Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-94). / Research into the reasons why sex workers enter and stay in sex work has largely viewed entry from perspectives of either choice or constraint. Choice perspectives attribute entry to reasons such as female agency and empowerment, and social and financial independence, while constraint perspectives attribute entry to reasons such as economic necessity, drug and alcohol abuse, childhood sexual abuse, lack of education and job opportunity, and homelessness and truancy.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-170). / The aim of this study was to examine the complex issue of healing in relation to the TRC. More specifically, it addressed questions regarding retraumatisation through testimony as well as the immediate and also longer-term effects of providing public testimony by accessing the lived experiences of victims in their post-testimony lives. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 individuals who had experienced a gross violation of human rights and who had provided public testimony to the TRC. Thematic analysis of the interview data reveal themes of traumatisation by human rights violations, presence of social support, testimonial significance and the influence of the post-traumalpost-TRC context.

Racial discrimination in mental health treatment in South Africa was well established by the 1890's. This study shows this discrimination was perpetuated through to the 1930's and 1940's. By means of a thorough review of racial and psychiatric literature pertaining to the period, this dissertation provides a rich context in to which to place the psychiatric practice of Valkenberg Mental Hospital for the period 1933-1943. Archival research was used to investigate official hospital records of, and case records for, Valkenberg for the years 1933; 1936; 1939; 1942 and 1943. Content analysis was used to analyse the case records and identify any discrimination across diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, criminal activity of patients, deaths in patients, and readmittance. Invidual case histories were also analyzed to ascertain psychiatric practice at a more individual level. Results showed that racial discrimination was still prevalent in the psychiatric practice of Valkenberg for the period. In Valkenberg 'non-European' patients received poorer care, were given inferior therapeutic treatment and often denied access to various effective treatments. European patients on the other hand superior care and had access to all the new and effective physical methods of treatment. Non-European patients were also subject to the racist attitudes of doctors and nurses, which in turn affected the level of care they received. The records also reveal the psychiatrists of the period not only purported the racist doctrines, they were involved in theories and studies that helped justify and confirm them. (154-163 pages missing).

Bibliography: leaves 142-170. / Fumonisin B₁ (FB₁‚ ) is a carcinogenic mycotoxin produced by the fimgus Fusarium moniliforme in maize, and is hepatotoxic and hepatocarcinogenic in rats. The goal of this dissertation was to characterise the FB₁-fed rat as a model for liver injury and carcinogenesis, and to examine the role of oval ('progenitor') cells during these processes. Male Fischer 344 rats were fed FB₁ 250 mg/kg diet for five weeks, and this basic feeding regimen was modified in individual experiments. Short-term feeding of FB₁ caused a severe 'toxic' hepatitis, apoptosis and regeneration of hepatocytes, fibrosis, proliferation of OV-6 positive oval cells, and formation of GST pi positive hepatic foci and nodules. Oval cells were noted inside some of the hepatic nodules. There were marked increases in the expression of mRNA transcripts for mature TGF-β1 and c-myc in livers of FB₁-fed animals. The overexpression of TGF-β1 by hepatocytes may be responsible for the prominent apoptosis and fibrosis seen with liver injury due to FB₁. Increased expression of c-myc and TGF-β1 may cooperate during FB₁-induced promotion of liver tumours, possibly by providing an environment that selects for the growth of TGFβ1-resistant transformed liver cells. In rats given FB₁ in the presence of dietary iron overload, FB₁ augmented iron-induced lipid peroxidation in the liver. However, dietary iron loading appeared to protect against the cancer-promoting properties of FB₁, possibly due to a stimulatory effect on hepatocyte regeneration. Long-term feeding of FB₁ caused fibrosis and regenerative nodules, dysplastic hepatic nodules, cholangiofibrotic lesions, intraductal cholangiocarcinomas, and a hepatocellular carcinoma. 2-Acetylaminofluorene enhanced the effects of FB₁ in the liver, presumably by blocking hepatocyte regeneration in response to FB₁ toxicity. Proliferating oval cells were found inside/adjacent to GST pi positive lesions, dysplastic nodules, and cholangiofibrotic lesions, suggesting that oval cells may be involved in FBI-induced hepato- and cholangiocarcinogenesis in the liver. Furthermore, the OV-6 antigen was expressed by proliferating oval cells and bile ductules, hepatic nodules, cholangiofibrotic lesions, and cystic lesions, indicating that all of these cells may have a common ('stem') cell of origin. In conclusion, the FB₁-fed rat is a promising model for the study of liver injury, oval ('progenitor') cell proliferation, and carcinogenesis.

Includes bibliographical references. / The significant changes to the political landscape of South Africa since the abolition of apartheid and the implementation of democracy have had far-reaching effects in social order and gender relations. With the new dispensation has come the promise of new opportunities for men and women of all races to participate fully in the creation of a multicultural society, making the issue of transformation an important agenda. As a social artifact, children's literature has also been influenced by these changes, and the didactic function of this medium make it an interesting site to explore the ways in which historical stereotypes are both perpetuated and challenged. This study focused on the representation of black masculinity in a sample of South African children's literature published after apartheid. The aim was to investigate how race, gender, and class intersect in the representation of black masculinity.

Includes bibliographical references. / Studies conducted in high income countries have increasingly recognised that youth who are violently victimised are often victimised across more than one life domain, a pattern of violence exposure termed poly-victimisation. Further, poly-vicimisation has been associated with a greater severity of internalising and externalising symptoms than single types of exposure. However, there is a dearth of studies on the rate and impact of poly-victimisation among youth in South Africa. The current study assessed the rate of exposure of younger adolescents (N = 616; mean age 12.8 years) in a high-violence, low-income community in Cape Town to domestic, community, school and sexual violence either as victims or witnesses. It further explored the independent and relative contributions of each different type of violence exposure, and of polyvictimisation, to the severity of depression, aggression and conduct problems. Participants in Grade 7 at nine schools completed questionnaires measuring demographic variables, violence exposure, and symptoms of depression, aggression and conduct problems. Almost all of the participants (98.9%) had witnessed violence in their neighbourhood, 40.1% were victims of violence in their neighbourhood, 58.6% had been victims of violence in their homes, 76% had witnessed interpersonal violence in their homes, 75% had been exposed to school violence, and 8% reported experiences of sexual abuse. The median number of violence types participants were exposed to was four, with poly-victimisation being extremely prevalent: 93.1% of the sample were exposed to more than one type of violence, with 75% having been exposed to more than three different types. In a multivariate analysis, female gender, being a victim of domestic violence and poly-victimisation each made a significant independent contribution to levels of depression; being a victim of domestic violence, witnessing community violence, being a victim or witness of school violence and being sexually violated each made a significant independent contribution to levels of aggression; and being both a victim and witness of violence in the home and in the neighbourhood, together with male gender, each made a significant independent contribution to conduct problems. Poly-victimisation did not contribute significantly to levels of aggression or conduct problems. Being a victim of violence at home conferred the most risk for depression, aggression and conduct problems. The findings indicate that for the young adolescents in this study, violence exposure can be viewed as a condition as opposed to a discrete event, and that in this context of high rates of poly-victimisation, domestic victimisation stands out as the strongest risk factor for both internalising and externalising symptoms. Intervention implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Includes bibliographical references / Socioeconomic status (SES) plays a significant role in neuropsychological performance, with several empirical research studies reporting that low-SES children score more poorly on cognitive tasks than do high-SES children, even when IQ is statistically controlled. However, cognitive ability is not depressed across the board among low-SES children. Rather, abilities have been linked to specific neurocognitive systems. However, in South Africa there is a lack of local research focusing specifically on the link between SES and children's neuropsychological performance. The aim of the current study, therefore, was to investigate the relationship between SES and neuropsychological performance in a sample of South African children (divided into three SES-based groups) between the ages of 7- and 10-years old, with specific focus on the domains of attention, memory, and executive functioning. In addition, I aimed to provide preliminary normative data, stratified by age and SES, for the test battery used in this study.

Summary in English. / Bibliography: leaves 145-152. / This study examined the extent of burnout (as conceptualized by Maslach and Jackson (1981): emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and diminished personal accomplishment) being experienced by nurses in a South African state hospital, and its associations with a range of work environment variables and the ways in which nurses generally cope with their stress. This exploratory study took the form of a cross-sectional, correlational field survey, in which both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from surgical hospital nurses by means of self-report questionnaires. Quantitative measures included were the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach & Jackson, 1981), the Work Environment Scale (WES; Moos, 1986) and the Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced Scale (COPE; Carver, Scheier & Weintraub, 1989). Additional quantitative measures of personal control, support, sense of appreciation and job satisfaction were obtained from visual analogue rating scales. The qualitative data comprised a frequency analysis of themes evident in the content of subjects' written responses to four open-ended questions posed in the questionnaire. On each of the three burnout subscales, respondents' scores were categorized into low, moderate or high levels of burnout. Apart from correlational and ANOVA analyses, performed in order to examine relationships between variables and differences in terms of demographics, nursing categories, and nursing specialities, discriminant analyses were performed in order to identify those variables which were experienced differently by nurses reporting different levels of burnout. A number of significant predictors of burnout were identified. Of the work environment variables examined in the study, higher levels of work pressure, diminished physical comfort, and lack of peer cohesion predicted higher levels of emotional exhaustion. Lack of physical comfort and perceived lack of supervisor support were strongly associated with higher levels of depersonalization. Generally, lower levels of perceived autonomy and supervisor support were associated with a diminished sense of personal accomplishment. Regarding coping, frequent use of the problem-focused strategy of planning was found to be associated with lower levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Frequent use of the emotion-focused strategies of positive reinterpretation, seeking emotional social support, and acceptance were related to higher levels of personal accomplishment, whereas increased use of the emotion-focused strategy of denial was strongly associated with diminished personal accomplishment. Regarding palliative/avoidant coping strategies, frequent behavioural disengagement was associated with higher levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and mental disengagement and focusing/venting of emotions were related to higher levels of emotional exhaustion.

Bibliography: leaves 175-184. / As Bryson (1995) points out, strategic planning is particularly useful for assisting organisations and communities to deal with change. This study was carried out at a time of great change in South Africa, when a new fisheries policy was being formulated and negotiated. The research describes an intervention with a group of .fisheries managers, scientists, fishing company directors and other key stakeholders, in planning for the future management of the West Coast Rock Lobster fishery. The primary objective of the study was to consider an integrated approach to group decision support, incorporating a particular soft-OR approach, SODA, together with multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). An integration of these two approaches has recently been suggested by researchers, for several reasons. Firstly, different phases of an intervention usually involve different tasks. Secondly, mixing methodologies will enable different aspects of the problem to be modelled and analysed. SODA was used at the outset, for divergent exploration and structuring of the problems surrounding the development of an operational management procedure (OMP) for the fishery, including more subjective and qualitative information. Several stakeholder groups opposed the idea of an OMP in the form in which it was proposed.

Introduction: The presence of melatonin in wine contributes to the cardioprotective effect of regular and moderate consumption of wine against lethal ischemia/reperfusion injury. Recently, the presence of melatonin isomers has been identified in red wine, but whether or not these isomers confer any physiological properties is unknown. Aim: The aim of our study was to establish a cell culture model of simulated ischemia to study and compare the possible cytoprotective effects of dietary melatonin and a melatonin isomer against an ischemic insult and to explore the possible role of melatonin receptors in this effect. Methods: H9C2 cardiac fibroblast cells were subjected to simulated ischemia by exposure to 1mM H₂O₂ following a 30min pre-treatment with 75ng/L (dietary concentration), 1μM (pharmacological concentration, 0.232mg/L) melatonin or/and 75mg/L (dietary concentration) melatonin isomer. To determine the role of melatonin receptors, cells were pre-treated with the melatonin receptor inhibitor, luzindole (10 μM) for 1h prior to H₂O₂ treatment. At the end of the simulated ischemic insult, cell viability was assessed using trypan blue staining. Mitochondrial respiration in permeabilized H9C2 cells was measured using the Oroboros Instrument, at two different time points: at the end of a 30min pre-treatment with either 75ng/L melatonin or 75mg/L melatonin isomer, or the afore mentioned pre-treatments prior to a 15min treatment of 1mM H₂O₂. Results: A simulated ischemic insult with 1mM H₂O₂ reduced cell viability from 92.9±1.5% to 28.4±1.4% (p<0.001 vs control). Pre-treatment with the dietary concentrations of melatonin or the melatonin isomer improved the cell viability to a similar extent as a pre-treatment with the pharmacological concentration of melatonin (74.4±3.1%, 73.9±2.7% and 69.0±1.2%, p<0.001 vs H₂O₂ and p<0.01 vs H₂O₂ respectively). A combined pre-treatment of melatonin and the melatonin isomer did not add further cytoprotective benefit. Addition of luzindole fully abolished the cytoprotective effect of dietary melatonin (29.7±2.4%, p<0.001 vs H₂O₂ + Mel), but only partially abolished the cytoprotective effect of the melatonin isomer (41.4±3.6%). Both dietary concentrations of melatonin and the melatonin isomer did not affect mitochondrial respiration in permeabilized H9C2 cells. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that both dietary melatonin and the melatonin isomer confer cytoprotection against a simulated ischemic insult, an effect which is mediated, at least in part, via the activation of melatonin receptors. Both melatonin and melatonin isomers present the advantage to be potentially safe and inexpensive therapies against ischemic heart disease.