Heparin administration during extracorporeal procedures such as kidney dialysis and heart surgeries is a challenging problem, as under heparinisation leads to clotting and over heparinisation may cause excessive bleeding complications. Various reactor designs including the use of heparinase and poly-L-lysine.HBr hollow fiber have been proposed, however none of them have been clinically approved yet. This work presents the possibility of designing a packed bed reactor with poly-Llysine/ alginate beads. The poly-L-lysine/alginate beads have been used widely in fields of microencapsulation of cells and can be made using techniques such as the Initech encapsulation and layer by layer approach. In some cases ginipin has been used for microcapsule preparations to provide stronger cross linking. In this study, the poly-L-lysine beads are made using the encapsulation procedure patented by Chang18 (1992). Batch experiments, using saline, fetal calf serum and blood were performed to investigate the efficiency of the beads. The absorption of heparin was determined to be a first order absorption process and fits the Freundlich Isotherm. The beads were determined to be relatively safe in blood. The absorption of heparin was linked to the poly-L-lysine content in the membrane. Thus the rate of the amount of heparin absorbed could be increased by increasing the membrane thickness or by increasing the number of poly-L-lysine/alginate beads. The results were used to investigate the feasibility of using a packed bed reactor for the absorption process by adjusting the specifications of the reactor and analysing simple flow models.

Media ownership has remained an intriguing factor in understanding the news production process. Various studies have proven that ownership influence do affect how journalists cover stories. The said influence takes various forms including direct censorship and coercion of editorial staff. This study critically examines how media ownership patterns, shape content in the Kenyan media. The researcher employs the use of thematic content analysis and coding of raw data retrieved from the internet sites of two leading Kenyan newspapers as outlined in the research methodology and findings chapters. The data retrieved from the internet sites of the two newspapers is then analysed to prove how ownership patterns influence daily news coverage. Of note is also the use of two case studies – The Nation and The Standard newspapers to analyse 905 articles written during the 2002 multiparty Kenyan elections. It emerges that ownership indeed influenced news coverage in the 2002 Kenyan elections. The emerging winner in the elections was also the candidate with the most coverage in the two newspapers. Also emergent is the factor that the election was widely personality driven. The implications of the research findings is that objectivity though practiced in some instances, was widely affected by the editorial line of the said newspapers. The editorial line was largely pegged to ownership influences in most cases.

The dissertation is ccncemed with the values iasue in the South African context, a multicultural education situation. South Africa is a plu~Hstfc society. Being pluralistic, means that 1he country is rich in different cultures, belief· and value systems. Different cultures haw different value systems. If an Institution is practising multicultural education, the question is, which values are to be used? If we say Ule institution should use the values of the majority culture, wiU 1hat not disadvantage minority cultures? ff minority cultures are undennined by neglecting their cultures won't that cause conflict between minority cultures and the majority culture? Each society that Is implementing multicultural education should consider that there are common human values and partia.dar values. In multicultural education particular values are important because they show how a particulat group behaves and what its beliefs and culture are. Common values dewlap from particular values and teachers must emphasise common values without neglecting particular values, to encourage tolerance and acceptance between different groups.

Semi-aquatic predators such as mink are exposed to anthropogenic contaminants directly through the water and through bioaccumulation in the food chain. The biological impact of dietary bleached kraft pulp mill effluent (BKME) on mink (Mustela vison) was investigated. In a pilot study and two subchronic studies of 8 and 7 month duration, mink were fed diets containing 75% (year 1) and 45% (year 2) fish caught downstream of a BKME discharge point, and drinking water contained 25% BKME. In year two, the 45% fish diet had 15% soft-wood run BKME incorporated into the feed. The investigation was tiered. In the pilot study, behavioural, clinical, biochemical, hematological, and pathological effects were investigated. Repeating these variables, reproductive factors were added in Year one, while in Year two, hepatic enzyme (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD)) induction, cell mediated and humoral immune function, and hepatic vitamin A levels were evaluated. In vivo and in vitro immunotoxicity assays were developed for mink. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation was measured in response to mitogens in vitro. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for antibody detection was developed for mink. Delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) tests and antibody production responses were used to measure cell-mediated and humoral immunity in vivo in the experimental mink. No adverse effects were found on behavioural, gross pathological, histopathological, hematological or biochemical variables, on gestation, kit birth weight, kit survival, libido, estrus, sperm quality or hormone levels. In the Year two subchronic study, the relative liver size was increased in BKME-exposed males. Hepatic EROD activity was 1.8 times greater in exposed females (p = 0.0001) and 2.0 times greater in exposed males (p = 0.0004) relative to control mink. No difference in PBMC proliferation was seen between the control and exposed mink with any of the mitogens used. The DTH response was impaired (p = 0.014), while the antibody response was enhanced (p = 0.029) in the BKME-exposed mink. Hepatic vitamin A levels were not different in the females (mid-lactation), but were significantly decreased in the BKME-exposed males (post-breeding) (p = 0.0002). These changes represent a primary effect of bleached pulp mill effluent on the immune system, hepatic vitamin A stores, and hepatic detoxification enzyme system in exposed mink. Hepatic EROD activity provides a useful indicator for evidence of exposure to environmental toxicants in mink. The change in the immune response is occurring at the level of T lymphocyte differentiation, and therefore, affects the relative proportions of T lymphocyte subpopulations which are dedicated to cell mediated, or, T lymphocyte dependent, antibody mediated immunity. Immune deviation seen in the female mink is not associated with changes in hepatic vitamin A stores, while the decreased vitamin A in the males has an unknown effect on their immune response. The biological impact of bleached kraft pulp mill effluent does not cause dramatic or subclinical signs of toxicity in exposed mink. However, the interference with hepatic vitamin A storage, and changes to the immune response, present concerns regarding long term effects on health, reproduction and longevity in exposed mink.

No description available.

American and Canadian Indian policy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries generally focused on "civilizing" Indian peoples. In other words, the government wanted a more sedentary, less dispersed Indian population who would likewise require less land for traditional hunting and gathering activities and might be more easily assimilated when time and circumstance required. Such policy, however, was best suited to agricultural regions. In forested regions or other areas which were not suitable for commercial cultivation, conflict arose as Aboriginal groups tried to maintain their traditional practices while other interest groups sought to access the same resources. Increasing use of these non-agricultural areas by sport hunters, commercial fishing industries, logging enterprises, tourists, and in some cases prospectors and land speculators, grew in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These interests not only competed for the same resources from which the Indian population secured its subsistence, but they also influenced the governments of the United States, Canada, Wisconsin, and Saskatchewan to regulate traditional Indian hunting and gathering activity. Conservation commissions in both the United States and Canada went about the business of re-shaping the public perception of the acceptable use of fish and game. Traditional subsistence activity had little, if any place in these new fish and game management strategies. This was the case even though Indians in both northern Saskatchewan and Wisconsin negotiated treaties which they believed upheld their access to vital resources. The conflict over resources became acute in the early twentieth century when governments in both places actively interfered with traditional activities. Such interference had the most dire consequences for the Indian people in both areas. The case studies presented here illustrate the historical antecedents of conflicts which still exist today. The Indian concern for continued access to natural resources has rarely been heard in its historical context. This study places the historic confrontation between Indian subsistence resource users and government resource-managing agencies in the context of the early twentieth century conservation movement. The two areas studied here have striking similarities. The governments refused to uphold treaty promises and rarely listened to the Indians' demands for continued access to natural resources. This study explains how governments managed resources in their own interest and relates not only the struggle for access to resources, but also how Indians responded to government interference in their way of life. It is important to move beyond a comparative analysis of two similar tribal populations in a cross-border analysis. By examining two disparate tribal groups who negotiated similar treaties in two different eras but in distant geographic locations, a better understanding of governmental conservation motives and actions, as well as the impact of such governmental activity on Indian people, may be achieved. This study is a unique look at the impact of the early conservation movement on the subsistence needs of Indian peoples in North American non-agricultural regions.

Text in Afrikaans / The aim of this study was to design a therapeutic programme for families with a chronically ill parent(s). The literature study explored the nature of chronic disease and its effect on the family. Chronic disease affects every family member. The impeding effect of chronic disease detectable in maladjusted family role and in relational and communication problems between family members. A decrease in the general functioning of the family also became evident. An empirical investigation, in which twenty families with a chronically ill parent (or parents) were involved, was carried out. The empiric study confirms that family members need support and that chronic disease has a negative effect on the family system. It also verifies that these families do not make use of available support services. The possibility that one or more of the family members may be traumatised, should be a strong diagnostic consideration for the therapist. Based on the literature study and the results of the empirical investigation, a therapeutic programme was designed for a family. The programme empowers family members to deal with the disease more effectively and enables them to gain insight in dealing with its trauma.

Piaget and Freudenthal advocated thinking levels. In the 1950's the van Hieles developed a five level model of geometric thought. Judith Land adapted the model in 1990, utilising four levels to teach the concept of functions. These four levels have been considered here In the formation of concepts of sequences and series. The origin and relevance of sequences and series have been studied and the importance of visualisation, patterning and generalisation in the instructional process investigated. A series of lessons on these topics was taught to a group of six higher grade matriculation students of mixed ability and gender. Questionnaires related to student progress through the various levels were answered, categorised, graphed and analysed. Despite the small number of students, results seem to indicate that emphasising visualisation, exploring patterns and generalisation and teaching the topics as a reinvention had made a positive contribution towards progress through the various thought levels.

The study examined research writing. The aim was to establish the nature of the relation between the quality of article and report writing in occupational therapy and the density of hedges in such writing. The texts comprised undergraduate reports, which were divided into two achievement groups, namely high and low achievers, and journal articles by occupational therapists. Articles were included because it was assumed that they exemplify good writing, and accordingly, would be appropriately hedged, and would provide a reliable basis for comparing the student groups. Hyland's (1998b) analytical framework was used. While statistical tests revealed no differences between the student groups, overall, the tests revealed significant differences in the use of hedges between the professional and student writers. In light of these findings, it is suggested that hedging in research writing be studied and taught to students in order to assist them in their studies and careers.

Affirmative Action remains one of the most highly sensitive, emotive and hotly debated subjects in South Africa. It is nevertheless an important legislated program that needs to be fully researched and constructively debated to bring change to the lives of previously disadvantaged groups. The present study focused on the experiences of black middle managers. The goal being to describe how black middle managers experience Affirmative Action at the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Emphasis was placed on how black middle managers define Affirmative Action, whether they feel that others question their abilities because of Affirmative Action or not and the extent to which Affirmative Action policies affect their job satisfaction and work commitment. The phenomenological approach was used to study the experiences of five middle managers at the SABC. Results of the study revealed that participants experienced Affirmative Action positively as a corrective process that provides employment opportunities for advancement and actualisation of potentialities. These results seem to counter previous research studies (e.g., Gillis et al., 2001; Koekemoer, 1998) that propound a high stress level and demotivation among those who are supposed to benefit from Affirmative Action, the affirmed. The current findings are congruent with Skedsvold and Mann’s (1996) assertion that Affirmative Action policies increase job satisfaction and organisational commitment among beneficiaries. / Dissertation (MA (Research Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted