The Mackenzie Delta region, NWT, has a short growing season and highly seasonal climate, and brown bears (Ursus arctos) there face many challenges obtaining their nutritional requirements. Consumption of meat by brown bears is linked to increases in population density, fecundity, growth and body size. I examined the use of Arctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii), and broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus) as meat sources by Mackenzie Delta brown bears. As a preliminary step, I built an Arctic ground squirrel habitat model, using field-surveyed ground squirrel burrow locations. Using this model, I examined bears selection for Arctic ground squirrel habitat as a population, by sex and as individuals, and linked this to results of stable isotope analysis and site investigations. Bears showed little evidence of Arctic ground squirrel use at the population and sex level, but some individual bears appeared to prey heavily on ground squirrels, particularly during hyperphagia. I also described observations of a brown bear using broad whitefish in autumn, and used telemetry locations to show that other bears may also feed heavily on broad whitefish during hyperphagia. My research provides prey-specific evidence for intrapopulation niche variation among Mackenzie Delta brown bears. / Ecology

Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Physics, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], ix, 93 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references (p. 88-93).

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O bi-dimensionalismo epistêmico é a tese de que os estados mentais de um indivíduo tem uma dupla divisão, tendo, então, um conteúdo amplo e um conteúdo estreito. Um conteúdo amplo é aquele cuja determinação depende em parte de propriedades extrínsecas ao sujeito: ou seja, é aquele que possui relação com o mundo externo ao sujeito, seja físico ou social. Já o conteúdo estreito é o conteúdo plenamente determinado por propriedades intrísecas ao sujeito, sem precisar recorrer a nada externo. Este conteúdo estreito será, de acordo com o bi-dimensionalismo de Jackson e de Chalmers, o conteúdo representativo de um estado mental, dado através de descrições sobre aquilo que o sujeito sabe e acredita sobre o mundo ao seu redor. O objetivo desta dissertação ao tratar sobre esta forma de bi-dimensionalismo é o de apresentá-lo como uma possível resposta para dois problemas gerados pela afirmação externalista de que nomes próprios e termos de tipos naturais são designadores rígidos e pela afirmação de que todo conteúdo de um estado mental é amplo. Estes dois problemas são a incompatibilidade do conteúdo amplo com o acesso privilegiado e a sua incompatibilidade com o papel explicatório que estados mentais intencionais parecem ter em relação aos comportamentos de um indivíduo, pois, se os indivíduos não possuem um acesso privilegiado aos conteúdos dos seus estados mentais, tal conteúdo amplo não poderá ser visto como sendo um causalmente relevante para os seus comportamentos. Contudo, os argumentos apresentados pelo externalismo semântico parecem ainda convincentes demais para considerar tais consequências como sendo um bom motivo para se abandonar a tese externalista. Além disso, vários exemplos do funcionamento da linguagem (como os casos do uso de nomes próprios e termos de espécies naturais) parecem indicar que o externalismo semântico é correto. Assim, neste trabalho, analisarei a teoria bi-dimensional à luz das afirmações externalistas sobre o significado e sobre a individuação dos conteúdos dos estados mentais, ou seja, como podendo ser uma teoria que, além de ser uma capaz de fornecer uma resposta viável para estes dois problemas, é também compatível com o conteúdo amplo da forma como é afirmado pelo externalismo. / The epistemic two-dimensionalism is the thesis that the mental states of a person have double division, possessing, therefore, a broad content and a narrow content. A broad content is the one whose determination depends partially on properties extrinsic to the individual: i.e., it is the one which is related to the world external to the individual, be it physical or social. On the other hand, the narrow content is the one completely determined by properties intrinsic to the individual, without the need of anything external. This narrow content is, according to Jacksons and Chalmers two-dimensionalism, the representative content of a mental state, presented through description of what the individual knows of and believes in the world around him. The objective of this dissertation dealing with this form of two-dimensionalism is to present it as a possible answer to two problems generated by the externalist affirmative that proper names and natural kind terms are rigid designators and the affirmative that all content in a mental state is broad. These two problems are the incompatibility of the broad content and the privileged access and its incompatibility with the explanatory role that intentional mental states seem to have regarding a persons behavior, for if people have no privileged access to the content of their mental states, such broad content cannot be seen as being causally relevant to their behaviors. However, the arguments presented by semantic externalism still seem too convincing to consider such consequences as being enough reason to all-together abandon the externalist thesis. Besides, a number of examples of languages functioning (as the use of proper names and natural kind terms) seem to point to the fact that semantic externalism is correct. Therefore, in this work, I shall analyze the two-dimensional theory under the light of externalist affirmatives on the meaning and on the individuation of the content of mental states, i.e., as being a thesis that not only is able to provide a viable answer to these two problems, but also is compatible with broad content as regarded by externalism.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O bi-dimensionalismo epistêmico é a tese de que os estados mentais de um indivíduo tem uma dupla divisão, tendo, então, um conteúdo amplo e um conteúdo estreito. Um conteúdo amplo é aquele cuja determinação depende em parte de propriedades extrínsecas ao sujeito: ou seja, é aquele que possui relação com o mundo externo ao sujeito, seja físico ou social. Já o conteúdo estreito é o conteúdo plenamente determinado por propriedades intrísecas ao sujeito, sem precisar recorrer a nada externo. Este conteúdo estreito será, de acordo com o bi-dimensionalismo de Jackson e de Chalmers, o conteúdo representativo de um estado mental, dado através de descrições sobre aquilo que o sujeito sabe e acredita sobre o mundo ao seu redor. O objetivo desta dissertação ao tratar sobre esta forma de bi-dimensionalismo é o de apresentá-lo como uma possível resposta para dois problemas gerados pela afirmação externalista de que nomes próprios e termos de tipos naturais são designadores rígidos e pela afirmação de que todo conteúdo de um estado mental é amplo. Estes dois problemas são a incompatibilidade do conteúdo amplo com o acesso privilegiado e a sua incompatibilidade com o papel explicatório que estados mentais intencionais parecem ter em relação aos comportamentos de um indivíduo, pois, se os indivíduos não possuem um acesso privilegiado aos conteúdos dos seus estados mentais, tal conteúdo amplo não poderá ser visto como sendo um causalmente relevante para os seus comportamentos. Contudo, os argumentos apresentados pelo externalismo semântico parecem ainda convincentes demais para considerar tais consequências como sendo um bom motivo para se abandonar a tese externalista. Além disso, vários exemplos do funcionamento da linguagem (como os casos do uso de nomes próprios e termos de espécies naturais) parecem indicar que o externalismo semântico é correto. Assim, neste trabalho, analisarei a teoria bi-dimensional à luz das afirmações externalistas sobre o significado e sobre a individuação dos conteúdos dos estados mentais, ou seja, como podendo ser uma teoria que, além de ser uma capaz de fornecer uma resposta viável para estes dois problemas, é também compatível com o conteúdo amplo da forma como é afirmado pelo externalismo. / The epistemic two-dimensionalism is the thesis that the mental states of a person have double division, possessing, therefore, a broad content and a narrow content. A broad content is the one whose determination depends partially on properties extrinsic to the individual: i.e., it is the one which is related to the world external to the individual, be it physical or social. On the other hand, the narrow content is the one completely determined by properties intrinsic to the individual, without the need of anything external. This narrow content is, according to Jacksons and Chalmers two-dimensionalism, the representative content of a mental state, presented through description of what the individual knows of and believes in the world around him. The objective of this dissertation dealing with this form of two-dimensionalism is to present it as a possible answer to two problems generated by the externalist affirmative that proper names and natural kind terms are rigid designators and the affirmative that all content in a mental state is broad. These two problems are the incompatibility of the broad content and the privileged access and its incompatibility with the explanatory role that intentional mental states seem to have regarding a persons behavior, for if people have no privileged access to the content of their mental states, such broad content cannot be seen as being causally relevant to their behaviors. However, the arguments presented by semantic externalism still seem too convincing to consider such consequences as being enough reason to all-together abandon the externalist thesis. Besides, a number of examples of languages functioning (as the use of proper names and natural kind terms) seem to point to the fact that semantic externalism is correct. Therefore, in this work, I shall analyze the two-dimensional theory under the light of externalist affirmatives on the meaning and on the individuation of the content of mental states, i.e., as being a thesis that not only is able to provide a viable answer to these two problems, but also is compatible with broad content as regarded by externalism.

Magister Legum - LLM / Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) has been a topic of discussion since the dawn of democracy in April 1994. Due to the entrenched inequalities of the past, economic empowerment is very important for the economic growth of the majority of South Africa’s citizens. However, significant economic enrichment of black people has not been made, despite, economic success, legislation, state policies and programme interventions. This economic growth is to be realised through the use of preferential procurement as a policy tool for BEE. Whilst sufficient legislation has been enacted to regulate preferential procurement, to favour black people, much still seems to be lacking in the enforcement of the laws in public procurement. Central to the challenges of preferential procurement is the disharmony between the Framework legislation governing preferential procurement and BEE. This discord has seen two visions being followed for preferential procurement; the Procurement Act refers to the beneficiaries of BEE as historically disadvantaged individuals (HDI; s) and the goals for BEE are measured through specific goals which promotes narrow empowerment; the BBBEE Act on the other hand defines black people as the recipients of BEE and through the BEE Codes broad-based empowerment is promoted through seven core elements. This congruency has not served the promotion of preferential procurement, it has created a hindrance that frustrates economic growth for those it is intended. The other quandary that undermines the success of preferential procurement is willful practices engaged by both tenderers and public officials; skills deficiency in the adjudication of tenders and self-interest. The success of BEE through preferential procurement is dependent on a coherently legislated procurement environment fortified by perceptive public officials. The objective of this thesis is to analyse the impact of these challenges on the success of preferential procurement. The study will highlight the main practices that defeat the use of preferential procurement. This will include an analysis of the various legislation and the amendments thereto. In addition the enquiry will examine the proficiency of public officials in the adjudication of public tendering. Recommendations for a successful preferential public procurement environment will be made. The proposed thesis will utilise, inter alia, relevant legislation, case law, theses, journals, books and policy documents. / South Africa

Les dernières décennies ont été marquées par l’émergence ou la réémergence d’un nombre croissant de virus pathogènes. Malheureusement, les antiviraux actuellement sur le marché ciblent un nombre restreint de virus ; il y a donc un besoin urgent de développer des antiviraux à large spectre. Les cyclophilines sont des protéines cellulaires impliquées dans un grand nombre de processus biologiques, qui possèdent une activité enzymatique peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomérase (PPIase). Elles sont également impliquées dans la réplication de virus appartenant à des familles éloignées et constituent donc une cible de choix pour le développement d'antiviraux à large spectre. Toutefois, les inhibiteurs de cyclophilines disponibles possèdent de nombreux inconvénients qui rendent leur utilisation clinique difficile.Par une stratégie de "fragment-based drug design", nous avons généré une nouvelle famille d'inhibiteurs de cyclophilines, les SMCypI ("Small-Molecule Cyclophilin Inhibitors"), complètement différents de tous les inhibiteurs de cyclophilines existants. La cristallographie de ces composés a montré qu'ils se fixaient dans les deux poches voisines du site actif des cyclophilines et qu'ils inhibaient leur activité PPIase. Ces composés n’étaient pas immunosuppressifs et bloquaient in vitro l'infection par le VIH, le VHC et les Coronavirus.L'activité anti-VHC du C31, composé le plus actif sur l'activité PPIase des cyclophilines, a été caractérisée. Le C31 était un inhibiteur pan-génotypique du VHC, doté d’une haute barrière contre la résistance et présentant une activité additive avec les inhibiteurs du VHC approuvés. Nous avons montré que le C31 bloquait l'infection par le VHC en rompant l'interaction entre la protéine virale NS5A et la cyclophiline A de façon PPIase-dépendante. Enfin, le C31 était actif sur la réplication des virus zika, de la dengue, de la fièvre jaune et du Nil Occidental.L'activité des SMCypI a été caractérisée sur l'infection par le Coronavirus 229E. De manière intéressante, l’inhibition de l’activité PPIase était nécessaire, mais pas suffisante pour l’activité antivirale. Une étude de la relation structure-activité des composés a révélé qu'un groupement chimique situé à l'interface entre les deux poches du site actif des cyclophilines jouait un rôle clé dans l'effet anti-coronavirus. Le F836 a été identifié comme le composé le plus actif, qui bloquait l'effet cytopathique et la quantité d'ARN du HCoV-229E avec la même efficacité que l'alisporivir, sans toxicité associée. Ce composé bloquait l'entrée du HCoV-229E après l'attachement du virus à la surface cellulaire, et était également actif sur l'entrée des HCoV-OC43 et du MERS-CoV. Nous avons par la suite démontré l’association de la cyclophiline A avec les particules virales. Par l'utilisation de la technologie CRISPR-Cas9, des cellules invalidées pour la cyclophiline A ont été générées. La cyclophiline A apparaissait nécessaire pour l'infection par HCoV-229E et la cible de l'effet antiviral du F836.Les SMCypI constituent un outil pour la compréhension des mécanismes par lesquels les cyclophilines modulent les infections virales et représentent des candidats crédibles pour le développement futur d'antiviraux à large spectre. / Over the past decades, an increasing number of viruses has emerged or re-emerged in humans. Unfortunately, currently approved antiviral drugs target a small set of viruses. Thus, there is an urgent need for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.Cyclophilins are cellular proteins involved in a large number of biological processes, and in different viral lifecycles from unrelated families. They appear as a potential target for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral approaches. However, currently available cyclophilin inhibitors have drawbacks which limit their clinical use.By means of "fragment-based drug design", we generated a new class of small-molecule cyclophilin inhibitors (SMCypI), unrelated with those already available. Cristallographic studies revealed that the SMCypIs bind to two close pockets of the active site and inhibit cyclophilin PPIase activity. These compounds do not bear immunosuppressive properties and inhibit the replication of HIV, HCV and coronaviruses in vitro.We characterized the anti-HCV activity of C31, the most potent inhibitor of cyclophilin PPIase activity. C31 had pan-genotypic HCV inhibitor properties, with a high barrier to resistance and additive effects with currently approved anti-HCV agents. C31 blocked HCV replication by disrupting the interaction between the nonstructural viral protein NS5A and cyclophilin A in a PPIase-dependent manner. Finally, C31 was active on zika, yellow fever, dengue and West-Nile virus infections.The antiviral activity of the SMCypIs has then been characterized on HCoV-229E infection. Interestingly, PPIase inhibition was necessary, but not sufficient for antiviral effect. A structure-activity relationship study identified a key moiety in the SMCypIs at the interface between the two cyclophilin pockets. F836 has been identified as the most potent compound which inhibited both the cytopathic effect and the intracellular RNA of HCoV-229E without associated cytotoxicity and as potently as alisporivir. This compound targeted HCoV-229E entry at a post-attachment step and was also active on HCoV-OC43 and MERS-CoV strains. We then demonstrated that cyclophilin A was associated with viral particles. By means of CRISPR-Cas9, cell lines depleted for cyclophilin A were generated. Cyclophilin A was identified as a proviral factor for HCoV-229E and was partially involved in F836 antiviral effect. Cyclophilin A expression level was drastically decreased by infection.SMCypIs represent a unique tool to decipher the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which cyclophilins interfere with viral lifecycles, as well as drugable compounds that could find an indication as broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.

The theoretical part of this master's thesis is focused on research of confocal microscopy and FLIM method. There are a principles and types of confocal microscopy and the use of broad-spectrum laser as a basic light source of these microscopes. It gives what the FLIM method and its use not only in cell biology. The practical part thesis includes the acquisition of three sets of fluorescence intensity images with use of applications tunable pulsed laser, function TimeGate and detection of hybrid detectors. For practical elaboration of this thesis is in the software Fiji created a plugin, which is the source code in the Java programming language. The types of plugins and their uses are described in the third chapter of the thesis. This plugin including the graphical user interface in the form of the dialog box, proceses the fluorescence intensity images and creates a graphical representation of data showing the fluorescence lifetime, so called pseudocolor map.

The establishment of the Transvaal University College (TUC) in Pretoria took place at a very significant historical time in the wake of the South African War and its first decade coincided with the formation of the Union of South Africa and the outbreak of World War I. Furthermore, in this period successive administrations of the Transvaal and of South Africa pursued an ideal of forming a new unified white South African identity known as broad South Africanism. This project was strongly associated with education and found expression in much of the discourse regarding emerging higher education in the country. This study will approach the early history of the TUC from the perspective of broad South Africanism, attempting to shed light on white identity politics and their relationship to higher education in these early decades of the twentieth century. The thesis will begin by examining university history as a genre of historical writing, highlighting various approaches to the writing of university histories. It will then investigate the development of universities in Europe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in order to point out influential trends and models which can be traced in the establishment of South African universities. This is followed by a brief account of the growth of higher education in South Africa, paying particular attention to its development in the Transvaal which gave rise to the establishment of the TUC, first in Johannesburg and then in Pretoria. The development of the notions of broad South Africanism and conciliation will then be considered followed by an examination of how these notions were related to higher education in this period. The study will then focus specifically on the way in which broad South Africanism was manifested at the TUC. It will highlight official intentions regarding broad South Africanism at the College and the initial responses of the student body to this policy. A second section will discuss the development of broad South Africanism at the TUC after the outbreak of World War I and the ensuing 1914 rebellion. This will also include an investigation of sentiments which opposed broad South Africanism, favouring a more exclusive white identity. Thus, this study will endeavour to demonstrate how an understanding of university history can shed further light on a complex period in South African history and highlight the significant relationship between higher education institutions and the wider historical context. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Historical and Heritage Studies / unrestricted

MSc (Chemistry) / Department of Chemistry

The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (“MPRDA”) and the Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry (“Mining Charter”), created in terms of the MPRDA, aim to address the exploitative legacies of past discriminatory practices in the mining industry. Impoverished mining communities stand to benefit from empowerment under the Mining Charter in the form of mine community development – one of the elements that constitute a mining right holder's commitment under the Mining Charter. Despite this legislative intervention and the relative wealth generated by the extraction of mineral resources, poverty and conflict have become the stereotypical images associated with mining areas. This project aims to determine why the empowerment of mining communities through mine community development perpetuates poverty from the past and creates new inequalities. To answer this main question, it is considered how the historical context within which the relevant policy and legislation were created, affected legislative drafting. Second, the effects of promoting development and empowerment in legislative provisions are explored to determine which worldviews and underlying values are being promoted by the legislative instruments under discussion. Furthermore, it is considered how these worldviews and underlying values affect how mining communities, subjected to harsh socio-economic living conditions, are depicted in legislative provisions. Here, it is specifically considered what the notion of “community” signifies in a development context and how “community” is represented in legislation. The thesis is a theoretical exposition of the ideological assumptions underlying the concepts “development”, “empowerment”, “community” and “poverty”. It is shown that “mine community development” is an inherently contradictory notion in South African law. The development paradigm implies the universalisation of values, effectively creating “the poor”, and causing vagueness and paradoxes. It results not only in a perpetuation of poverty and inequality from the past but also in the creation of new inequalities, as is evident in the differentiation drawn by the Mining Charter between different types of communities in mining areas. Measures currently being enforced by the legislation under discussion, are in desperate need of reconsideration.