiating cells --- p.44 / Chapter 3.7 --- ROS production was not the cause of cell death in TF-1 erythropoiesis --- p.45 / Chapter 3.8 --- ROS production confers oxidative defense during TF-1 erythropoiesis --- p.47 / Chapter 3.8.1 --- Glut l inhibition partially blocked TF-1 erythropoiesis without affecting cell viability --- p.47 / Chapter 3.8.2 --- Antioxidant defense systems were established during TF-1 erythropoiesis --- p.48 / Chapter 3.8.3 --- Antioxidant treatments blocked the establishment of antioxidant defense systems during TF-1 erythropoiesis --- p.51 / Chapter 3.9 --- Conclusion --- p.55 / Chapter 3.10 --- Future work --- p.56 / Figure 3.1 Cell lineage versus erythroid marker during erythropoiesis under vitamin E treatment --- p.59 / Figure 3.2 ROS production during erythropoiesis --- p.60 / Figure 3.3 ROS production versus erythroid marker during erythropoiesis under vitamin E treatment --- p.61 / Figure 3.4 Percentage of ROS+ cells in vitamin E-treated TF-1 erythropoiesis as compared to control --- p.63 / Figure 3.5 Percentage of GPA+ cells in vitamin E-treated TF-1 erythropoiesis as compared to control --- p.64 / Figure 3.6 Cell death versus mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Δψm) during erythropoiesis under vitamin E treatment --- p.65 / Figure 3.7 Erythroid marker versus mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Δψm) during erythropoiesis under vitamin E treatment --- p.67 / Figure 3.8 Cell lineage versus mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Δψm) during erythropoiesis under vitamin E treatment --- p.69 / Figure 3.9 Change of mitochondrial mass during erythropoiesis --- p.71 / Figure 3.10 ROS production versus erythroid marker during erythropoiesis under levofloxacin treatment --- p.72 / Figure 3.11 Percentage of GPA+ cells in levofloxacin-treated TF-1 erythropoiesis as compared to control --- p.73 / Figure 3.12 Cell death versus mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Δψm) during erythropoiesis under levofloxac in treatment --- p.74 / Figure 3.13 Expression level of antioxidant enzymes during erythropoiesis --- p.75 / Figure 3.14 Expression level of Glut l during erythropoiesis --- p.76 / Figure 3.15 Expression level of Glut l in GPA positive and GPA negative populations --- p.77 / Figure 3.16 Cell death under oxidative stress challenging during erythropoiesis --- p.78 / Figure 3.17 Expression level of antioxidant enzymes and Glutl during erythropoiesis under EUK-134 treatment --- p.79 / Figure 3.18 Expression level of antioxidant enzymes and Glutl during erythropoiesis under vitamin E treatment --- p.80 / Figure 3.19 Cell death under oxidative stress challenging during erythropoiesis under vitamin E treatment --- p.82 / Figure 3.20 Expression level of antioxidant enzymes during erythropoiesis under vitamin C treatment --- p.83 / Figure 3.21 Cell death under oxidative stress challenging during erythropoiesis under vitamin C treatment --- p.84 / Figure 3.22 Cell death under oxidative stress challenging during erythropoiesis under NAC treatment --- p.85 / Figure 3.23 Summary of oxidative stress challenging during erythropoiesis --- p.86 / REFERENCES --- p.87

Research Report submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Public Health (MPH) at the University of the Witwatersrand. April 2015 / Introduction: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a lifesaving clinical intervention for people living with HIV (PLHIV). An important barrier to accessing therapy is the shortage of the health workforce particularly doctors. In order to mitigate the shortage, a nurse driven ART delivery approach known as Nurse Initiated and Managed Antiretroviral Therapy (NIMART) has been implemented in the public sector in South Africa and in other countries. NIMART enables professional nurses to initiate HIV positive persons on ART and manage their care at primary health care clinics. This study sought to explore and describe perceptions of operational managers, facility managers and professional nurses on the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of NIMART in the City of Joburg (CoJ) clinics. Methodology: This was an exploratory descriptive qualitative study which used in-depth interviews with a variety of respondents in order to gain insights into their perceptions of the implementation of NIMART in the CoJ clinics. In total, 26 respondents, comprising of operational managers, facility managers and professional nurses participated in the study. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse data drawing from the Donabedian structure-process-outcome framework. Results: The respondents identified the adequacy of NIMART training and mentoring; the availability and use of NIMART guidelines and the integration of NIMART into Primary Health Care (PHC) services as structural facilitative factors for NIMART implementation. The shortage of the health workforce, shortage of antiretrovirals (ARVs), poor referral feedback, food insecurity and the mobility of patients were identified as key structural and process barriers to the implementation of NIMART. Respondents perceived the improvement in quality of life of NIMART patients and the clinics’ ability to retain patients in care as indicative of the success of iii NIMART implementation. Finally, respondent’s suggestions for improving NIMART implementation in CoJ clinics focussed on improving shortage of the health workforce, improving the availability of ARV drugs and providing opportunities for continuing education for professional nurses. Discussion, conclusion and recommendations: In order to mitigate the barriers identified in this study, recommendations were that the City of Joburg should utilize lower level health care cadres such as nursing assistants and lay counsellors to reduce the professional nurses’ workload and thus improve access to treatment. In addition, the City of Joburg should revise the antiretroviral drug allocations to clinics and revise delivery schedules to ensure that clinics do not run out of ARV drugs. The referral feedback process should be strengthened through the referring clinic and the referral hospital jointly developing referral protocols that should be used by both institutions. Finally, the City of Joburg should consider conducting consultative discussions with professional nurses prior to introduction of new programmes and provide opportunities for regular updates for operational managers, facility managers and professional nurses. Future research could look at the role of PHC qualification in the implementation of NIMART.

During the close approach of two galaxies in a merger, tidally induced gas inflows can trigger simultaneous black hole accretion which are observed as dual active galactic nuclei (dAGNs). Merger simulations predict that the resulting increased nuclear gas reservoirs will obscure the X-ray emissions from the AGNs. We investigate whether dAGNs in mergers are observed to be more obscured than their isolated counterparts by combining the results of previous radio and optical spectroscopy studies with new Chandra X-ray observations for a sample of 4 dAGN systems in the Stripe 82 field. For the 6 detected components, we find the rest-frame X-ray luminosities range between 39.8 < log LX /erg s-1 < 42.0. The sources have redshifts between 0.04 < z < 0.22 and projected separations between 4.3 and 9.2 kpc, as well as multi-wavelength properties most closely resembling low-luminosity AGNs. However, we determine that the X-ray emissions for 2 of the sources likely has strong contributions from hot interstellar medium, and star-formation and X-ray binaries may contribute to the X-ray luminosities of several sources. We do not find evidence of enhanced obscuration through our analysis of X-ray hardness ratios, optical [O III] emission line luminosities, and mid-infrared luminosities. Therefore, we suggest that the unobscured low-level accretion observed for the AGNs in this sample is driven through stochastic processes rather than the massive gas inflows predicted for a merger-driven scenario.