Neutron monitors detect secondary particles produced by the collision of cosmic rays and atmospheric nuclei. The need exists for a mini-neutron monitor data acquisition system (MNM-DAS) to replace the existing recording system of the calibration neutron monitor developed in 2003 at the North-West University Centre for Space Research. The MNM-DAS must also replace the recording system of a standard NM64 neutron monitor. This research thus includes the development of the MNM-DAS using Design Science Research (DSR) in conjunction with Systems Engineering (SE) to streamline the design phase and maximize research output. A literature study is conducted, where an overview of the calibration monitor system is provided, together with the objectives for the development of the MNM system. An abstract system architecture was drawn up in the conceptual design phase of the project to provide a coherent description of all system functions. The system architecture was derived for the existing system, including additional functions of the required system, by performing a functional analysis. The architecture describes the function and fit of each functional unit and all interfaces that form an integrated system. From the conceptual design and system architecture, a preliminary synthesis was done. Following the preliminary synthesis, electronic circuitry was developed to capture the arrival time of pulses from the proportional neutron monitor counter tubes along with environmental variables, such as temperature, pressure, and location, which all influence the count rate. The MNM-DAS was successfully designed and developed by following this Systems-Engineering approach embedded into a Design Science Research framework. The MNM-DAS was constructed and tested, and is currently being used to provide neutron count data in real-world applications internationally. / MIng (Computer and Electronic Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The severe balance of payments crisis of 1947 threatened the Labour administration's ability to fund the totality of its post-war reconstruction programmes. The government's solution was to call for an increase in individual and collective industrial productivity to boost exports and increase income. One of their initiatives was the launch of an industrial human science research programme. The expectation was that this would yield information and techniques which would increase human efficiency and, hence, productivity, on the shop floor and in management. The human science research programme, which comprised both ergonomics and human relations studies, was of low financial value and produced knowledge and techniques that were capable of supporting an array of non-human science technologies. This thesis examines the derivation and management of the human science research programme and how this contributed to the emergence, growth and shaping of ergonomics, the study of the worker in their working environment. By tracing the development and growth of the human science research programme, I show how the learned society for ergonomics, the Ergonomics Research Society (ERS), played a marginal role in promoting the science. Instead, it was the actions of engineers in academia, and organisations such as the Department of Science and Industrial Research (DSIR), Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC), that were responsible for the institutionalisation and professionalisation of ergonomics in the middle years of the twentieth century. This study also throws new light on the management of a low-value research programme during this period by showing how the level of responsibility was delegated down from central government to committees which comprised academics, industrialists and union officials only. I argue that this resulted in a flexible and agile research programme which addressed important issues of productivity and shaped the science of ergonomics.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Universität Essen, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references.

Field experiences function as a link between LIS theory and practice. Students should be provided with an experience that is a true reflection of the professional environment. The increasing focus on research by academic librarians provides an opportunity and responsibility to integrate research into the field experiences of LIS students. / Selinda Adelle Berg Clinical Medicine Librarian University of Windsor, Canada sberg@uwindsor.ca; Kristin Hoffmann Research & Instructional Services Librarian The University of Western Ontario, Canada khoffma8@uwo.ca; Diane Dawson Natural Sciences Liaison Librarian The University of Saskatchewan, Canada diane.dawson@usask.ca

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Cardiovascular disease is now the leading cause of death worldwide. Serum amyloid A (SAA), a positive acute phase reactant, along with C-reactive protein is used clinically as a marker of cardiovascular disease risk. However, recent data has shed light on a possible causal role of SAA in the development of atherosclerosis, the most pervasive form of cardiovascular disease. Several inflammatory diseases such as diabetes and obesity are known to confer increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Individuals with these diseases all have modest but persistent elevation of SAA. To determine if SAA caused the development of atherosclerosis, apoe-/-chow fed mice were injected with either an adenoviral vector expressing human SAA1 (ad-hSAA1), a null adenoviral vector (ad-Null) or saline. Human SAA levels rapidly increased, albeit briefly then returned to baseline within 14 days in mice that received ad-hSAA1. After 16 weeks, mice that received ad-hSAA1 had significantly increased atherosclerosis compared to controls on the aortic intimal surface (p<0.0001), aortic sinus (p<0.05) and the brachiocephalic artery (p<0.05). According to the “response to retention” hypothesis; lipoprotein retention by vascular wall proteoglycans is a key initiating event in the development of atherosclerosis. We previously reported that SAA-stimulated vascular smooth muscle cells expressed biglycan with increased glycosaminoglycan chain length and increased binding affinity for low density lipoprotein. To further test the role of biglycan on the development of atherosclerosis we generated biglycan transgenic mice. These mice were crossed to the ldlr-/- mouse on a C57BL/6 background and fed a pro-atherogenic western diet for 12 weeks. There was a significant increase in atherosclerotic lesion area on the aortic intimal surface (p<0.05) and the aortic sinus (p<0.006), as well as a significant correlation between vascular biglycan content and aortic sinus atherosclerotic lesion area (p<0.0001). These data demonstrate that transiently increased SAA resulted in increased atherosclerosis compared to control mice, possibly via increased vascular biglycan content. In support of this we found that biglycan transgenic mice had significantly increased atherosclerosis compared to wildtype controls, likely through increased lipid retention in the vascular wall.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 318-352). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Complement is activated via two pathways: classical (CCP) and alternative (ACP). The CCP has been demonstrated in the nurse shark. The ACP has not been demonstrated in any cartilagenous fish. Nurse shark serum was evaluated for complement activity by its ability to lyse heterologous erythrocytes. As CCP activity requires calcium and magnesium, activity of shark serum chelated with EGTA (a selective calcium chelator) or EDTA (a chelator of calcium and magnesium) was assessed. Activity remained in serum chelated with EGTA but not EDTA. Furthermore, activity of chelated serum was enhanced by added magnesium. Activation of shark complement by activators of mammalian ACP (zymosan, LPS, inulin, CVF) was assessed. Complement was activated by zymosan and LPS. Immunoblots were employed, with limited success, to demonstrate complement proteins in nurse shark serum. This study unequivocally demonstrates that the ACP is present in the primitive nurse shark.