Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is widespread in asthma, and epidemiological studies point to an association between low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level and poor asthma control and increased severity. In humans. Vitamin D is principally derived from sunlight induced cutaneous conversion of 7-dehydrocholesterol to vitamin D and oral supplementation. We sought to determine if established and chronic-persistent adult asthma patients from a South-Florida pulmonary patient population, with abundant sunshine availability and oral vitamin D supplementation exhibit vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency. A trend to vitamin D insufficiency was observed in approximately 65% of both adult asthma patients and apparently healthy (non-asthmatic) volunteers. . The transcription factors required for Th9 conversion, PU.1 and IRF-4, were down-regulated by vitamin D. The generation of Th9 cells was inhibited equally by vitamin D and dexamethasone when used alone, but the effect was additive when both steroids were used in combination. Our studies using non-specifically stimulated cells were extended by analyzing the effect of vitamin D on allergen specific stimulation. The response of CD4+ T cells obtained from the blood of house dust mite positive asthmatics was studied. House dust mite allergen elicited a classical Th2 phenotype response (IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13 cytokine profile) and vitamin D effectively inhibited those key Th2 cytokines. We conclude that vitamin D appears to be of significant clinical benefit in our cohort of patients, i.e., established chronic adult human asthma, by down-regulating key immune cells including Th9, Th17, and Th2 involved in this disorder. / by Amjad Munim. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

The purpose of this research was to investigate if various psychological wellbeing assessments can predict maximal strength performance and self-scored rating of perceived exertion (RPE) in the back squat. Fifty-eight resistance-trained males and females were recruited, and reported to the laboratory on one day. Subjects completed eight different scales and questionnaires before completing one-repetition maximum (1RM) testing of the squat, followed by two single-repetition sets at 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, and 90% of 1RM, and a set to volitional fatigue at 70% of 1RM. Cognitive anxiety and hypersomnia were found to be positive and negative predictors (p<0.05), respectively, of 1RM performance. Further, self-confidence, grit, and perceived recovery status were significant negative predictors of RPE (p<0.05). Finally, PRS was discovered to be a positive predictor of subject-reported 1RM self-efficacy (b=0.39, t=3.14, p<0.01, R2=0.15). / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (MTech (Food Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / In South Africa malnutrition exists due to inadequate dietary intake of micronutrients which is one of the major causes of vitamin deficiencies leading to disease. The treatment of malnutrition over the past years has been a considerable burden on the South African economy. Therefore, food fortification is one of the current strategies used to minimize malnutrition by increasing the nutritional value of staple foods. Commercial dairy products and pharmaceutical nutritional products (food supplements) in South Africa have been developed and produced for affluent consumers. Hence the need to develop an affordable fortified dairy product for the majority of South Africans prompted this study aimed at using a “naturally” fortified kefir beverage with vitamin B12 and folate to increase B-vitamins levels. Since Propionibacterium freudenreichii and Streptococcus thermophilus are known to be good producers of vitamin B12 and folate, respectively, and propionibacteria has the ability to grow symbiotically in the presence of lactic acid bacteria, the inclusion of these organisms with the kefir grains was an achievable objective. In order to conduct the analysis of vitamin B12 and folate in the samples, sample extraction and HPLC assay techniques were developed. The extraction of vitamin B12 and folate were achieved by using KCN extraction buffer and the trienzymatic method, respectively. The samples were also subjected to purification and concentration using solid phase extraction for optimum results. All standards and samples were flushed with nitrogen gas and stored for a maximum of 2 weeks at –20°C to prevent B-vitamin deterioration. The HPLC assembly for the vitamin B12 analysis included a Luna C18 column and a diode array detector (DAD) for the detection and quantification. For the folate analysis it included a Zorbax SB-C18 and Luna C18 columns in tandem and the fluorescence detector (FLD) was used for the detection and quantification of THF, 5-CH3-THF and 5-CHO-THF, while the DAD was used for PGA and pteroyltri-γ-L-glutamic acid concentration in the samples.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-12-17T11:54:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Vera Lucia Frazão de Sousa.pdf: 1709501 bytes, checksum: 7fb98eaab91cdebf5d0c2b99b258b76b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-17T11:54:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vera Lucia Frazão de Sousa.pdf: 1709501 bytes, checksum: 7fb98eaab91cdebf5d0c2b99b258b76b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-06 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / In the process of human aging, the modifications are inherent to the phases of life and with respect to female aging, climacteric and consequently menopause, constitutes an event that accentuates their perception and / or self-perception. Coronary heart disease can be one of the consequences of the climacteric, compromising the quality of life of women who are at this stage. Epidemiology has shown that the heart attack kill both the women and the men and kill the women more in the climacteric period. Physical symptoms, emotional problems or social support problems may present themselves and negatively impact a daily life marked by the accumulation of roles (professionals, marriages, caregivers). The recognition of this complexity of events coupled with the fact that my professional activity as a social worker is focused on attending coronary climacteric women, answered for the interest in researching how issues inherent to female aging (focusing on the climacteric and its developments) impact the quality of life and also how social supports can contribute to the greater well-being of these women. The general objective that guided my research was therefore to study the relationship between social support and its impact on the quality of life of coronary climacteric women treated at the Dante Pazzanese Institute of Cardiology (IDPC / SUS). Among the specific objectives, the following should be highlighted: demographic and socioeconomic profiles, identify their self-perception of quality of life; as well as their social support and analyze how these variables are articulated. For that, I carried out a literature review pertinent to this topic based on data collected in a field survey performed with 52 women attending the IDPC. The results of this discussion allowed me not only to ratify my initial hypothesis that a good social support positively impacts the women‘s quality of life in this stage, but also to point out a propositional way to potentiate social actions as a fundamental part of a project to improve health for them / No processo de envelhecimento humano, as modificações são inerentes às fases da vida e, no que diz respeito ao envelhecimento feminino, o climatério e, consequentemente, a menopausa, constitui um acontecimento que acentua sua percepção e/ou autopercepção. A doença coronariana pode se configurar como um dos desdobramentos do climatério, comprometendo a qualidade de vida de mulheres que se encontram nessa etapa. A Epidemiologia tem mostrado que o enfarto mata tanto a mulher quanto o homem e mata mais a mulher no período climatérico. Sintomas físicos, problemas emocionais ou relativos ao suporte social podem nele se apresentar e impactar negativamente um cotidiano já marcado por acúmulo de papéis (profissionais, matrimoniais, cuidadoras). O reconhecimento dessa complexidade de eventos, aliada ao fato de que minha atividade profissional como assistente social está voltada ao atendimento de mulheres climatéricas coronarianas, incentivou-me a pesquisar de que modo questões inerentes ao envelhecimento feminino (com foco no climatério e seus desdobramentos) impactam a qualidade de vida e, também, como os suportes sociais podem contribuir para um maior bem-estar dessas mulheres. O objetivo geral que orientou minha pesquisa foi estudar a relação entre suporte social e seu impacto na qualidade de vida de mulheres climatéricas coronarianas atendidas no Instituto Dante Pazzanese de Cardiologia (IDPC/SUS). Entre os objetivos específicos, destacam-se: estudar o perfil demográfico e socioeconômico dessas mulheres; identificar sua autopercepção de qualidade de vida, bem como de seu suporte social e analisar de que modo tais variáveis se articulam. Para tal, realizei uma revisão da literatura pertinente a essa temática, tomada como base para discutir dados coletados em uma pesquisa de campo, realizada com 52 mulheres atendidas no IDPC. Os resultados dessa discussão permitiram-me não apenas ratificar minha hipótese inicial de que um bom suporte social impacta positivamente na qualidade de vida de mulheres nessa etapa, como também indiciar um caminho propositivo para potencializar ações sociais como parte fundamental de um projeto para melhorar a saúde

Since diffusion models of social network are widely used in studying epidemiology, in this thesis, we apply diffusion models to study the contact immunity generated by attenuated vaccines.Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is a typical attenuated vaccine for polio that can produce contact immunity and therefore help protect more individuals than vaccinees. / To better capture the utilization of OPV’s contact immunity, we model the community as a social network, and formulate the task of maximizing the contact immunity effect as an optimization problem on graphs, which is to find a sequence of vertices to be “vaccinated” to maximize the total number of vertices “infected” by the attenuated virus. Furthermore, as immune defiicient patients may suffer from the live attenuated virus in the vaccine, we develop models in consideration of this restriction, and study related problems. / We present polynomial-time algorithms for these problems on trees, and show the intractability of problems on general graphs. / 社交網絡的擴散模型被廣泛運用于對流行病學的研究，在本文中，我們使用擴散模型對減毒活疫苗產生的接觸性免疫進行研究。口服脊髓灰質炎疫苗（OPV）是一種典型的減毒活疫苗，它可以在人群中產生接觸性免疫，使得更多未接種疫苗的人獲得免疫力。 / 爲了更好的刻畫OPV 產生的接觸性免疫，我們將社區模型化為社交網絡，從而將接觸性免疫效應最大化的任務轉化爲圖優化問題，即通過發現頂點的一個「接種」序列來最大化被減活病毒「感染」的頂點數量。此外，因爲減毒疫苗中的活病毒會使患有免疫缺陷的病人患病，我們考慮在此因素限制下的模型，并研究相關的問題。 / 我們給出這些問題在樹上的多項式時間算法，并證明其在一般圖上的複雜性。 / Ma, Chenglong. / Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-47). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 12, September, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

Tam Suet-yan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-79). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / LIST OF TABLES --- p.i / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / CHAPTERS / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- Method --- p.21 / Chapter 3. --- Results --- p.33 / Chapter 4. --- Discussions --- p.54 / REFERENCES --- p.69 / APPENDIX / Chapter 1. --- In-depth Interview Questions for Pilot Study --- p.80 / Chapter 2. --- Questionnaire for Main Study --- p.81 / Chapter 3. --- Guiding Questions for Supplementary Case Studies --- p.90 / Chapter 4. --- Reports of Supplementary Case Studies --- p.92

Prior 1994 South Africa had a fragmented health system designed along racial lines. One system was highly resourced and benefitted the few and the other was under-resourced and was for the black majority. Attempts to deal with these disparities did not fully address the inequities. The objective of the NHI is to address the inequalities by ensuring that all South African have access to affordable, quality healthcare services regardless of their socio-economic status. The majority of the participants do not understand the meaning and the implications of the national health insurance. Among the health professionals that were interviewed, there were no consultations before the implementation of the NHI. The health economists verbalized that it will be too expensive as the majority of citizens do not pay taxes. More roadshows need to be done to make communities aware of the planned strategy which will benefit all. / Health Studies

Xu Liying. / "April 2004." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-175) / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-03-16T12:13:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Celina Dias Azevedo.pdf: 4854913 bytes, checksum: 295b55404a50beaf2c781d6a8a2b2c01 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-16T12:13:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Celina Dias Azevedo.pdf: 4854913 bytes, checksum: 295b55404a50beaf2c781d6a8a2b2c01 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-22 / We provide a series of texts with the objective of discussing how aging is presented in contemporaneity, its subjectifications, its models based on the precepts of active aging – which permeate a large part of the reflections on aging –, and its guiding documents, as well as possible forms of resistance. The guiding questions were: How can the fear of disease, of frailty, of dependence, of old age, of a non-standard body be produced, mobilized and transformed into an engine of obedience to prescripts for a good aging? How do the demands of neoliberalism back the creation of a market of educational and cultural projects targeted at old people and establish the figure of the old person who is the Entrepreneur of him/herself as the model to grow old? In what way does the reflection on old age, preferably grounded on biological aspects and on health, neglect other dimensions of life and incorporate and strengthen the idea that life must be guided by knowledge and specialists who dictate norms to longevity, based on viewing the biological body as the object of an action that does not need the participation of the person who receives such action? The answers might be in one’s care for oneself, in the perception of singularity, in experimentation, in the construction of small forms of resistance in daily life. Thus, permanent education, health, control by means of fear, and the neoliberal notion of the entrepreneur of oneself were the axes selected to interrogate and visualize what lies beyond what is proposed by documents that prescribe active aging as the formula for a good aging. References to fragments of movies and literary works pervade the entire text and help in the construction of the current reflection. The fragments talk to each other, take root, and connect with the text in a creative flow, opening themselves to other reading possibilities and forming a multiple and diverse look that cuts paths and points to other directions. Spinoza, Nietzsche, Deleuze and Foucault, “philosophers of the potency of life”, have stimulated us to take philosophy as a tool, a lens for this observation / Apresentamos uma série de textos com objetivo de discutir como se apresenta o envelhecimento na contemporaneidade, suas subjetivações, seus modelos com base nos preceitos do Envelhecimento ativo - que permeiam grande parte das reflexões sobre o envelhecer - e seus documentos norteadores, além das possíveis resistências. A partir das seguintes questões: como o medo da doença, da fragilidade, da dependência, da velhice, do corpo fora dos padrões pode ser produzido, mobilizado e transformar-se em motor de obediência a ditames para o bom envelhecer? Como as demandas do neoliberalismo respaldam a criação de um mercado de projetos educativos e culturais voltados aos velhos e estabelecem a figura do velho Empreendedor de si como modelo de envelhecer? De que forma o olhar sobre a velhice fundamentado, preferencialmente, nos aspectos biológicos e na saúde, acarreta além do descuido e negligência a outras dimensões da vida, a incorporação e reforço da ideia de que a vida deve, necessariamente, ser orientada por saberes e especialistas que se encarregam ditar normas para a longevidade, baseada na tomada do corpo biológico como objeto de uma ação que prescinde da participação de quem a recebe? As respostas poderiam estar no cuidado de si, na percepção da singularidade, na experimentação, na construção de pequenas resistências no cotidiano. Assim, a educação permanente; a saúde; o controle por meio do medo; a noção neoliberal do empreendedor de si foram os eixos selecionados para interrogar e visualizar o que está para além do que propõem os documentos, que prescrevem o envelhecimento ativo como fórmula para o bom envelhecer. Perpassando todo o texto, referências a fragmentos de filmes e obras literárias auxiliam na composição da reflexão. Os fragmentos dialogam entre si, deitam raízes, conectam-se com o texto, em fluxo criativo abrindo-se para outras possibilidades de leituras. Um olhar múltiplo e diverso que corta caminhos e aponta para outras direções. Spinosa, Nietzsche, Deleuze e Foucault, “filósofos da potência da vida”, nos instigaram a tomar a filosofia como ferramenta, como uma lente para essa observação

Text in English / Many African countries including Zimbabwe have scaled up and included male circumcision in their comprehensive HIV Prevention package. However, the impact of male circumcision on male sexual function and satisfaction has remained controversial. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of male circumcision on sexual function and satisfaction in Harare, Zimbabwe. A quantitative study was carried out amongst a sample of 169 circumcised men using a questionnaire. The results showed that circumcision has a positive effect on both male sexual function and satisfaction. It was concluded that undergoing voluntary medical male circumcision have a high degree of satisfaction with the procedure and its consequences in terms of sexual function and satisfaction. It was recommended that men are educated about these findings so as to clear myths and misconceptions around circumcision. / Health Studies / M.P.H.