Les adoptions internationales constituent un mode d'entrée particulier dans la filiation, mettant en exergue tous les questionnements universels touchant à la question de la filiation et forçant à l'élaboration de l'essence même du lien familial.La littérature sur l'adoption concerne principalement le devenir des enfants adoptés, en termes de développement psychologique et d'apparition de troubles psychopathologiques. Au sein de cette littérature, de nombreuses études, principalement anglo-saxonnes, se sont focalisées sur la question de l'identité culturelle des enfants adoptés, soulignant la corrélation entre identité biculturelle positive et forte (culture du pays de naissance et culture du pays d'accueil) et meilleur développement psychologique ultérieur.La notion d'identité culturelle des enfants adoptés est en revanche absente de la littérature française. Pourtant il semble difficile d'occulter la place que vient prendre, pour les parents comme pour les enfants, le pays de naissance de l'enfant et sa culture, ainsi que les conséquences, sur la construction identitaire de l'enfant, de se voir attribuer un statut d'étranger du seul fait de sa différence « visible ». Il semble alors nécessaire de complexifier la question culturelle en s'appuyant, non pas sur des postulats théoriques ou idéologiques, mais sur le discours des familles. Comment les familles appréhendent-elles la question des appartenances culturelles et de l'altérité de l'enfant adopté dans le cadre d'une adoption internationale ? Quels liens gardent-elles avec le pays de naissance de l'enfant et sa culture ? Ce travail de recherche s'inscrit dans une approche méthodologique qualitative et s'est focalisé sur le discours des parents adoptants, l'objectif étant de mieux comprendre leurs positions quant aux appartenances culturelles de leur enfant. 66 entretiens semi-structurés ont été recueillis auprès de parents ayant adopté au moins un enfant dans un autre pays que la France, de façon plénière. Le guide d'entretien explore le parcours de l'adoption, le choix du pays, le voyage dans le pays de naissance de l'enfant, les éléments connus de l'histoire de vie de l'enfant avant l'adoption, les liens au pays de naissance de l'enfant, à sa culture, les éventuelles expériences de racisme et de discrimination vécues par l'enfant. La méthode d'analyse du contenu des entretiens est une méthode qualitative, phénoménologique : l'Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.Les résultats de ce travail s'articulent autour de trois publications.Une première publication consiste en une revue de la littérature sur le concept d'identité culturelle chez les enfants en situation d'adoption internationale.La deuxième publication décrit les positions parentales retrouvées dans notre étude, quant aux liens gardés ou non avec le pays de naissance de l'enfant et sa culture, positions mises en évidence par l'analyse phénoménologique des entretiens. Trois grands types de représentations parentales sont retrouvés.Enfin une troisième publication met en évidence la présence, dans plus de la moitié des entretiens, d'expériences difficiles et violentes pour les parents, potentiellement traumatiques, au moment des premières rencontres avec l'enfant lors du voyage dans le pays de naissance. Les conséquences sur la construction des interactions familiales sont discutées.La discussion porte sur la notion de représentations parentales, fil rouge de ce travail, ainsi que sur les modalités de complexification de la question culturelle : à quel point la question de la culture vient-elle porter ou déplacer la question filiative ? En quoi parler de culture peut-il se confondre avec la question de la visibilité de l'adoption ?Ce travail de recherche a des conséquences directes sur la prise en charge et l'accompagnement des familles adoptantes. En effet représentations parentales et interactions familiales sont intimement liées et jouent un rôle déterminant dans le développement de l'enfant. / International adoption is a specific way to belong to a new filiation. Numerous studies have looked at various aspects of the internationally adopted children's outcome. Some studies have sought to show a correlation between the strength of their cultural identity and their psychological development. However the ethnic and cultural identity subject is missing in French research. Furthermore very few studies have examined the adopted children's cultural identity from the adoptive parents' perspective. The objective of this study is to use parents' discourse to explore their representations of their child's cultural belonging.The study includes 51 French parents who adopted one or more children internationally. Each parent participated in a semi-structured interview. The broad topics covered included the adoption procedure, the choice of country, the trip to the child's native country, the child's history before adoption, the current associations with the child's country of birth, the experiences of racism and discrimination. The sample includes 66 semi-structured interviews. The interviews were analyzed according to a qualitative phenomenological method, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.The data were published in two original publications and one article has been submitted for publication: The first paper is a review of the cultural identity concept in the population of internationally adopted children.The second paper aims at describing three different parental representations of the child's cultural belonging.The third paper concerns the first parent-child encounters and highlights the difficult, sometimes traumatic experiences made then. We discuss parental representations, and the importance of complexifying the birth culture concept. Is questioning the birth culture replacing questioning the birth parents or even the perceivable physical differences between parents and children? Exploring parental representations of the adopted child enables professionals involved in adoption to provide better support to these families and do preventive work at the level of family interactions.

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To improve the efficacy of the dendritic cell vaccine Alv B DC from Alv B, the PD-L1 expression in cancer cells was attempted to be reduced through a transfection with a custom designed siRNA. Before transfecting the dendritic cells, the siRNA functionality had to be tested through flow cytometry, that resulted in negative results and therefore led to a RT-qPCR protocol that indicated that the siRNA was functional. Protocols for the two methods were developed and a cell line expressing PD-L1 was set up as a tool for testing. The final goal of testing the effects in Alv B DC was never performed due compromising time but the positive result from the PCR provides a promising start to further testing.

AbstractIntroduction: - An estimated number of 40 to 80 new-born babies are being abandoned by their mother in Kampala –Uganda annually. These children are usually dumped into dust bins, on streets, on hospital facilities, in bushes or in pit latrines. Aim:-The aim of this study was to investigate the goals of the organizations/institutions working with child abandonment in Kampala, to find out whom they collaborated with, to examine how the staff working with the organization/institution perceive the women who abandon and issue behind. Furthermore their personal incentives to continue to work with the problem, Method: A qualitative approach was used in this study and face to face semi-structured interview were conducted, since this was the best way to explore feelings, thoughts and attitudes of the respondents who gave answers to complicated questions. Research Questions: What are the main goals of the organizations/institutions and with whom do they collaborate with? What are their major hinders and needs? Do they see any progress? What are their perceptions of the mothers who abandon their new-born babies as well as the issues behind this cruel action? When did the staff became aware of this problem and what are the incentives driving them to continue do this work? Results: The results of the study were consistent with the research namely; the role of the organizations was reported being rescuing of the abandoned babies. First they are taken to the hospital during the first critical hours, thereafter are taken. to children court to get a permission to keep them in the children’s home; or find adoptive parent for these children who can give them love, care and education. Tracing mothers or family members was on the agenda, and in some case eventual re-unification was possible. The hinder which were met by the organization while doing their work were financial resources, misinformation about the organizations in the community, poor flow of information, lack of facilities to accommodate abandoned children, and poor collaboration with the government. Conclusion: The organizations/institutions are doing a good work, but procedures which are used at the moment are unfortunately not enough to reduce the problem. Therefore acute and new even radical approaches are needed to be put into consideration.

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Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Narratiewe navors:ing is gedoen om vas te stel watter rol geloof speel in die aanneemgesin. Onderhoudvoering met aanneemouers het die kernfaktor in die funksionering van die gesin as die aanvaarding of verwerping van die verskil tussen gesinne wat deur aanneming saamgestel is en gesinne wat deur geboorte saamgestel is, uitgewys. V erwerping strem verhoudinge binne die gesin, maak die gesin kwesbaar vir stres en vervreemding tussen ouer en kind. Aanvaarding, aan die antler kant, beteken dat die ouer die behoefte van sy kind om met sy natuurlike ouers in aanrak:ing te kom, erken. So 'n houding bring 'n verbetering in die ouer-kindverhouding mee en gevolglik ook in die vennoe om ontwikkelingskrisisse te hanteer. Geloofkan 'n rol speel om an.gs en selftwyfel by die aanneemouers as gevolg van die onnatuurlike samestelling van die gesin te besweer, sodat hulle die verskil aanvaar en sodoende 'n gesonder perspektief op gesinwees ontwikkel. / Narrative research was done in order to establish the role of faith in the adoptive family. In interviews with adoptive parents it was found that the crucial factor in the functioning of the family is the acceptance or rejection of the differences between families created by adoption and those created by childbirth. Rejection hampers relationships within the family and renders it vulnerable to stress and enstrangement between parent and child. Acceptance on the other hand means that the parent recognises the need of the child to connect with his birth parents. This latter attitude results in improved relationships between parent and child and in more effectiveness in coping with developmental crises. Faith can play a role to cl.ispell the anxciety and self-doubt of adoptive parents resulting from the unnatural constitution of their family, accept the differences and in that way may contribute to a healthier perspective on the family. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / M.Th.(Pastoral Theraphy)

Metastatic breast cancer treatment has seen few advances in recent years, yet treatment resistance continues to rise, causing disease recurrence. A pilot study was performed to determine the efficacy of ex vivo expansion and reprogramming of tumor-reactive immune cells from experimental metastatic tumor-sensitized mice. Also, phenotypic changes in tumors due to metastasis or tumor microenvironment influences were characterized. Metastatic neu+ mouse mammary carcinoma (mMMC) and its distant relapsing neu-antigen-negative variant (mANV) were investigated in FVBN202 mice. Tumor-reactive central memory CD8+ T cells and activated NK/NKT cells were successfully reprogrammed and expanded during 6-day expansion from mMMC- and/or mANV-sensitized mice, resulting in tumor-specific cytotoxicity. mMMC exhibited a flexible neu-expression pattern and acquired stem-like, tumorigenic phenotype following metastasis while mANV remained stable except decreased tumorigenicity. Myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) levels were not increased. Adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) with reprogrammed tumor-reactive immune cells may prove effective prophylaxis against metastatic or recurrent breast cancer.

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Narratiewe navors:ing is gedoen om vas te stel watter rol geloof speel in die aanneemgesin. Onderhoudvoering met aanneemouers het die kernfaktor in die funksionering van die gesin as die aanvaarding of verwerping van die verskil tussen gesinne wat deur aanneming saamgestel is en gesinne wat deur geboorte saamgestel is, uitgewys. V erwerping strem verhoudinge binne die gesin, maak die gesin kwesbaar vir stres en vervreemding tussen ouer en kind. Aanvaarding, aan die antler kant, beteken dat die ouer die behoefte van sy kind om met sy natuurlike ouers in aanrak:ing te kom, erken. So 'n houding bring 'n verbetering in die ouer-kindverhouding mee en gevolglik ook in die vennoe om ontwikkelingskrisisse te hanteer. Geloofkan 'n rol speel om an.gs en selftwyfel by die aanneemouers as gevolg van die onnatuurlike samestelling van die gesin te besweer, sodat hulle die verskil aanvaar en sodoende 'n gesonder perspektief op gesinwees ontwikkel. / Narrative research was done in order to establish the role of faith in the adoptive family. In interviews with adoptive parents it was found that the crucial factor in the functioning of the family is the acceptance or rejection of the differences between families created by adoption and those created by childbirth. Rejection hampers relationships within the family and renders it vulnerable to stress and enstrangement between parent and child. Acceptance on the other hand means that the parent recognises the need of the child to connect with his birth parents. This latter attitude results in improved relationships between parent and child and in more effectiveness in coping with developmental crises. Faith can play a role to cl.ispell the anxciety and self-doubt of adoptive parents resulting from the unnatural constitution of their family, accept the differences and in that way may contribute to a healthier perspective on the family. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.Th.(Pastoral Theraphy)

The motivation of this thesis is to propose a robust control technique for a laser beam system with target estimation. The laser beam is meant to track and fall on a particular portion of the target until the operation is accomplished. There are many applications of such a system. For example, laser range finder uses laser beam to determine the distance of the target from the source. Recently, unmanned aerial drones have been developed that run on laser power. Drone batteries can be recharged with power sup-ply from laser source on the ground. Laser is also used in high energy laser weapon for defence applications. However, laser beams travelling long distances deviate from the desired location on the target due to continually changing atmospheric parameters (jitter effect) such as pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed. This deviation error is controlled precisely using a lightweight fast steering mirror (FSM) for fine correction. Furthermore, for a moving target, minimizing the deviation of the beam is not sufficient. Hence, in coarse correction, the target has to be tracked by determining its position and assigning the corresponding azimuth and elevation angles to the laser sources. Once these firing angles are settled within an accuracy of +3 mrad, the effort for minimizing the beam deviation (fine correction) takes place to improve the accu-racy to +10 rad. The beam deviation due to jitter effect is measured by a narrow field of view (NFOV) camera at a high frame rate (1000 frames per second), which takes one frame to com-pute this error information. As a result, controller receives error information witha delay from NFOV. This data cannot be modelled for prediction and hence, a few promising data driven techniques have been implemented for one step ahead prediction of the beam deviation. The predictions are performed over a set of sliding window data online after rejecting the outliers through least square approximated straight line. In time domain, methods like auto-regressive least square, polynomial extrapolation (zeroth, first and second order), Chebyshev polynomial extrapolation, spline curve extrapolation are implemented. Further, a convex combination of zeroth order hold and spline extrapolation is implemented. In frequency domain, Fourier series-Fourier transform and L-point Discrete Fourier Transform stretching are implemented where the frequency component of the signal are analysed properly and propagated for one step ahead prediction. After one step ahead prediction, three nominal controllers (PID, DI and DLQR) are designed such that the output of FSM tracks the predicted beam deviation and the performances of these controllers are compared. Since the FSM is excited by high frequency signals, its performance degrades, which leads to parameter degradation in the mathematical model. Hence, three adaptive controllers have been implemented, namely, model reference adaptive control (MRAC), model reference adaptive sliding mode control (MRASMC) and model following neuro-adaptive control (MFNAC). The parameters of the FSM model are degraded up to 20% and the model is augmented with cross coupling terms because the same mirror is used for horizontal and vertical beam deviation. With this condition, the tracking performance and control rate energy consumption of the implemented adaptive controllers are analysed to choose the best among them. For a moving target, in coarse correction, two tracking radars are placed to measure the position of the target. However, this information is assumed to be noisy, for which an extended Kalman filter is implemented. Once the position of the target is known, the desired firing angles of the laser sources are determined. Given the laser source steering mathematical model, a controller is designed such that it tracks the desired firing angle. Once the residual error of the coarse correction settles inside 3 mrad, fine correction takes part to reduce the residual error to 10 rad. The residual error magnitude of the proposed mechanization was analysed for a moving target by perturbing the FSM model by 20% and zeroth order hold predictor with different combinations of angle tolerance and frame tolerance.