Magister Public Health - MPH / The availability of information on profile and trends of cancer in South African populations is important for the development of appropriate cancer control strategies, as well as monitoring the efficacy of the existing cancer control programmes. Yet, generally there is a scarcity of systematically analysed reports on hospital cancer cases in South Africa, even for urban hospitals. The aim of this study was to describe the cancer profile of patients diagnosed at Frere Hospital‟s Oncology and Radiation Department and estimate the incidence of cancer among Buffalo City (BFC) urban area residents, for the 19-year period 01 January 1991 to 31 December 2009 based on the clinical administrative data system maintained by the department. The study was a descriptive case series study based on a retrospective review of Frere Hospital‟s Oncology and Radiation Department patient records from 1991 to 2009. Permission was obtained to retrieve records of cancer cases for the 19-year period from the database. Data were extracted from the customized administrative system to an excel spread sheet. Variables for each case retrieved included: socio-demographic details; age at diagnosis, sex, race, place of residence and medical aid information, tumor information; site and date of diagnosis. Data cleaning incorporated techniques such as checking of completeness and accuracy of patient information details. Dates were formatted into month-day-year sequence and checked so that the date of birth precedes the date of diagnosis of the patient and the date last seen. Age less than zero and greater than ninety nine was replaced as missing. Geographical areas were coded according to the South African Population Census. Duplicates and cases with missing diagnosis were excluded.

A well balanced and harmonious soft tissue profile is an important consideration in orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning. The purpose of this study was to determine the soft tissue profile norms in Tswana subjects, compare the results with those of other ethnic groups and develop soft tissue “norms” or standards which may be useful as guides for diagnosis and treatment planning for Tswana orthodontic patients in South Africa. 420 subjects between the ages of 15-20 were randomly selected from their schools at no criteria. 102 Tswana (52 female and 50 male) and 50 non-Tswana subjects (25 female and 25 male) were selected according to criteria. The subjects were selected for excellence of occlusion, balanced facial proportion, complete dentition (third molars disregarded) dental Class I occlusion with normal overbite and overjet, minimal spacing or crowding, no history of orthodontic treatment and no gross caries. Various orthodontic analyses were used to measure and determine soft tissue facial profiles in both Tswana and non-Tswana subjects. Results were analysed statistically to determine the differences in facial profiles between Tswana and non-Tswana subjects and compare these to Caucasian and African-American norms. The results indicate that Tswana subjects had a flatter profile than non-Tswana subjects whose facial profiles were fuller. The study also indicates that the facial profile values established for Caucasian subjects are not applicable to Tswana and African-American subjects. The findings of the present study showed that when planning orthodontic treatment for Tswana subjects it may be useful to perhaps take into account some measurements which may be more appropriate. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc(Odont))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Orthodontics / unrestricted

A new technology platform known as 'Scan2Knit' was invented in the William Lee innovation Centre of the University of Manchester to engineer and manufacture compression stockings for the treatment of venous disease in a Welcome Trust funded research project. The intellectual property of the above technology has been licensed for commercial exploitation by the University.The graduated pressure profile that is necessary for the treatment of venous ulcers is generated with the engineered compression stocking, and will depend on the stitch length of the knitted fabric structure and an empirical pressure profile database. The 'Scan2Knit' technology was developed to produce an engineered compression stocking on a 18 gauge Stoll CMS computerised flat-bed knitting machine utilising a microprocessor controlled precision positive yarn delivery system to guarantee the delivery of a predetermined stitch length to the knitting needles. However, the licensee of the technology has decided to manufacture engineered compressions stockings by using 14 gauge Stoll CMS flat-bed knitting machines instead of gauge 18 machines due to commercial advantages. Therefore, the main aim of this work is to investigate the transfer of 'Scan2Knit' technology on to a coarse gauge manufacturing platform to produce engineered compression stockings. The investigation focuses on two vital requirements of 'Scan2Knit' technology; the analysis of the performance of the precision positive yarn delivery system on the new production platform and the evaluation of the functionality of the knitted structure produced with it. The objectives of the research are to develop test procedures for the evaluation of the three dimensional pressure characteristic of compression stockings manufactured on the new production platform, and the performance of the precision yarn delivery system. To produce the engineered compression stockings with the 'Scan2Knit' technology, it is essential to determine the interface pressure that the knitted structure would impart on a particular radius of curvature at a predetermined strain percentage which is attained with an empirical database. Hence, a key objective of this study is to develop a methodology, which is efficient and user friendly, for the generation of the empirical pressure profile database required to engineer the interface pressure profile of a compression stocking.It is envisioned that the manufacturer of the engineered compression stockings would benefit by the knowledge generated within this research, and develop their own quality assurance procedures to guarantee that the compression stockings are produced to deliver the graduated pressure profile prescribed by the clinician for the treatment of venous ulcers.

The growth of barrier-type anodic alumina films formed by anodizing relatively rough substrates has been shown to proceed by high field ionic conduction. As a result of the ionic transport and the induced plasticity, smoothing of the oxide surfaces and the metal/oxide interfaces arises. However, such a smoothing model was deduced from topographical observations and, therefore little insight was gained about the transport mechanism leading to the flattening of the anodized specimens. Recently, the development of porous anodic alumina has been demonstrated to proceed by coupled ionic migration and material flow resulting from the field-induced mechanical stress. For rough metal surfaces, the electric field distribution is non-uniform across the specimen surface. Considering the square-dependence of the electrostrictive stress on the electric field and the distribution of the electric field across surface, a significant gradient of mechanical stress may arise across the anodic oxide layer during anodizing. As a result, stress-driven transport may participate, in addition to high field ionic conduction, to the smoothing of the specimen surface. Transport mechanisms were investigated during anodizing of patterned superpure aluminium specimens, by examination of the distributions of incorporated species, used as markers and tracers. The nature of the migration processes have been determined in correlation with the changes in the concentration of the tracer profiles as well as the variations in the anodic oxide film compositions.

There is an increasing demand for subscore reporting in the testing industry. Many testing programs already include subscores as part of their score report or consider a plan of reporting subscores. However, relatively few studies have been conducted on subscore equating. The purpose of this dissertation is to address the necessity for subscore equating and to evaluate the performance of various equating methods for subscores. Assuming the random groups design and number-correct scoring, this dissertation analyzed two sets of real data and simulated data with four study factors including test dimensionality, subtest length, form difference in difficulty, and sample size. Equating methods considered in this dissertation were linear equating, equipercentile equating, equipercentile with log-linear presmoothing, equipercentile equating with cubic-spline postsmoothing, IRT true score equating using a three-parameter logistic model (3PL) with separate calibration (3PsepT), IRT observed score equating using 3PL with separate calibration (3PsepO), IRT true score equating using 3PL with simultaneous calibration (3PsimT), IRT observed score equating using 3PL with simultaneous calibration (3PsimO), IRT true score equating using a bifactor model (BF) with simultaneous calibration (BFT), and IRT observed score equating using BF with simultaneous calibration (BFO). They were compared to identity equating and evaluated with respect to systematic, random, and total errors of equating. The main findings of this dissertation were as follows: (1) reporting subscores without equating would provide misleading information in terms of score profiles; (2) reporting subscores without a pre-specified test specification would bring practical issues such as constructing alternate subtest forms with comparable difficulty, conducting equating between forms with different lengths, and deciding an appropriate score scale to be reported; (3) the best performing subscore equating method, overall, was 3PsepO followed by equipercentile equating with presmoothing, and the worst performing method was BFT; (4) simultaneous calibration involving other subtest items in the calibration process yielded larger bias but smaller random error than did separate calibration, indicating that borrowing information from other subtests increased bias but decreased random error in subscore equating; (5) BFO performed the best when a test is multidimensional, form difference is small, subtest length is short, or sample size is small; (6) equating results for BFT and BFO were affected by the magnitude of factor loading and variability for the estimated general and specific factors; and (7) smoothing improved equating results, in general.

The diploma thesis deals with vehicle movement dynamics and defining a theoretical model for software simulation of vehicle passing a given trajectory, while main aim is time minimization driving mode. Simulation (algorithm for computing speed profile) is then applicated for passing experimental vehicle along Masaryk circuit in Brno. At the end, we optimize chosen vehicle parameters with derivate-free algorithms Multilevel Coordinate Search and Particle Swarm.

Abstract From the very beginning of modern ionospheric science, different radar applications have been utilised in ionospheric measurements. The most sophisticated ionospheric radars are the incoherent scatter radars, which detect the extremely weak scattering of radio waves from thermal fluctuations in the ionospheric plasma. Besides the low signal level, the stochastic nature of the scattering process causes further complications to the measurements. The scattering produces a zero-mean random signal, whose autocorrelation function contains the information of the ionospheric plasma parameters. Incoherent scatter radars have been used for about half a century, but the demanding task of developing transmission modulation and data analysis is still in progress. In this thesis, a statistical inversion based method for removing range ambiguities from the autocorrelation functions, lag profile inversion, is applied to incoherent scatter radar data. The data have been recorded with the EISCAT incoherent scatter radars, located in Northern Fennoscandia. The method is first applied to standard EISCAT experiments, the results giving strong evidence that the method is applicable for the purpose, and it provides results of at least equal quality with the present standard methods. In subsequent studies, new radar modulation methods are developed, which may provide significant improvements to the present incoherent scatter radar experiments. All the methods have been tested with a real radar, and lag profile inversion has been successfully applied to the recorded data. The methods are also put to use in order to measure the predicted effects of artificial heating of the free electrons in the D-region of the ionosphere.

Lipids are the main constituents of the cell membrane and maintain its fluidity. Plants undergo various changes in lipids under environmental stresses and alter the membrane fluidity and permeability. Membrane lipids mostly contain a polar or neutral head group and fatty acid tails that vary in length and degree of unsaturation. The composition of membrane affects its physicochemical properties and ability to tolerate stress. The moss Physcomitrium patens is an early land plant with unique ability to tolerate stressors like cold and dehydration. During its life cycle, for the most part, mosses remain as gametophytes, multiplying asexually. The period from germination of spores into filamentous protonema, which give rise to gametophyte is transient. They enter reproductive sporophytes stage only under cold temperatures. Because of the diverse roles of these developmental stages and the time span they are exposed to the environment, we hypothesized that these stages share distinct lipid content and composition. To this extent, using LC-MS/MS methods we carried out lipidomic analyses of five developmental stages of the moss. We identified and quantified the major and minor lipid classes (types) and their acyl composition of protonema, early, mid and late gametophyte and sporophyte tissues. Galactolipids, which typically occur in the plastid were predominant in green tissues and thus most abundant in the vegetative tissues but not in sporophytes. Throughout the life cycle, among the phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine was the abundant lipid, a feature that is typical of plant membranes. Sporophyte tissues, however, were distinct from gametophyte and protonema and also other vascular plants with high amounts of phosphatidic acid (PA). In plants, PA typically accumulates in response to stress; it is likely that the low temperature cue necessary for sporophyte formation is associated with spike in PA and needs further investigation. In comparing the acyl composition of the various lipid classes, we identified that in addition to 34C and 36C lipids, moss lipids also contain 38C and 40C, which are not represented in vascular plants. We predict that the occurrence of long-chain, highly unsaturated lipids might contribute to the dynamic nature of the membrane and stability under stress. This study serves as a primary resource to further investigate the role of specific lipids and acyl groups in maintaining membrane properties. Overall, it aids to our understanding of the evolution of stress tolerance in early land plants that coped through harsh environmental conditions during their transition from water to land.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / The most visible expression of violence against women is feminicide. The majority of feminicide cases are committed by the partner or former partner of the victim. This involves ongoing domestic abuses, threats or intimidation, sexual violence or situations in which women have less energy or resources than their partner. In addition, clinics, public hospitals or private health institutes have mental health evaluation processes, however, these flows are usually carried out in several sessions, which causes a delay in the diagnosis. In this article, a mobile application that supports psychologists or psychiatrists during the process of the psychological profile diagnosis is proposed. The system contains a questionnaire and psychological tests, in this way, based on the patient responses, indicators, and metrics, the psychological profile of the assailant is obtained as a result. The use of the system in 40 patients shows that the selection times and the psychological test qualification have improved, as well as the interpretation of the results and the total process of diagnosis, which, when obtained at opportune time, allows specialists to prevent the victim from a possible feminicide.

It is not uncommon for an individual to commit arson as a method of concealing a crime, whether the goal be to destroy a body, DNA evidence, or any other information that may link the suspect to the scene. Fortunately, for investigators, setting a fire to the crime scene does not always destroy all evidence. Some pieces of evidence are more resilient than others. For example, evidence such as ignitable liquids and other accelerants can often be detected after the fire. In the event that an item of evidence like clothing is not completely incinerated, the presence of biological fluids may also be detected through presumptive testing and eventually lead to the identification of an individual through DNA analysis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not DNA analysis can be performed effectively after heated passive headspace concentration, without causing irreparable degradation to DNA evidence. Heated passive headspace concentration is a common procedure for extracting ignitable liquids from a substrate to identify and confirm the presence of that substance. This process requires long incubations at fairly high temperatures within a tightly sealed vessel to prevent evaporation. If practitioners can delay DNA analysis steps, move straight into heated passive headspace concentration, and lower the chances of losing a portion of the ignitable liquid to evaporation, it may assist in arson investigations. This study explores DNA quantity and quality in saliva and semen stains after incubation times and temperatures based on the recommended upper and lower temperature and timeframe limits of ASTM Guidelines E1412-19 and E1388-17 entitled “Standard Practice for Separation of Ignitable Liquid Residues from Fire Debris Samples by Passive Headspace Concentration with Activated Charcoal” and “Standard Practice for Static Headspace Sampling of Vapors from Fire Debris Samples,” respectively. Possible DNA analysis inhibitors such as gasoline, open flame, and burnt substrate were also explored. It was determined that while open flame in direct contact with a biological stain caused significant damage in all saliva stains and some semen stains, the presence of gasoline and burnt substrate did not appear to inhibit DNA analysis. Additionally, heated passive headspace concentration conditions did not appear to cause significant degradation or inhibition that would result in an incomplete genetic profile. Further experimentation is necessary given the presence of extraneous factors. For example, the initial amount of DNA deposited onto substrates was unknown. However, it is reasonable to state that performing heated passive headspace concentration before DNA analysis may be a feasible option if desired in a forensic laboratory.