Special relativity (SR) determines the properties of synchrotron radiation, but the corresponding mechanisms are frequently misunderstood. Time dilation is often invoked among the causes, whereas its role would violate the principles of SR. Here it is shown that the correct explanation of the synchrotron radiation properties is provided by a combination of the Doppler shift, not dependent on time dilation effects, contrary to a common belief, and of the Lorentz transformation into the particle reference frame of the electromagnetic field of the emission-inducing device, also with no contribution from time dilation. Concluding, the reader is reminded that much, if not all, of our argument has been available since the inception of SR, a research discipline of its own standing.

Class of 2012 Abstract / Specific Aims: The objectives of this study were to determine the financial impact and mortality of CLL and Richter’s transformation in CLL in the inpatient setting in the payer’s perspective, the common diagnoses at discharge for patients with CLL, and to compare demographics, hospital characteristics, and co-morbidities for CLL cases versus Richter’s only cases. Methods: This study was a retrospective cohort of inpatient hospital charges and mortality of CLL patients and CLL patients with Richter’s transformation in the United States in the perspective of the payer. Using weighted statistical methods, results of this investigation yielded nationally-representative findings. The hospital charges were analyzed with a gamma regression with log link, and mortality was analyzed with a generalized linear regression. Main Results: There were total of 391,287 cases and 7% (27,259) were Richter’s cases. The overall hospital charges for CLL and CLL patients with Richter’s transformation from 2005 to 2009 were $38,735 (±58859) per case and $53,118 (±77993) per case, respectively. The mortality was 6.3% (24,520 deaths) overall and 9.1% mortality (2,485 deaths) for Richter’s transformation patients. The significant predictors (p < 0.05) that were associated with an increase the hospital charges for Richter’s patients was sepsis while sepsis and weight loss were associated with an increase in mortality. Conclusions This study adds to the few studies published to show the impact of CLL and Richter’s. However, due to the limitation on pharmacotherapies, it was not possible to determine therapeutic cost drivers for these cases. Future studies are warranted to determine the cost of therapies associated to the different stages of CLL.

This dissertation attempts to delve in to the controversial and complicated world of affirmative action and transformation in South African sport. The history of this country is taken into account as we are still grappling with the legacy of apartheid in sport. Various sports are analysed in detail in tandem with the way these policies are implemented by the government. We look at the progress being made by the various administrators in sport at the provincial and national levels. The research was mainly focused on legislation that has been passed on the above issues and tested against the Constitution. One has to try and determine if affirmative action has a legal basis in the sporting arena and analyse the drawbacks already faced by the implementation of these policies. I have also tried to incorporate the experiences faced in Australia and New Zealand as they have both faced challenges of a similar nature in their sporting environments. It is important to acknowledge that there will never be an overnight solution to the challenges we face in sport. The road we have embarked on is a long and winding one and patience is indeed a key component as we strive to move from our bitter past. This has always been a sensitive issue in South Africa and great lengths have been taken to be as objective and as sensitive as possible in the work. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Procedural Law / unrestricted

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Genetic competence is a developmental process in bacteria that allows natural transformation. Competent Gram positive bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis carry a cytosolic helicase which is required for efficient transformation. In this work ComFA is confirmed as a DEAD-box helicase. I also describe a new accessory motif in ComFA that contributes to transformation independently of the helicase activity in ComFA. The newly discovered metal-binding motif consists of four cysteines which are required for transformation and zinc binding. While the zinc finger is required for full function, it is not required for DNA binding. As DEAD-box family helicases are generally non-processive, it appears that at least part of the rapid DNA uptake process is mediated by a non-processive helicase. Active uptake using the ComFA helicase motor may be required to maintain the integrity of the incoming DNA to allow subsequent recombination.

À l'heure actuelle, il y a un intérêt croissant pour l’adaptation des propriétés physique des solides contenant des métaux de transition en modifiant leurs réseaux ioniques. Ces changements topologiques modifient non seulement le degré d’oxydation du métal de transition, mais peuvent également modifier sa sphère de coordinence, ainsi que les connectivités cation-anion-cation à longue distance, pouvant conduire à des changements radicaux de leurs propriétés physiques.Dans ce contexte, mon travail de thèse, réalisé au laboratoire UCCS à Lille (France), a consisté en une étude approfondie de deux différents exemples de transformations topotactiques. Premièrement, je présente l´échange anionique ainsi que l'exfoliation en nano-feuillets chargés positivement, de l'oxo-bromure de cobalt 14H-Ba7Co6BrO17. Le processus d'exfoliation a été caractérisé structuralement à l’aide de techniques telles que les microscopies, la diffraction ou l’absorption des rayons X.Dans la deuxième partie de mon travail, une étude complète du processus d’exsolution reversible du fer dans BaFe2(PO4)2 a été effectuée, en établissant une relation entre les évolutions structurales et la quantité de fer exsoluté. Une étude sur l'insertion éventuelle du lithium dans la structure de la phase la plus lacunaire en fer, BaFe1.33(PO4)2, ainsi que ses capacités en tant que cathode pour batteries au lithium, a également été réalisée. En outre, des études structurales et magnétiques des solutions solides BaFe2-YMY (PO4)2 par substitution du métal par Co2+ ou Ni2+a aussi été réalisée.Enfin, dans la dernière partie de ce manuscrit, je présente trois phases différentes à base de fer qui ont été découvertes lors de prospection pour trouver de nouvelles phases ayant des capacités de transformations topotactique. / At present, there is growing interest in tuning the physical behavior of solids containing transition metals by modifying their ionic lattices. These topological changes modify not only the electron count (through reduction or oxidation) but can also modify the local transition metal coordination sphere and the long-range cation-anion-cation connectivity, potentially leading to dramatic changes in their physical behavior. In this context, my PhD work developed in the UCCS laboratory at Lille (France), has consisted in a deep study of two different examples of topotactic transformations. Firstly I have performed anionic exchange as well as exfoliation into positively-charged nanoflakes, on the oxybromide cobaltites 15H-Ba7Co6BrO17. This exfoliation process has been structurally characterized by different techniques as microscopies, X-Rays diffractions and absorptions. For the last two, synchrotron radiation was used, the experiments being performed at SOLEIL.Secondely, a full study of the reversible iron exsolution process in BaFe2(PO4)2 has been carried out, establishing a relation between the structural features and the amount of iron exsoluted. A study about a possible lithium insertion in the lattice of the most exsoluted phase, BaFe1.33(PO4)2, as well as its capabilities determination as cathode in Li batteries was also performed. In addition, structural and magnetic studies has been realized in the substituted solid solutions of BaFe2-yMy(PO4)2 with M2+ = Co2+, Ni2+.Finally, the last part of the manuscript presents three different iron phases discovered during my prospecting work for new phases having abilities for topotactic transformation.

This study was undertaken in order to research on the trauma caused by the Matebeleland Massacre of 1982-87 in Tsholotsho Zimbabwe. This dissertation is two pronged: one part is to ascertain the trauma in the community twenty years after and the second aspect is to suggest interventions that can be applied. The history of the country and the political background to the conflict is the most rational way to explain why this may have happened. This history has been used to justify the Massacre and is being used continuously even today by those in power. If people do not learn from their history they are bound to repeat it, (interview with Phineahs Dube 4/8/20080). Trauma has been investigated using a qualitative social reconstruction narrative theory by way of cultural world view and not medical psychological means. Investigating people’s painful experiences and emotions has not been easy. A suitable framework and trauma measure which are scientifically approved had to be found and used in order to validate and verify the results in a manner that the outcome can be accepted scientifically and internationally. Chronic ‘on going’ trauma or Long-term Psycho-social Crisis is the kind of trauma that the researcher has come up with if conventional medical jargon is to be avoided. The survivors can not fully comprehend what happened to them but the greatest injury and pain is caused by how the community as a whole was under threat of annihilation by the Gukurahundi, The name itself is infamous and points to the brutal nature of the operation of this North Korean trained army battalion known simply, as the 5th Brigade. The interventions suggested are psycho-social since the context is rural Tsholotsho Matebeleland, culturally, a socio-centric set up with in an African world view, (Mbiti 1969) and (Mugambi and Kirima 1976). The Church is proposed as the agent for change in the community as light and salt due to its proximity to the community. The interventions include funerals services and rituals, testimonies, and archival processes for the sake of prevention and collective memory. The psycho-social cultural approach takes the survivor from being just an individual with a personal problem to a collective memory of experience. (Becker 2000: 18) This gives practical theology an opportunity for a logical conclusion of all theologizing which is a theology of praxis or engagement. / Dsecription (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Practical Theology / Unrestricted

This dissertation wants to understand the church history regarding the divide which resulted in the so called fundamentalist and the liberal movements in the church being birthed in identifying the reasons for the conflict between the aforementioned groups. It then presents principles of conflict transformation and management in order to understand and to help transform and manage potential confrontational situations between the aforementioned groups effectively. It further propose alternative interpretations to potential conflict-generating Bible texts by extrapolating new information from those texts in order to stir the potential of birthing a second naïve love for the discredited texts by offering new meanings to those same texts. Unfortunately, this objective can’t effectively be measured within the scope of this dissertation, but will nevertheless remain as an objective of hope.

The segmentation of medical images is a difficult task due to the inhomogeneous intensity variations that occurs during digital image acquisition, the complicated shape of the object, and the medical expert’s lack of semantic knowledge. Automated segmentation algorithms work well for some medical images, but no algorithm has been general enough to work for all medical images. In practice, most of the time the segmentation results are corrected by the experts before the actual use. In this work, we are motivated to determine how to make use of manually segmented data in automatic segmentation. The key idea is to transfer the ground truth segmentation from the database of train images to a given test image. The ground truth segmentation of MR images is done by experts. The process includes a hierarchical image decomposition approach that performs the shape matching of test images at several levels, starting with the image as a whole (i.e. level 0) and then going through a pyramid decomposition (i.e. level 1, level 2, etc.) with the database of the train images and the given test image. The goal of pyramid decomposition is to find the section of the training image that best matches a section of the test image of a different level. After that, a re-composition approach is taken to place the best matched sections of the training image to the original test image space. Finally, the ground truth segmentation is transferred from the best training images to their corresponding location in the test image. We have tested our method on a hip joint MR image database and the experiment shows successful results on level 0, level 1 and level 2 re-compositions. Results improve with deeper level decompositions, which supports our hypotheses.

Cell division was obtained from cultured microspores of Douglas-fir on medium supplemented with auxin, cytokinin, and sucrose, but without medium salts. Embryogenic callus was initiated from excised mature and immature zygotic embryos of Douglas-fir on media supplemented with cytokinin and auxin. Precotyledonary embryos produced most of the embryogenic calli in the cultures. Secondary embryogenic callus production, and subsequent subculturing, were required for the establishment of stable embryogenic callus lines for both mature and immature zygotic embryos. Somatic embryos at the precotyledonary stage were obtained in high frequency when Douglas-fir embryogenic callus was transferred onto hormone-free medium supplemented with 1% activated charcoal, while some cotyledonary somatic embryos were obtained from hormone-free medium supplemented with low ABA levels (0-10 uM). The level of ABA in the maturation medium significantly affected the quality of the somatic embryos produced. Cell suspensions were established from embryogenic calli and have been maintained for over one year. Protoplasts were isolated from suspension, cell colonies and calli were regenerated from protoplasts. GUS and CAT genes were successfully introduced into protoplasts of Douglas-fir via electroporation, and their transient expression was obtained 2-4 days after electroporation. The results so far indicate that the production of somatic embryos via embryogenesis in vitro is obtainable, and the application of direct gene transfer via electroporation for genetic engineering of trees in this species is promising. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate