Introduction The association between tuberculosis (TB) and malnutrition is well known. Malnutrition also weakens the immune system increasing the chance of latent TB progressing to active disease. Nutritional interventions can help improve overall quality of life and can reduce susceptibility to opportunistic infections including all forms of Oral Candidiasis (OC) which includes: (1) pseudomembranous candidiasis (oral thrush), (2) atrophic (erythematous) candidiasis, (3) hyperplastic candidiasis, and (4) angular cheilitis. This secondary data analysis of a longitudinal follow-up study evaluates the impact of a fortified supplementary food on OC among adult TB patients over a three month period. Results At baseline, an overall prevalence of 33% of OC (27 out of 83) was found in 83 adult TB patients; (pseudo-membranous 46% (16 out of 35), erythematous 26% (9 out 35), angular chelitis 20% (7 out 35) and hyperplastic 8% (3 out of 35). Thirty five different types of OC were found in 27 of the subjects some of whom manifested with more than one type of OC. Almost 89% of these TB patients had low levels of malnutrition (8% for selenium, 55% for iron, 62% for Vit-A, 42% for albumin, 47% for Vit-D and 34% for zinc). Their p values related to OC were (p=0.64 for selenium, p=0.74 for iron, p=0.19 for Vit-A, p=1 for albumin, p=1 for Vit-D and p=0.09 for zinc) showing no statistically significant difference for malnutrition in each different type of micronutrient related to OC at baseline. However, there was a statistically significant difference in HIV status (p=0.01) related to OC among factors such as sex (p=0.34), employment status (p=0.74), ARV status (p=0.46) and wellbeing (p=0.18) at baseline. OC was statistically significant at both 2nd and 3rd visits using univariate analysis p=0.04 (95%CI 0.22 to 0.97) and p=0.00 (95%CI 0.06 to 0.43) and also multivariate analysis p=0.01(95%CI 0.17 to 0.85) and p=0.00 (95%CI 0.04 to 0.34) with reference to the 1st visit (the prevalence of OC was significantly decreased in both 2nd and 3rd visits). For different types of clinical OC, pseudomembranous candidiasis was the only type of OC that showed statistically significant difference at the 3rd visit in both univariate analysis (p= 0.01, 95%CI 0.01 to 0.46) and multivariate analysis (p= 0.00, 95%CI 0.01 to 0.38) with reference to 1st visit. Discussion and Conclusions This study found no significant association between overall micronutrient level and the presence of OC at baseline. However, micronutrient interventions to the 83 adult TB patients receiving treatment at Johannesburg city clinics located in Alexandra showed a decrease in prevalence of different types of OC in both 2nd and 3rd visits. This analysis showed encouraging results which indicated a beneficial effect of e’Pap in adult TB patients.

A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Physiology, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of science in Medicine. / The management and prevention of ankle sprains had been a topic of controversy in the sport medical literature to date, with various rehabilitative and preventative protocols having been suggested. In part one of this study, a relatively new rehabilitative device, the Cybex II Dynamometer,was used to determine whether the rehabilitation period of ankle sprain injuries could be reduced in recently injured patients. In part two, the Cybex II Dynamometer was used in conjunction with other training techniques in a preventative trial of first league volleyball players, to see whether the incidence of ankle sprains (which is particularly high in this population group) could be reduced. Although the experimental group was discharged almost 35 percent sooner than the control group in part one, the difference was not found to be statistically significant. In part two the preventative measures resulted in a notable difference in the incidence of injuries (32 percent in the control group compared to 11 percent in the experimental, group). Differences were just not statistically significant (p=O.059). / Andrew Chakane 2018

Objective: To investigate the association between functional foods and dental caries experience in Quebec children. Methodology: A cross-sectional analysis of the baseline wave of the QUALITY cohort was conducted and included a total of 195 children aged 8-10 years. Dietary information was collected by the use of 24--hour recalls. The adequate and inadequate intakes of specific nutrients were assessed in order to create a functional foods index. Dental caries experience was measured by DMF-S index and further categorized into presence and absence of caries. Data were collected on socio-demographic, oral health behaviour and anthropometric measures (height and weight). Data analysis involved logistic regression. Results: Girls eating functional foods were 89% less likely to have 1 decayed or filled tooth. [OR= 0.11 95% CI= (0.01-0.92)]. Conclusion: Functional foods had a protective effect against dental caries, specifically among girls in this sample of children.

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

Diss. Stockholm : Karol. inst.

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

A thesis submitted to Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, March 2014 / The ability to induce a broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) response following vaccination is regarded as a crucial aspect in developing an effective vaccine targeting the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The bNAbs target the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) which is exposed on the surface of the virion, thereby preventing cell entry. Previous work in our laboratory focused on the generation of a 2dCD4S60C molecule (a variant of the CD4 primary Env receptor) with higher affinity for HIV-1 Env through targeted disulphide exchange. This study reports on the design and construction of an HIV-1 subtype C founder virus consensus Env immunogen derived from newly transmitted/founder virus sequences, and the ability of the purified recombinant Env proteins (2dCD4S60C-liganded and unliganded) to induce a broadly neutralizing antibody response in small animals. A total of 1894 founder sequences from 80 HIV-1 subtype C infected patients were available and downloaded from the databases. A consensus sequence was generated for each of the patients, and this alignment was subsequently used to generate a founder virus consensus env sequence. The env sequence was used to create codon-optimized constructs encoding monomeric (gp120FVCm), dimeric (gp120FVCGCN4d) and trimeric (gp140FVCGCN4t(+) and gp140FVCGCN4t(-) founder virus conformations cloned into the pcDNA3.1(-) mammalian expression vector. All four Env constructs were successfully expressed in HEK293T mammalian cell culture. The 2dCD4S60C was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and purified by nickel affinity chromatography. Large scale expression and purification of the gp120, gp120GCN4 and gp140GCN4 +/- in the unliganded or 2dCD4S60C liganded state were purified by lectin affinity chromatography, followed by conformation and complex purification using size exclusion chromatography. Immunogens/immune complexes were evaluated by ELISA, SDS-PAGE, native PAGE and surface plasmon resonance, and confirmed they were functional and conformationally intact. Immunogenicity of each conformation alone or complexed to 2dCD4S60C was evaluated in rabbits. Breadth and potency of the rabbit sera was tested against 12 pseudoviruses (Tiers 1-3), derived from HIV-1 subtype B and C Env, using the PhenoSense Neutralizing antibody assay (Monogram Bioscience, Inc.). Minimal neutralizing breadth was obtained from animals immunized exclusively with Env conformations. However, animals that received the Env/2dCD4S60C complex showed extensive neutralizing capacity against all 12 viruses tested, including the tier 2 and 3 virus strains. End-point ELISA titer results revealed that the rabbits that were immunized with Env/2dCD4S60C produced both Env and 2dCD4S60C specific titers, but those directed towards 2dCD4 were on average 10x lower than the 2dCD4S60C control group. This implies a proportion of the NAb activity is directed towards conserved epitopes exposed on the Env/2dCD4S60C immunogens. Overall, these results show that the use of founder Env/2dCD4S60C complexes as vaccine immunogens dramatically improves the antibody neutralization breadth and magnitude as compared to founder Env or 2dCD4S60C alone. This level of broad neutralization has not been previously reported in the literature, and these results provide encouraging data to inform us of the best envelope vaccine immunogen to include in a preventative vaccine.

Dietary starch that escapes digestion in the small intestine may be quantitatively more important than dietary fibre as substrate for fermentation. The products of fermentation have important implications in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer and other diseases of the large bowel which are uncommon in Africans, but have a high prevalence in Western populations. Maize porridge is a staple of most Blacks in South Africa. Stale maize porridge (high resistant starch - HRS) seems to induce greater fermentation in the large bowel than fresh maize porridge (low resistant starch - LRS). In the present study, healthy colostomy subjects fed stale maize porridge had significantly more production of SCFA (short chain fatty acids) (mean SCFA - HRS = 182,6; mean SCFA - LRS = 116,1; p<0,05) in their colostomy effluent together with a significant drop in stool pH (mean pH - HRS = 5,91; mean pH - LRS = 6,70; p<0.G01). The SCFA butyrate tmean - HRS = 35,1; mean - LRS - LRS = 17,6; p<0,05) and acetate (mean - HRS = 93,9; mean - LRS = 65,8; p <0,05) were significantly elevated on the stale maize porridge diet when compared with consumption of fresh maize porridge. SCFA, propionate (mean - HRS = 43,1; mean - LRS = 24,8; p=G,Q5), also increased with stale maize porridge, but was not statistically significant. A high resistant starch diet and its resultant increase in fermentation products may be partly responsible in protecting the Black population against colorectal cancers and other large bowel diseases.

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there is a growing body of research on men who have sex with men (MSM) and risk factors for HIV in South Africa. However, in order to develop more appropriate and relevant interventions to reduce the transmission of HIV amongst MSM and MSMW, there was a need to deepen our understanding of sexual risk behaviour and protective practices. The aim of the study was to explore the sexual risk and protective behaviour of men who have sex with men and women in Soweto, South Africa.