Current malaria treatments are ineffective in sub-Saharan Africa due to problems beyond the disease. Approximately 90% of malaria mortalities occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and 77% percent of these are children under the age of five. At the same time, sub-Saharan Africa is also the recipient of 80% of international aid. With international malaria funding increasing in recent years, there must be an analysis on the practicability of funded interventions as malaria continues to be a tremendous burden in the region. This review highlights the complexity of malaria pathology and its association with poverty that makes treatments ineffective. Available, frontline antimalarial drugs and insecticides have shown increased resistance that has spread throughout many malaria endemic regions. This resistance aggravates the disease as the parasite and the vector evolve, resulting in increased transmission, increased severity of symptoms, and a high risk of mortality. In addition, the heavily funded malaria vaccine under development by GlaxioSmithKline and PATH shows partial efficacy that languishes over time, putting to question the practicability of such heavily funded interventions. The limitations of available treatments necessitates a holistic approach that responds to the economic state of endemic regions in order to effectively alleviate the burden of disease. An example of a holistic approach is the Multisectoral Action Framework for Malaria. This approach considers the socioeconomic development and fragile markets of endemic nations to encourage partnerships between governments and healthcare sectors in eradicating malaria. Although it will take years to demonstrate results, the burden of malaria calls for sustained efforts to alleviate the burden of the disease along with the poverty that perpetuates it.

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<p> At a time when human environmental disturbance is challenging livability on the planet&mdash;for humans and nonhumans alike&mdash;it is important to find better methods for engaging with the liveliness of landscapes, the relations with which they hang together, and the various ways they are interrupted. This dissertation explores the practices of tracking and gathering as methods for studying such issues facing Kalahari Desert landscapes in Botswana. These ecologically important landscapes are increasingly encroached upon and fragmented by the growing cattle economy and the proliferation of extractive industries into the desert. These trends have led to dramatic declines in wildlife populations and growing desertification of the already arid region. The Kalahari is home to small communities of people, many of whom are former hunter-gatherers whose rights to land and access to wildlife are increasingly inhibited. The government has banned hunting, largely in response to conservationists&rsquo; concerns about wildlife. In addition, gathering is increasingly regulated, and cattle colonize areas that are significant for wildlife and San communities. In this context, rather than treating tracking and gathering as objects of study, I take these practices seriously as methods for noticing and theorizing more-than-human landscapes, their transformations, and contingent histories to address challenges facing people and their environments in the Kalahari and beyond. </p><p> By focusing on the relational forms of noticing landscapes with San trackers and gatherers, I describe landscapes as always in motion, emergent more-than-human places where assemblages gather, histories are made, and politics enacted. This is in direct contrast to theoretical moves that treat landscapes as background on which histories and politics occur. My dissertation enacts tracking and gathering as a methodology. Beginning with an extension of the concept of tracks and following their movements out to their relations with other landscape actors in each chapter, I emphasize that landscapes are not merely contexts for politics and histories. Rather, landscapes do histories and politics, in spite of efforts to hold these landscapes still as underutilized expanses of resources. </p><p> The dissertation itself unfolds, moving out through the landscape by tracking these emergent relations. I argue that tracking is a relational practice of becoming-familiar-with these multiple entanglements of emergent landscapes. The practice of gathering involves much of the same kinds of attention to landscape movements and their coordinations as with tracking. Here, I employ gathering in its double meaning: the practice of collecting and of coming together. The tracks of gathered truffles then lead to the worlds of grass and termites that, in turn, allow for a reflection on Kalahari rangeland ecology and the political economy of the cattle industry. Finally, the dissertation zooms out to the desert&rsquo;s geomorphology, tracking the movements of geological processes as they gather with the movements of humans and nonhumans to form lively landscape features over the <i>longue duree</i>. Tracking and gathering are methods that allow for an elaboration of these more-than-human landscapes-in-motion, together with their social, political, and economic histories and speculative futures.</p><p>

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Submitted by Hiolanda Rêgo (hiolandar@gmail.com) on 2013-09-17T19:43:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_ICS_ Giovana Bergheme Franciscon.pdf: 3239549 bytes, checksum: d4cc72276fd2113b602703dc9ee6e1a0 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Patricia Barroso(pbarroso@ufba.br) on 2013-09-18T17:43:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_ICS_ Giovana Bergheme Franciscon.pdf: 3239549 bytes, checksum: d4cc72276fd2113b602703dc9ee6e1a0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-09-18T17:43:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação_ICS_ Giovana Bergheme Franciscon.pdf: 3239549 bytes, checksum: d4cc72276fd2113b602703dc9ee6e1a0 (MD5) / INCT – DT (Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia – Doença Tropical) Processo Nº 573839/2008-5; CAPES. / INTRODUÇÃO: A hanseníase é uma doença de caráter granulomatoso e crônico causada pelo Mycobacterium leprae, o qual tem tropismo por nervos periféricos e pele. Apresenta-se de forma espectral e polarizada. Enquanto pacientes com a forma multibacilar (MB) da doença não montam uma resposta Th1 facilitando assim a multiplicação do Mycobacterium, indivíduos com a forma paucibacilar (PB) produzem IFN-gama em resposta a antígenos de M. leprae. Os monócitos são tipos celulares circulantes derivados da medula óssea que se diferenciam em macrófagos e células dendríticas no tecido. Recentemente, os monócitos circulantes foram classificados em clássicos (CD14++CD16-), intermediários (CD14++CD16+) e nãoclássicos (CD14+CD16++). O grau de ativação dessas células está associado à intensidade da resposta de linfócitos T. Objetivo: Determinar o grau de ativação das sub-populações de monócitos em pacientes com hanseníase antes e durante o tratamento e identificar o perfil do grau de incapacidade funcional apresentado pelos pacientes incluídos no estudo. Metodologia: Foram coletados 20 ml de sangue heparinizado de pacientes PB (n=22) e MB (n=12) e realizada a separação de células mononucleares e a caracterização e o grau de ativação dos monócitos foi determinado por citometria de fluxo através da marcação de CD14, CD16, MHC II, CD80, CD86 e CD40. Resultados: Os pacientes com a forma multibacilar apresentaram a frequência de monócitos não-clássicos aumentada. Não houve diferença na expressão de CD80 e MHC II entre monócitos de pacientes com a forma paucibacilar e multibacilar da hanseníase. No entanto, monócitos de pacientes com a forma paucibacilar apresentaram uma baixa expressão de CD86 antes de iniciar o tratamento, a qual foi restaurada durante o tratamento. A maioria dos pacientes apresentaram grau zero de incapacidade funcional. Conclusão: Pacientes com a forma paucibacilar da hanseníase apresentam uma diminuição do grau de expressão da molécula co-estimulatória CD86 a qual é restaurada durante o tratamento com a PQT. Todos os pacientes não apresentaram alteração no grau de incapacidade funcional devido à hanseníase. / Salvador

The thesis critically and empirically examines the development of manufacturing in Zimbabwe, through a case study of the metal engineering sector, following the introduction of the structural adjustment programme (ESAP) in 1990/91. Original field research of manufacturing firms and supporting organisations was conducted in Zimbabwe during 1995 and 1996. A theoretical framework is applied using concepts of institutional legacy and path dependency. This provides an alternative approach to use of neo-classically based analytical frameworks. It is concluded that orthodox economic approaches are inadequate as a basis for improving the prospects for successful industrial development, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. There is a need to improve the understanding of a country's changing social relations, in their historical context. This includes analysing patterns of agency within and between institutions and the individuals that comprise them. In part this can be accomplished by examining class and power relations and conflicts. Zimbabwe's structural adjustment programme was not followed by industrial rejuvenation and expansion. Firm performance varied in ways that cannot be explained using conventional economic approaches. Overall, there has been: a lack of technological and organisational improvements and industrial investment; a decline in real wages and industrial employment; and, a lack of skills improvement across firms and supporting organisations. Zimbabwean industrial development suffers from a dislocation of interest between those owning most of the productive industrial capital and those formulating policies that affect industry. The capitalist class is fragmented between historically established white capitalists, and emergent indigenous or black interests. Explanations are offered for the observed weaknesses of supporting institutions, including government ministries, training organisations and workers' and employers' organisations. The findings make a strong case that without better data collection from firms and an improved understanding of historical contexts and constraints, policy shifts to promote industrial development will not have the desired results. Even though the research collects a better data set than previously available, it is difficult to draw the types of definite conclusions and recommendations presented by most commentators on the same questions.

As enzimas microbianas apresentam um elevado potencial biotecnológico e são utilizadas nas mais diversas áreas industrial. A ciclodextrina glicosiltransferase (CGTase, EC 2.4.1.19) é uma enzima com hablidade de converter amido em ciclodextrinas (CDs), sendo produzida por diversos microorganismos, principalmente por bactérias do gênero Bacillus, sendo principalmente aplicada nas industrias de alimentos e farmacêutica. A utilização da formulação de meios alternativos considerados econômicos, tem gerado diversos estudos no sentido de substituir componentes dos meios tradicionais de produção, por substratos de resíduos industriais e agroindustriais de baixo custo e com elevado valor agregado. Neste sentido, foi realizada inicialmente, a seleção de amostras produtoras da enzima CGTase, tendo sido selecionado Bacillus Licheniformis (UCP 1021), através da formação de halo característico em todas as condições testadas. EM seguida, estudos foram realizados para formulação de meios alternativos econômicos utilizando resíduos agroindustriais, casca da batata (Solanum tuberosum L) e soro de leite, na produção da CGTase. Na formulação dos meios em que a casca de batata substituiu o amido, foram utilizadas as concentrações de 2,5; 5 e 10 g/L, sendo denominados de A, A e A. No meio denominado B, foi substituído a peptona por casca de batata (10g/L), no meio C foi substituído extrato de levedura por soro de leite (5g/L), e no meio D foi substituído a peptona por soro de leite (5g/L). Todos os ensaios de produção da enzima, ocorreram a 37C, 150 rpm, 84 horas. Os resultados obtidos evidenciaram que o meio padrão de produção obteve uma atividade específica de 0,120 umol/mg em 24h, e verificou-se que todos os meios alternativos produziram a enzima, porém o meio denominado A apresentou a maior atividade específica para b-CD (0,823 umol/mg), em 12h, sugerindo assim que a utilização de meios econômicos contendo resíduos agroindustriais, é uma alternativa viável no processo de produção de diversos compostos bioativos utilizados na biotecnologia microbiana. / Microbial enzymes have a high biotechnological potential and are used in various industrial areas . The cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase ( CGTase , EC 2.4.1.19 ) is an enzyme with hablidade to convert starch into cyclodextrins ( CDs ) , being produced by various microorganisms , mainly bacteria of the genus Bacillus , being mainly applied in the food and pharmaceutical industries . Using the formulation of alternative means considered economical , has generated many studies to replace components of the traditional means of production , for substrates of industrial and agro-industrial residues of low cost and high value -added . In this connection , it was initially performed , selection of produce CGTase enzyme samples , Bacillus licheniformis (UCP 1021) were selected by halo formation characteristic in all conditions tested. Then , studies were conducted to formulate economic alternative means using agroindustrial waste , peel the potato ( Solanum tuberosum L ) and whey in the production of CGTase . In formulating means that the potato peel replaced starch , the concentrations used were 2.5 ; 5:10 g / L , being named A , A and The . In the middle called B was replaced by potato peel peptone ( 10g / L ) in medium C was replaced by yeast extract, whey (5 g / L) medium and peptone- D was replaced by whey ( 5g / L). All assays for enzyme production occurred at 37 C , 150 rpm , 84 hours . The results showed that the standard production medium achieved a specific activity of 0.120 umol / mg in 24 hours, and it was found that all alternative media produced the enzyme , however, the midst called A showed the highest specific activity for B- CD ( 0.823 umol / mg) at 12 hours , suggesting that the use of cheap media containing organic residues , is a viable alternative for the production of various bioactive compounds used in microbial biotechnology process.

<p> <b>Background:</b> Almost two-thirds of the total HIV/AIDS infected populations in the world live in Sub-Saharan Africa. HIV/AIDS stigmas are major obstacles to HIV/AIDS interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The literature suggests that diverse factors associated with HIV/AIDS stigma should be investigated to effectively reduce HIV/AIDS stigmas. However, little is known about religion as a cultural factor in the construction of HIV/AIDS stigma in Sub-Saharan Africa. NGOs and FBOs have played a significant role in the work of the HIV/AIDS intervention and prevention in the area. However, in spite of the importance of religion and spirituality among the front-line workers at non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and faith-based organizations (FBOs) in Sub-Saharan Africa, religiosity, and spirituality in relation to the construction of HIV/AIDS stigma have not been fully investigated yet. </p><p> <b>Purpose:</b> The aims of this study were to explore how service providers working with HIV/AIDS affected populations understand the meaning of HIV/AIDS stigma in relation to their religious beliefs, and to explore the role of religiosity and spirituality among service providers working in NGOs and FBOs in southern Malawi. </p><p> <b>Method:</b> A qualitative approach using the Internet via online Google forms and emails was used to collect the questionnaires and narrative data from Malawi. Study participants included twenty service providers working in thirteen NGOs or FBOs in southern Malawi. Fourteen participants were Malawians; six were from abroad, including Australia, Canada, Dutch, South Korea, Zimbabwe, and England. All participants are self-identified Christians. The qualitative data was analyzed using ATLAS.ti (version 8.0), and the quantitative data were analyzed by STATA (version 14.2). </p><p> <b>Results:</b> The findings of the study showed that social stigma and social constructionism were theories relevant to exploring HIV/AIDS stigma as a social construct in the Sub-Saharan context. Service providers participating in the study variously understood HIV/AIDS as a punishment of God, a consequence of sin in the fallen world, a result of human behavior, an opportunity to help PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS), and as a medical disease. The participants described religiosity and spirituality as important health assets that support them in working with PLWHA in NGOs and FBOs in Malawi. </p><p> <b>Conclusion:</b> Religion serves as an important cultural influence, with power to both negatively affect the construction of HIV/AIDS stigma in society, and positively reconstruct the meaning of HIV/AIDS. The findings of the study suggest that it is critical to deconstruct and reconstruct the meaning of HIV/AIDS by focusing on religion as the means of grace and love, not of morality. Service providers must be required to carefully examine their own prejudice toward PLWHA, and social work education can equip HIV/AIDS specialists to more effectively deal with HIV/AIDS-related problems at the local, national, and global levels in the field of international social work. </p><p>

Thesis (DTech (Mechanical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / This thesis contains innovations that could help homesteads in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) to ‘harvest’ more energy from flat solar energy collection surfaces. The thesis makes the assumption that universal resolution of energy poverty is a long term issue – and may not realistically be achieved using the traditional electrification route of: Fossil fuel/Hydro potential → electricity → transmission/distribution → paid for/free usage. Using a combination of literature search, Transient System Simulation (TRNSYS) modelling and experimental validation, the thesis notes the bi-hemispherical tropical location of most of the region and the abundant solar resource. It therefore advocates extensive use of the resource at home level for both electricity generation, and fluid heating/preheating purposes. Using mathematical models, the thesis critically examines relationships among energy incidence, transformation and yield from a flat surface for both Photovoltaic (PV) and Solar Thermal (ST) usage. It suggests the first set of innovations for the region: the two azimuths installations. The second set uses TRNSYS and Operations Research (OR) modelling to optimise selection of PV equipment meeting a starter–home’s energy loads throughout the region. Recommendations for both sets of innovations are presented in the form of colour coded maps. The third innovation in the thesis is the patented gravity driven, hydro-mechanical solar tracker, a novel solar tracking device in three different operation and control modes. In summary, one patent, 4 journal papers and 5 peer-reviewed international conference papers comprise the work.

Espécies típicas de sub-bosque são pouco estudadas quanto à sua aplicação na restauração e enriquecimento de florestas degradadas. São em geral arvoretas ou arbustos finais de sucessão, tolerantes ao sombreamento, capazes de germinar, se estabelecer e completar seu ciclo de vida neste ambiente, representando importante fonte de recursos como alimento e abrigo para polinizadores e dispersores. Porém, não são amplamente utilizadas nos plantios de restauração por não serem espécies de dossel, e em paisagens altamente fragmentadas há poucas chances de chegarem naturalmente em áreas em processo de restauração. Visando contribuir para o desenvolvimento de técnicas de plantio e enriquecimento em áreas degradadas ou em processo de restauração que favoreçam a recuperação do subbosque, este trabalho teve o objetivo de avaliar a sobrevivência e o crescimento de mudas de 10 espécies típicas de sub-bosque plantadas em quatro diferentes condições: plantio inicial de restauração, áreas em processo de restauração com 5 e 10 anos de idade e um fragmento remanescente degradado. Todas as áreas de estudo localizam-se na região de Batatais, SP e estão inseridas no Bioma Mata Atlântica, mais especificamente na fisionomia de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual. As mudas foram plantadas em janeiro de 2012 e observadas durante 15 meses quanto ao crescimento e sobrevivência. As áreas de estudo foram caracterizadas quanto aos atributos químicos, físicos e granulométricos do solo, cobertura e florística do dossel. A análise de componentes principais (PCA) mostrou que entre estas variáveis a que teve maior relação com o crescimento relativo das mudas foi a cobertura do dossel. A área que teve maior eficiência na introdução das espécies típicas de sub-bosque, considerando crescimento e sobrevivência, foi o plantio inicial de restauração, onde 3 espécies foram muito eficientes e 6 foram eficientes. No plantio com 5 anos 1 espécie foi muito eficiente e 4 foram eficientes, porém, cresceram bem menos que no plantio inicial. Os resultados apontaram ainda que apenas 3 espécies foram eficientes na área em processo de restauração de 10 anos e nenhuma no fragmento remanescente degradado, mostrando a dificuldade de se realizar o enriquecimento de áreas com alto nível de sombreamento, e de se reverter o processo de degradação nessas áreas, reforçando a importância da utilização de alta diversidade de espécies e grupos funcionais nos plantios de restauração e da conservação das áreas florestais remanescentes. / Species typical from understory layers are poorly studied regarding their use in restoration and enrichment of degraded forests. They are generally treelets or shrubs of final successional phase, shade tolerant, able to germinate, establish and complete their life cycle in this environment. They are an important source of resources as food and shelter to pollinators and dispersers. Despite their ecological importance, these plants have not been widely used in restoration plantings because they are not canopy species. In fragmented landscapes, these species have little chance of being recruited naturally into areas undergoing restoration. In order to contribute to the development of techniques of planting and enrichment in degraded areas or areas being restored and promote the recuperation of understory layers, this study evaluated the survival and growth of seedlings of 10 understory species planted under four different conditions: initial planting; 5-year-old restoration area; 10- year-old restoration area; and degraded forest fragment. All sites are located in the region of Batatais, SP, Brazil, inside the Atlantic Forest biome, specifically in the Seasonal Semidecidual Forest type. Seedlings were planted in January 2012 and measured during 15 months for their survival and growth. Study sites were characterized regarding soil chemical and physical attributes and granulometry, and canopy composition and coverage. Principal components analysis (PCA) showed that relative growth of seedlings was more strongly related to canopy coverage. Considering survivorship and growth, introduction of understory species was more successful at the initial planting site, where three species were very successful and six were successful. In the 5-year-old restoration area, one species was very successful and four were considered successful, however, they grew considerably less than at the initial planting site. Results point out that only three species were successful at the 10-year-old restoration area and none at the forest fragment, which shows the difficulty of enriching areas with high levels of shading, and thus, the difficulty of reversing degradation of forest remnants. This reinforces the importance of using high diversity of species and functional groups in restoration plantings and also of conserving remnant forests.