In this study the structural characteristics and antibacterial activities of two peptides derived from the carboxy-terminal of a tick defensin were investigated. Two defensin isoforms (OsDef1 and OsDef2) were previously identified in the midgut of the tick, Ornithodoros savignyi. Both OsDef1 and OsDef2 were found to be active against Gram-positive bacteria but showed no antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria. OsDef2 was found to be slightly more active than OsDef1 and was, therefore, used as the template for the design of smaller antimicrobial peptides. Two peptide analogues were synthesised using the carboxy-terminal sequence of OsDef2 and differed in that in the one peptide the cysteine residues were present (Os) and in the other the cysteine residues were omitted (Os-C). Structurally, Os contained more α-helical properties than Os-C, whereas Os-C was more β-sheeted when prepared in 25 mM SDS. Both Os and Os-C showed no antibacterial activity when tested in Luria-Bertani broth or Mueller-Hinton broth indicating that the activities of Os and Os-C were influenced by the presence of broth salts and proteins. When tested in sodium phosphate buffer, both Os and Os-C exhibited Gram-positive and Gram-negative antibacterial activity. Os was slightly more active than Os-C against 3 of the 4 tested strains, with minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) ranging from 0.94 μg/ml to 3.75 μg/ml. Os retained bactericidal activity against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli when tested in the presence of 100 mM NaCl or 30% human serum. Os-C retained activity against E. coli in the presence of NaCl but became inactive in 30% human serum against both bacterial strains. At the MBCs, Os exhibited faster killing kinetics than Os-C killing both Bacillus subtilis and E. coli within 5 min, whereas Os-C took up to 120 min and 60 min, respectively. SYTOX Green permeabilization assays showed that both Os and Os-C caused permeabilization of E. coli membranes after 30 min exposure. At high peptide concentrations, both Os and Os-C were shown to interact with plasmid DNA. Both Os and Os-C exhibited no cytotoxic effects against SC-1 and Caco-2 cell lines, even at peptide concentrations 32 times higher than the highest MBC. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Biochemistry / unrestricted

Located in the Harbour of Cork, this work encourages the Harbour to turn back upon itself and re-establish the collective memory of transport by water. It was inspired by the Harbour Authority’s decision to introduce a passenger ferry network, servicing the City and the towns along the harbour. The meeting of the people and their harbour is to be finely nuanced through new installations, which facilitate the landing of these new vessels. Without these comprehensible points, which together create boundaries and act as threshold, the harbour is immense and continually shifting. These interventions intend to create a middle space between the landscape edge and the vast harbour: a type of ‘airlock’ which prepares the pedestrian for passage, using tools of sequencing and reframing to direct views. The project is investigated through mapping with an architecture that addresses the shifting scale along the harbour and a conversation begins between the macro and microcosm.

I Stockholm står idag kollektivtrafiken för mer än en tredjedel av resorna som sker i länet (Region Stockholm 2017, s. 6), att kollektivtrafikens olika delar ska fungera är därför väldigt viktigt. En stor del av resenärers resor spenderas på olika bytespunkter. Resecentrum är platser där stora mängder trafik och oskyddade trafikanter möts och på mer eller mindre sätt interagerar med varandra. Vid utformning av ett resecentrum är samspelet mellan trafikslag och de olika flödena på platsen viktiga faktorer att tänka på. Både för att enskilda resenärers resor ska vara smidiga och att trafiksäkerheten på platsen ska vara hög.  I det här arbetet har ett gestaltningsförslag på hur ett resecentrum skulle kunna se ut om det var grundat i empirin genomförts. Platsen har varit Spånga station och med hjälp av en kvalitativ textanalys och en platsanalys har en omgestaltning genomförts. Med prioritering på resenärer och smidiga flöden har Spånga station gått från en fungerande men bristfällig plats, till ett resecentrum där resenärer enkelt kan ta sig mellan olika funktioner på ett tryggt sätt.  Hur ett resecentrum generellt utformas på bästa sätt är svårt att svara på då det beror på både platsens förutsättningar och behov. I det här arbetet har olika delar av resecentrum separat diskuterats vilket gör att empirin går att använda på fler fall. Genom att plocka ut och implementera olika delar av empirin går det därför att skapa de bästa lösningarna vid utformning av olika resecentrum utifrån förutsättningar och behov.

No description available.

Introduktion/Bakgrund: Cancer i sen palliativ fas innebär ett stort lidande för många människor.Copingstrategier kan hjälpa patienter att minska lidande och öka livskvalitet. Sjuksköterskor har en viktiguppgift i att identifiera och stötta val av copingstrategiSyfte: Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att undersöka copingstrategier hos patienter med cancer i senpalliativ fas.Metod: Polit och Becks nio steg användes för denna litteraturstudie. Systematisk databassökning gjordes föratt finna artiklar att basera resultat på. Deduktiv ansats som utgick från Lazarus och Folkmans teorier omcopingstrategier användes för att kategorisera resultat.Resultat: Patienterna använde sig av problemfokuserad coping för att aktivt bibehålla sin autonomi samt tainitiativ till att söka råd och stöd från vårdpersonal och närstående. Känslofokuserad coping användes för attvända situationen emotionellt till något positivt, ofta med hjälp av närstående, mindfullness eller meditering.Meningsfokuserad coping delas in i existentiell- och acceptansfokuserad coping. Dessa strategier hjälptepatienter att använda sig av sin religiösa grundsyn samt acceptera sin situation för att minska lidande.Slutsats: En stor mängd olika val av copingstrategier och upplevelser kopplade till dessa kunde identifierashos patienter med cancer i sen palliativ fas.

<p> This project is a contribution towards the development of one component of an analytical audit flowcharting system using computer graphics. The component to be developed will be concerned with producing graphical displays on an intelligent graphics terminal; the configuration of these displays is determined by parametric data supplied through the terminal keyboard. The software is designed in such a way that input options may be exercised to experiment with the shape and size of the component parts of the flowchart.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No description available.

No description available.

Baxa is a pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 protein family that regulates a key point in the control of apoptosis. The bax RNA undergoes a complex pattern of RNA splicing, with eight splice isoforms known to date. The next most abundant isoform to Baxa is Baxp, which has a unique carboxyl-terminal sequence and consequently lacks the transmembrane domain of Baxa. This study characterized Baxp as part of a larger project aimed at deducing the role of cellular localization in Bax protein function. A transient transfection assay was designed to determine the cell death activity of a protein in adherent cells. Baxp induced cell death to a greater extent than Baxa when transiently expressed in NIH 3T3 cells. The levels of Baxp expression were always low, regardless of the cell type or transfection method used. Additionally, Baxp adopted a conformation in which amino acids 13 to 19 are accessible to the monoclonal antibody 6A7. In Baxa this epitope is only exposed in the membrane-bound activated conformation that is associated with accessibility of the BH3 domain of Baxa that mediates protein-protein interactions among Bcl-2 family members. Although the mechanism remains elusive, Baxp was identified as a potent inducer of cell death. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

The requirement for identical inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) for viral viability and the role of internal viral sequences in the specification of the sequences of the termini were investigated. The viral strains used in this study were a variant Ad2 strain Ad2 (mac) and the wild type Ad5 strain which was very similar to the former one in sequence except at the extreme end of the terminal repeat. A hybrid virus (sub54), obtained by recombination between Ad2 (mac) and Ad5, derived the left 41-51% of its genome from Ad2 (mac) and the right 59-49% from Ad5. The identity of the termini was determined by Southern blotting analysis using 32p end labeled oligocleoxynucleotides. Analysis of the sub54 isolate indicated that both Ad2 (mac) and Ad5 ITRs were present. Plaque purification of sub54 demonstrated that viruses with non identical terminal sequences were viable and allowed their characterization. This analysis also indicated that Ad5 ITRs are converted to Ad2 (mac) ITRs possibly as a result of repair of the ends to yield viruses with identical termini. A model involving replication and emphasizing the importance of panhandle formation as a replicative intermediate is proposed. These results also indicated a possible role of the internal sequences of adenovirus in the selection and maintenance of serotype specific ITRs. The preference for Ad2 (mac) termini observed during repair of the ends of sub54 may be related to the origin of the genes coding for the adenoviral polymerase and/or the terminal protein both of which were derived from Ad2 (mac). Further investigation would be required to determine whether these replicative proteins are actually involved in ITR conversion. Transformation of Escherichia coli with a DNA preparation from sub54 infected rat embryo cells resulted in the isolation of the plasmid pFG154. This plasmid contained the entire adenovirus genome with an Ad2 (mac) ITR at the "left" terminus covalently linked to an Ad5 ITR at the "right". Analysis of the viral progeny generated upon transfection of mammalian cells with pFG154 indicated that the Ad2 (mac) ITRs were very efficiently converted to Ad5 termini. These results, although apparently contradictory to those initially obtained from the plaque purification of sub54, may be explained by an ITR repair model which is specific for infectious circles. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)