Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2001. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2001. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.P.H.M.)--Mahidol University, 1999.

Thesis (M.P.H.M.)--Mahidol University, 1999.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1993. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-62).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-12-09Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:31:20Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 franchi_eplp_me_botfm.pdf: 4815496 bytes, checksum: 1dc26a3719261d8f1f4551fbb04a10f4 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) / O gênero Staphylococcus está envolvido em infecções adquiridas tanto na comunidade como em hospitais, sobressaindo-se atualmente como um dos maiores problemas clínicos e epidemiológicos em infecções nosocomiais. Diante da importância do S.aureus como um dos microrganismos mais freqüentemente isolados de infecções de pele e tecidos moles e a crescente disseminação dos S. aureus resistentes a oxacilina (MRSA), este estudo objetiva identificar a presença de MRSA em feridas de pacientes atendidos em unidades básicas de saúde da cidade de Botucatu, caracterizar o cassete cromossômico mec e identificar fatores de risco para aquisição de S aureus e MRSA. Foram incluídas no estudo 126 amostras isoladas de 107 pacientes atendidos no período de março de 2010 à fevereiro de 2011. As amostras foram submetidas à identificação e detecção de resistência a oxacilina pelo método de difusão com disco de oxacilina e cefoxitina, penicilina, levofloxacina, clindamicina, eritromicina, gentamicina, sulfametazol/Trimetropim, tigeciclina, ácido fusídico, quinupristina/dalfopristina, linezolida e vancomicina. Foi realizada a caracterização do SCCmec por PCR multiplex nas amostras de S. aureus com gene mecA. Foi investigada a presença dos genes codificadores da Leucocidina Panton-Valentine (PVL). As amostras de Staphylococcus spp. também foram submetidas detecção de produção de -lactamase. Das 126 amostras estudadas, 73(58%) foram identificadas como genero Staphylococcus spp., sendo 49/73(67,1%) isolados S. aureus e 24/73(32,9%) estafilococos coagulase-negativa (ECN). A produção de -lactamase foi positiva em 65/73(89%) das amostras de Staphylococcus spp. Foi encontrado 7/49(14,2%) isolados de S. aureus e 13/24(54,1%) isolados de ECN com presença do gene mec A... / The genus Staphylococcus is involved in both community and hospital-acquired infections, currently standing out as major clinical and epidemiological problems in nosocomial infections. Given the importance of S. aureus as one of the most frequently microorganism isolated from skin and soft tissue infections and the increasing spread of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), the aims of this study were to identify the presence of MRSA in wounds of patients treated at basic health units in Botucatu, characterize the cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) and identify risk factors for acquisition of S aureus and MRSA. The study included 126 isolates from 107 patients treated from March 2010 to February 2011. The samples were identified and the disk diffusion method with cefoxitin and oxacillin disks was carried out in order to detect the resistance to oxacillin. The disk diffusion method was also carried out to set the susceptibility profile for the following antibiotics: penicillin, levofloxacin, clindamycin, erythromycin, gentamicin, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, tigecycline, fusidic acid, quinupristin/dalfopristin, linezolid and vancomycin. mecA positive samples were submitted to SCCmec characterization using multiplex PCR. We also investigated the presence of genes encoding Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) as far as the - lactamase production. From the 126 samples studied, 73 (58%) were identified as genus Staphylococcus spp., and 49/73 (67.1%) isolates were identified as S.aureus and 24/73 (32.9%) as coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS). The -lactamase production was positive in 65/73 (89%) samples of Staphylococcus spp. The mecA gene was detected in 7/49 (14.2%) isolates of S. aureus and 13/24 (54.1%) isolates of CoNS. Among MRSA, 4/7 (57.2%) isolates were SCCmec type... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Physicians’ understanding of bio-signals, measured using medical instruments, becomes the foundation of their decisions and diagnoses of patients, as they rely strongly on what the instruments show. Thus, it is critical and very important to ensure that the instruments’ readings exactly reflect what is happening in the patient’s body so that the detected signal is the real one or at least as close to the real in-body signal as possible and carries all of the appropriate information. This is such an important issue that sometimes physicians use invasive measurements in order to obtain the real bio-signal. Generating an in-body signal from what a measurement device shows is called “signal purification” or “reconstruction,” and can be done only when we have adequate information about the interface between the body and the monitoring device. In this research, first, we present a device that we developed for electrocardiogram (ECG) acquisition and transfer to PC. In order to evaluate the performance of the device, we use it to measure ECG and apply conductive textile as our ECG electrode. Then, we evaluate ECG signals captured by different electrodes, specifically traditional gel Ag/AgCl and dry golden plate electrodes, and compare the results. Next, we propose a method to reconstruct the ECG signal from the signal we detected with our device with respect to the interface characteristics and their relation to the detected ECG. The interface in this study is the skin-electrode interface for conductive textiles. In the last stage of this work, we explore the effects of pressure on skin-electrode interface impedance and its parametrical variation.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, School of Literature, Language and Media (Translation and Interpreting Studies), 2014 / As Herbert indicates (1952:82), “it is quite clear that in diplomatic conference the greatest attention should be paid to all nuances of words; while in gathering of scholars, technical accuracy will have greater importance; in a literary and artistic gathering, elegance of speech; and in a political assembly, forcefulness of expression.” This study aims to assess the impact of directionality on French and English interpreters working for the Pan-African Parliament (PAP). Directionality is whether interpreters should work from their B language or acquired language, into their A language or their native language (AIIC: 1999). Supporters of B-to-A interpreting indicate that interpreters are not at ease cognitively when interpreting from the A language into the B language due to more effort required to find corresponding expressions in their B language (e.g., Donovan, 2003; Seleskovitch, 1999). Those in favour of A-to-B interpreting, on the other hand, affirm that interpreters’ better comprehension of their native language may help them produce a more complete and reliable interpretation (Denissenko, 1989; Williams, 1995). This study explores the performance of French/English simultaneous interpreters in both directions by focusing on norms and strategies. The data for the study was gathered by means of questionnaire interviews and the recording of ten professional interpreters’ simultaneous interpretation performance during the Pan-African sessions and committees which took place in October 2013. The simultaneous interpreting processes of interpreters were analysed according to certain norms such as: accuracy, fluency and quality, and according to the strategies that they customise to avoid the traps contained in the source speeches of the parliamentarians. This study will assess whether or not French/English interpreters at the Pan-African Parliament do their work accordingly and with confidence when they are required to interpret in both directions. Directionality has to be understood well for interpreters to deliver quality interpreting required for good communication amongst parliamentarians.

Background: The inexorable spread of HIV infection across all continents is attributable to many factors, including male sexual behaviour. Such behaviour is often considered recalcitrant to change. Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine if sexual behaviour does or does not change after the diagnosis of HIV infection and to elucidate some of the psychosocial factors that may be operant in this context. Materials and Methods: The research consisted of a structured selfadministered questionnaire designed to measure ten psychosexual and sociosexual parameters in a group of HIV positive men. The questionnaire evaluated parameters at three different time points i.e. before HIV diagnosis, one year after HIV diagnosis and the present (2002). Participants were recruited from patients attending a private HIV treatment centre, in Pretoria, South Africa. Results: 53 participants completed the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to elucidate trends. Statistically significant changes were seen in most studied domains, suggesting that beneficial change in sexual behaviour is possible after a diagnosis of HIV infection. These changes were seen, over time, in all the measured parameters, thus, change appears both possible and sustainable. This change was often detrimental to participants as it impacted negatively on some aspects of their personal and social functioning. Safer sex knowledge was weak in the studied group. Conclusion: The data indicate that change in behaviour is possible after a diagnosis of HIV infection and occurred in the studied population. Some changes were good for public health initiatives; many were detrimental to the psychosexual functioning of participants. Public health officials and other medical practitioners should include interventions aimed at reducing the negative psychosocial impact of HIV diagnosis at every patient encounter, as these changes do not resolve by themselves over time and are detrimental to the quality of life of patients.

The effector-triggered immunity (ETI) is activated at the site of pathogen infection and results in a state of enhanced immunity called systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in distal, uninfected plant organs. SAR relays on mobile signals transported from infected cells to distal organs, and on signal amplification which supports transcriptional re-programming associated with priming and execution of SAR. Previous research in our lab has identified the chloroplastic TOP1 and cytosolic TOP2 as salicylic acid (SA)–binding oligopeptidases, non-competitively inhibited by SA. We demonstrate that SAR triggered with P. syringae DC3000 AvrRpt2 is abolished in top2 whereas top1 top2 exhibits a SAR slightly but consistently stronger than wild type (WT) controls, indicating that top1 is epistatic to top2. In agreement with the observed SAR phenotypes, top2 is defective in the induction of SAR markers including SA and Pip synthesis and SA signaling genes, whereas top1 top2 shows significantly higher induction of these markers. SAR- phenotype of top2 is rescued by exogenous SA, H2O2 and Pip applications. Interestingly, neither top1 nor top 1top2 are unable to mount SAR in response to Pip and H2O2 treatments. Analysis of ROS-responsive transcription factors and antioxidant gene induction in infected and distal tissues reveal significantly dysregulated patterns in all mutants, with top2 and top1 top2 most affected, indicating that TOP1 and TOP2 function together to support a pattern of successive waves of oxidation and reduction during SAR. The local and systemic oscillations are anti-corelated in Wt. The local vs. systemic anti-correlation is lost in the mutant genotypes. The amplitude of the mRNA oscillations is significantly lower in top2 plants, and significantly increased in top1top2 plants. top1 and top1top2 lost the oscillation compared to WT but they are still able to keep the expression up in time. top2 is unable to support the expression of some of the genes and oscillations and continued the expression of these genes in time. Overall, our results argue for a defining role of TOP chloroplastic and cytosolic proteolytic pathways in maintaining redox signaling necessary for the induction of SAR transcriptional re-programming and execution.