World-wide it is estimated that workers suffer 250 million accidents every year, with 330 000 fatalities. In South a c a , the fatality rate is 426 per annum. Sishen mine also experienced safety problems, namely a high injury rate, an average of one fatality per annum, and 85% of injuries being caused by risk behaviour. Furthermore, the safety culture at the mine was moderate. A proper safety management system requires continual attention to three domains, namely the environment (equipment, tools and housekeeping), the person (knowledge, skills, abilities, intelligence and personality), and behaviour. Sishen mine previously concentrated on the domains of environment and person, and virtually ignored safety behaviour. To correct this, Sishen mine adapted a behaviour based safety intervention programme. The aims of this research were to determine drivers that motivate safety and risk behaviour, to identify critical factors for the successful implementation of such a programme, and to determine if the safety culture and performance were affected by the implementation of a behaviour based safety intervention programme. A single-group non-experimental design was used. Questionnaires were used to conduct non-experimental surveys. The questionnaires addressed certain safety culture dimensions. A longitudinal survey was carried out before and after implementation of the behaviour based safety intervention programme. The results showed that the safety culture at the mine improved since implementation of the intervention programme. Management support for safety improved by 6%, peer support for safety by 13%, personal responsibility for safety by 7%, management systems by 6%, and employees actively caring for safety, by 3%. The improvement in safety culture also positively impacted on the injury rate at Sishen mine. Results indicated the following factors as being critical for a successful behaviour based safety implementation (in order of importance): participation, structured implementation, training, readiness for such a programme, communication, observation and feedback, target critical behaviours, flexibility, effective intervention actions, and data management. The study identified issues and challenges which must be dealt with, especially those applicable in developing countries like South Africa, with unique circumstances such as social and political diversity. The conclusion was that safety behaviour is mainly d i e d by activators, and motivated by consequences. The ABC model was identified as an important tool to analyse the drivers for safety behaviour in an effort to develop effective intervention actions. It is recommended that companies shift their focus from traditional safety approaches to the human dimension of safety. Thus, it is recommended that the behaviour based safety model must be applied by companies in order to focus on behaviour. Secondly, it is recommended that factors that are critical for a successful implementation must be identified and ranked in order of importance. The attention which is paid to each critical factor should then be related to its relative importance. It is also recommended that activators and consequences must be regarded as important drivers for safety behaviour when intervention actions are to be developed, and that the ABC technique should be applied in practice to analyse the appropriateness of the intervention actions. By way of conclusion, recommendations for future research are made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

The role of plasmin and plasminogen activators (PA) in bovine lactation and porcine ovulation has been examined. There is no difference in the activation pattern of plasminogen to plasmin throughout the whole range of somatic cell counts (SCC) and from third to ninth month in lactation. The ratio of (plasminogen + plasmin)/plasmin, which serves as an index of the activation process, was 7.27 during early (first and second month) and 4.23 during late lactation (tenth month) and both values are different (p $<$ 0.01) from all the other ratios throughout the whole range of SCC and from third to ninth month in lactation suggesting limited and increased activation of plasminogen to plasmin during early and late lactation, respectively. Macrophages produce but they do not secrete urokinase-PA, suggesting a minor role in influencing milk plasmin. Somatotropin administration resulted in a suppression of milk plasmin in vivo. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), the most likely mediator of the effects of somatotropin on the bovine mammary gland, inhibited the induction of tissue-PA (t-PA) production which is observed when mammary epithelial cells are cultured in the absence of IGF-1. Plasmin and t-PA increased while PA inhibitor-1 decreased in porcine granulosa, theca interna cells and follicular fluid just prior to the time of expected ovulation suggesting a role for plasmin in follicle rupture.

World-wide it is estimated that workers suffer 250 million accidents every year, with 330 000 fatalities. In South a c a , the fatality rate is 426 per annum. Sishen mine also experienced safety problems, namely a high injury rate, an average of one fatality per annum, and 85% of injuries being caused by risk behaviour. Furthermore, the safety culture at the mine was moderate. A proper safety management system requires continual attention to three domains, namely the environment (equipment, tools and housekeeping), the person (knowledge, skills, abilities, intelligence and personality), and behaviour. Sishen mine previously concentrated on the domains of environment and person, and virtually ignored safety behaviour. To correct this, Sishen mine adapted a behaviour based safety intervention programme. The aims of this research were to determine drivers that motivate safety and risk behaviour, to identify critical factors for the successful implementation of such a programme, and to determine if the safety culture and performance were affected by the implementation of a behaviour based safety intervention programme. A single-group non-experimental design was used. Questionnaires were used to conduct non-experimental surveys. The questionnaires addressed certain safety culture dimensions. A longitudinal survey was carried out before and after implementation of the behaviour based safety intervention programme. The results showed that the safety culture at the mine improved since implementation of the intervention programme. Management support for safety improved by 6%, peer support for safety by 13%, personal responsibility for safety by 7%, management systems by 6%, and employees actively caring for safety, by 3%. The improvement in safety culture also positively impacted on the injury rate at Sishen mine. Results indicated the following factors as being critical for a successful behaviour based safety implementation (in order of importance): participation, structured implementation, training, readiness for such a programme, communication, observation and feedback, target critical behaviours, flexibility, effective intervention actions, and data management. The study identified issues and challenges which must be dealt with, especially those applicable in developing countries like South Africa, with unique circumstances such as social and political diversity. The conclusion was that safety behaviour is mainly d i e d by activators, and motivated by consequences. The ABC model was identified as an important tool to analyse the drivers for safety behaviour in an effort to develop effective intervention actions. It is recommended that companies shift their focus from traditional safety approaches to the human dimension of safety. Thus, it is recommended that the behaviour based safety model must be applied by companies in order to focus on behaviour. Secondly, it is recommended that factors that are critical for a successful implementation must be identified and ranked in order of importance. The attention which is paid to each critical factor should then be related to its relative importance. It is also recommended that activators and consequences must be regarded as important drivers for safety behaviour when intervention actions are to be developed, and that the ABC technique should be applied in practice to analyse the appropriateness of the intervention actions. By way of conclusion, recommendations for future research are made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

The objectives were: (1) to determine the pre-ovulatory changes in plasminogen activator (PA) and (PA) inhibitor (PAI) activities in the porcine follicle, and, (2) to determine if changes in the PA/plasmin system associated with ovulation were prostaglandin (PG)-dependent. PA activity (change in absorbance/h/mg wet tissue weight, three gilts per treatment group) was elevated in both granulosa cells (GC) and theca interna cells (TIC) prior to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration (0.582 $ pm$ 0.171 and 0.718 $ pm$ 0.221, respectively) but returned to basal levels in these two compartments (0.023 $ pm$ 0.013 and 0.052 $ pm$ 0.024, respectively) at 29 h post-hCG. PA activity remained basal thereafter in GC but increased approximately ten-fold in the TIC (0.549 $ pm$ 0.239) at the time of ovulation (three gilts at 41 h and one of three gilts at 38 h). PAI activity did not change in TIC over the pre-ovulatory period but increased in GC as ovulation approached. PAI activity in GC peaked at 38 h (being significantly different (p $<$ 0.05) to all other times except 41 h). Although indomethacin (INDO) effectively inhibited both PG synthesis (1.1 $ pm$ 0.2 vs. 9.2 $ pm$ 0.9 ng/ml in controls) and ovulation (0 vs. 27-61% in controls), elevated PA activity (0.801 and 0.349) was detected in the TIC of two out of nine INDO-treated gilts. Levels were basal (0.074 $ pm$ 0.028) in the other gilts. These inconclusive results are believed to reflect the occurrence of ovulation earlier than predicted, in as many as 40% of control gilts, and the short duration of increased PA activity at this time. In conclusion, elevated PA activity, in GC and TIC prior to ovulation induction, may play a role in follicular development. Elevated TIC PA activity may play an important role in the ovulatory process, but is probably PG-independent.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Lic.-avh. (sammanfattning) Umeå : University. / Härtill 3 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-87).

Thesis (doctoral)--Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 1991. / T.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-128).

Thesis (doctoral)--Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 1991. / T.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references.