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Transverse radiopaque lines, often referred to as transverse lines (TL's), are a type of hard-tissue pathology which develop in subadult long bones after episodes of nonspecific stress such as nutritional or metabolic insult. This pathology is well documented in archaeological contexts and is used as a tool for making paleo demographical inferences about the general health of populations. Stable isotope studies have suggested that early modern humans were exploiting a wide range of dietary resources by the mid-Upper Paleolithic, while Neandertals appear to have utilized a narrower spectrum of resources, expending more energy on large game. This may have been a significant factor in differential survival success, frequency of transverse line formation, and age of initial transverse line formation. Because archaic humans may have been more susceptible to seasonal resource fluctuations, they may have suffered increased nutritional and metabolic stress compared to early modern humans. This study evaluates differences in the frequency and timing of initial transverse line formation among archaic, early modern human, and recent human (Holocene) subadult populations. Radiographs of the tibial distal shafts of 200 archaic, early modern humans, and recent modern humans were scored as displaying or not displaying TL's. TL's were counted, and age-at-formation was calculated. Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric tests were used to compare the frequency of occurrence of TL's and age-at-formation among the three groups. Results indicate that both archaic and early modern humans exhibited less transverse lines than the recent human group. This may be related to sampling bias in the recent human dataset. There is no difference in the number of transverse lines among the recent human samples, and it seems possible that all three of the recent human populations sampled for this study were experiencing high levels of stress. Thus, it seems that for the archaic and early modern human groups, transverse line formation may have been more closely related to differences in subsistence strategies, while transverse line formation in the recent human group may have been more closely related to high frequencies of metabolic diseases and poor diet. Further analysis revealed that archaic humans developed their first transverse lines earlier in life than both early modern and recent modern humans. The age at first line formation is frequently related to weaning age in studies of archaeological population, and this (and other possible explanations) are evaluated relative to Late Pleistocene Neanderthals and early modern humans.

Current research and the scarcity of mental health resources indicate that patients increasingly rely on internet-based health information. Occupational burnout and the associated stigma with the diagnosis often prevent people from seeking help for mental health issues. Digital health applications, including digital humans, have the potential to provide efficient and quality-focused healthcare while making health-related information more accessible. Digital humans can be described as digitally embodied conversational agents (ECA) and are becoming increasingly prevalent in healthcare, education, and retail. However, imitating a person in behavior remains one of the most challenging tasks. Building trust with patients is crucial for effective communication and decision-making. This thesis investigates how digital humans might leverage trust-building in a conversation to reduce the stigma associated with seeking help for occupational burnout. Expert interviews with psychologists, implementation of conversations with enhanced characteristics of benevolence, competence, and integrity, were conducted. Digital human interactions with six previous burnout patients were also interviewed and tested, where each interaction tested a digital human with enhanced characteristic of benevolence, competence and integrity. The study identified instrumental barriers as the primary obstacle, followed by attitudinal and stigma barriers. Qualitative analysis of the interviews revealed common themes that could hinder access to care such as not noticing the first symptoms of burnout due to being uninformed about the diagnosis and internal pressure to disappoint others. The interactions with various digital humans suggested a preference for those with similar conversational styles. Participants who identified themselves as action-driven exhibited a slight preference for competence in their interactions with digital humans. They believed that benevolence could be provided by their friends and family, highlighting the importance of competence in digital human support. Overall, the study revealed the importance of enhancing conversation competency and fostering a sense of security to build trust, especially for stigmatized patients. / Aktuell forskning och bristen på resurser för psykisk hälsa visar att patienter i allt högre grad förlitar sig på internet-baserad hälsoinformation. Utmattningssyndrom från arbetsplatsen och den stigmatisering förknippad med diagnosen hindrar ofta människor från att söka hjälp för psykiska problem. Digitala hälsotillämpningar, inklusive digital humans, har potential att tillhandahålla effektiv och kvalitetsfokuserad sjukvård vilket samtidigt möjliggör mer tillgänglig hälsorelaterad information. Digital humans kan beskrivas som digitalt förkroppsligade samtalsagenter och blir allt vanligare inom sjukvård, utbildning och detaljhandel. Att imitera en person i beteende är dock fortfarande en av de mest utmanande uppgifterna. Vidare är förtroendebyggande hos patienter avgörande för effektiv kommunikation och beslutsfattande. Denna avhandling undersöker hur digitala människor kan utnyttja förtroendeskapande i en konversation för att minska stigmat förknippat med att söka hjälp för yrkesmässig utmattning. Expertintervjuer med psykologer, implementerade konversationer med förbättrade egenskaper av välvilja, kompetens och integritet, genomfördes. Digital human interaktioner med sex tidigare utbrända patienter intervjuades och testades. Studien identifierade instrumentella barriärer som det främsta hindret, följt av attitydmässiga och stigmatiserande barriärer. Kvalitativ analys av intervjuerna avslöjade gemensamma teman som kan hindra tillgången till vård, t.ex. att inte lägga märke till de första symptomen på utbrändhet på grund av brist på tillgänglig information om diagnosen och inre press att göra andra besvikna. Interaktionerna med olika digitala människor tyder på en preferens för personer med liknande samtalsstil. Deltagare som identifierade sig som handlingsdrivna uppvisade en preferens för kompetens i sina interaktioner med digitala människor. De ansåg att välvilja kunde tillhandahållas av deras vänner och familj och belyste istället vikten av kompetens i digitalt mänskligt stöd. Sammantaget visade studien vikten av att förbättra visad kompetens i konversationer och främja en känsla av säkerhet för att bygga förtroende, särskilt för stigmatiserade patienter.

No / Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) are considered to be extracellular pathogens, inducing attaching and effacing lesions following their attachment to the surface of eukaryotic cells; however, in vitro and in vivo invasion by EPEC has been reported in several studies. A cloned 4.6 kb fragment of EPEC plasmid pLV501 has been shown to facilitate invasion of E. coli K-12, and here we further investigate the nature of this process. Two of the three complete open reading frames contained within the plasmid fragment have been cloned to E. coli, and in HEp-2 adherence assays both tniA2 and pecM were shown to be expressed during the first 3 h of infection from a plac promoter. Escherichia coli transformants carrying pecM alone or in combination with tniA2 were able to both survive intracellularly and escape eukaryotic cells to re-establish themselves within the medium, whereas those bacterial cells carrying tniA2 alone could not be isolated from within HEp-2 cells after 24 h of infection, but were present in the previously sterile medium surrounding the cells. Bacteria carrying pecM and tniA2 adhered to HEp-2 cells with sites of adhesion characterized by underlying actin polymerization. The invasive potential conferred by these genes may give EPEC strains a survival advantage during prolonged infection.

Denna studie har genomförts i syfte att öka kunskapen om psykosocial utvevckling hos barn med autismdiagnos i relation till aktiviteter med hästar. Studien är kvalitativ, baserad på fem intervjuer av föräldrar och det ingår fältobservationer. Intervjuerna har bearbetats enligt induktiv tematisk analys och redovisas under tre teman relaterade till barnens samspel med sin omvärld. Resultatet visar att aktiviteten med hästar inverkar positivt  på barnens vilja och förmåga att samspela och kommunicera med omvärlden. Färdigheterna visar sig i samspel med barn såväl som med vuxna, både inom familjen och i andra sammanhang. Studiens resultat visar överensstämmelse med tidigare forskning, samt att aktivitetens mångfassetterade innehåll och effekter synliggörs. Resultat som överraskar är erfarenheter av barnens annorlunda relation och kommunikation med hästar, samt iakttagelser av ridningens omedelbara effekter på barnen. Forskning föreslås ur ett familjeperspektiv där barnets röst lyfts fram, samt fortsatt forskning på ridningens fysiologiska effekter i relation till socialt interagerande. / This study has been conducted in order to increase knowledge about psychosocial development in children with autism diagnosis in relationship to activities with horses. The study is qualitative, based on five interviews with parents and includes field observations. The interviews have been processed according to inductive thematic analysis and are reported under three themes related to the childrens interaction with their environment. The result shows that the activity with horses has positive impact on the children's desire and ability to interact and communicate with the outside world. The skills manifests in interaction with children as well as with adults, both within the family and in other settings. The result of the study indicates conformity with previous research, and the event's multi-facetted content and effects are made visible. Surprising results are experiences of the children's different relationship and communication with horses, and observations of the immediate impact on the children when riding. Research from a family perspective highligtening the voice of the child is proposed, as well as further research on physiological effects of horseback riding in reltionship to social interacting.

MScEng / Thesis (MScEng (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Clinical gait analysis has been proven to greatly improve treatment planning and monitoring of patients suffering from neuromuscular disorders. Despite this fact, it was found that gait analysis is still largely underutilised in general patient-care due to limitations of gait measurement equipment. Inertial motion capture (IMC) is able to overcome many of these limitations, but this technology is relatively untested and is therefore viewed as adolescent. This study addresses this problem by evaluating the validity and repeatability of gait parameters measured with a commercially available, full-body IMC system by comparing the results to those obtained with alternative methods of motion capture. The IMC system’s results were compared to a trusted optical motion capture (OMC) system’s results to evaluate validity. The results show that the measurements for the hip and knee obtained with IMC compares well with those obtained using OMC – with coefficient-of-correlation (R) values as high as 0.99. Some discrepancies were identified in the ankle-joint validity results. These were attributed to differences between the two systems with regard to the definition of ankle joint and to non-ideal IMC system foot-sensor design. The repeatability, using the IMC system, was quantified using the coefficient of variance (CV), the coefficient of multiple determination (CMD) and the coefficient of multiple correlation (CMC). Results show that IMC-recorded gait patterns have high repeatability for within-day tests (CMD: 0.786-0.984; CMC: 0.881-0.992) and between-day tests (CMD: 0.771-0.991; CMC: 0.872-0.995). These results compare well with those from similar studies done using OMC and electromagnetic motion capture (EMC), especially when comparing between-day results. Finally, to evaluate the measurements from the IMC system in a clinically useful application, a neural network was employed to distinguish between gait strides of stroke patients and those of able-bodied controls. The network proved to be very successful with a repeatable accuracy of 99.4% (1/166 misclassified). The study concluded that the full-body IMC system produces sufficiently valid and repeatable gait data to be used in clinical gait analysis, but that further refinement of the ankle-joint definition and improvements to the foot sensor are required.

La present Tesi Doctoral aborda les relacions euromediterrànies, amb el focus en la “europeïtzació” dels seus sistemes jurídics, raó per la qual s'ha examinat un cas d'estudi, el Marroc. Aquest país representa “l’alumne exemplar” de la Unió, a causa de la seva constant demanda d'acostament al projecte europeu, i que fins i tot ha arribat a sol·licitar la seva adhesió. A més, la UE ha recolzat sense fissures les reformes internes que l'executiu marroquí ha introduït al llarg dels anys, i ha ofert la seva assistència tècnica i financera a tot moment. Quant als sectors objecte de recerca s'ha procurat, en primer lloc, que es tractessin de qüestions situades entre el mètode comunitari o europeu i l'intergovernamental. En segon lloc, que s'atribuís un principi bàsic europeu en aquest camp. En tercer i últim lloc, que s'hagués adoptat legislació marroquina, la qual cosa ens ha portat a examinar-la per trobar traces de Dret europeu en ella. Conforme a aquests requisits, s'han seleccionat tres sectors: la migració; l'Estat de Dret: la reforma de la justícia; i l'energia. Els criteris d'ordenació sistemàtica ens han portat a dividir la Tesi Doctoral en dues parts que contenen set capítols íntegrament. D'una banda, la part general dedicada a les relacionis euromediterrànies s'ha consagrat a detallar l'evolució jurídica d'aquest marc des de 1957 fins a l'actualitat. De l’altra, la part específica que aborda les relacionis euro-marroquines, segons la mateixa línia temporal, per centrar-se a posteriori en l'anàlisi de l'europeïtzació en els sectors seleccionats, una vegada s'ha establert el marc conceptual. / La presente Tesis Doctoral aborda las relaciones euromediterráneas enfocándose en la “europeización” de sus sistemas jurídicos, para lo cual se ha examinado un caso de estudio, Marruecos. Dicho país representa el “alumno ejemplar” de la Unión, debido a su constante demanda de acercamiento al proyecto europeo, llegando incluso a solicitar su adhesión. Además, la UE ha apoyado, sin fisuras, las reformas internas que el ejecutivo marroquí ha introducido a lo largo de los años, ofreciendo su asistencia técnica y financiera en todo momento. En cuanto a los sectores objeto de investigación se ha procurado, en primer lugar, que se tratasen de cuestiones situadas entre el método comunitario o europeo y el intergubernamental. En segundo lugar, que se atribuyese un principio básico europeo en dicho campo. En tercer y último lugar, que se hubiese adoptado legislación marroquí, lo que nos ha llevado a examinarla para hallar trazas de Derecho europeo en ella. Conforme a lo cual se han seleccionado tres sectores: la migración; el Estado de Derecho: la reforma de la Justicia; y la energía. Los criterios de ordenación sistemática nos han llevado a dividir la Tesis Doctoral en dos partes conteniendo siete capítulos en su totalidad. De un lado, la parte general dedicada a las relaciones euromediterráneas se ha consagrado a detallar la evolución jurídica de este marco desde 1957 hasta la actualidad. De otro, la parte específica ha abordado las relaciones euro-marroquíes, según la misma línea temporal, para a posteriori centrarse en el análisis de la “europeización” en los sectores seleccionados, una vez se ha establecido el marco conceptual. / This Doctoral Thesis addresses the Euro-Mediterranean relations focusing on the "Europeanisation" of their legal systems, by means of reviewing Morocco as a case study. This country represents the "model student" of the Union due to its constant demand to rapprochement with the European project; even applying for its joining as a membership. Furthermore, the EU has completely supported the internal reforms that the Moroccan government has introduced over the years, providing technical and financial assistance at all times. As for the researched sectors I have tried firstly to choose those dealing with the Community or the European and the intergovernmental methodology; secondly, that they work at least with one European basic principle in this field; and finally that some of the Moroccan laws had been adopted, allowing us to examine it to find traces of European law in it. According to these priorities three sectors has been selected: migration; rule of law regarding law reform; and the energy sector. The criteria for systematic management have led us to divide this Doctoral Thesis into two parts containing seven chapters in full. On one hand, the general part is devoted to Euro-Mediterranean relations and gives details of the legal evolution of this frame from 1957 on. On the other hand, the specific part addresses the Euro-Moroccan relations during the same period, for focusing a posteriori on the analysis of the “Europeanisa-tion” in the selected sectors, once the framework has been established.

Social networks have been essential throughout hominin evolution, facilitating cooperative childrearing, transmission of cultural knowledge and the sharing of information and resources. As hominins dispersed out of Africa, these networks needed to be maintained at progressively higher latitudes. The first part of this thesis explores the impact of latitude on brain organisation and the possible implications for social cognition. I hypothesise that the lower temperatures and light levels found at higher latitudes select for larger bodies and visual systems, which in turn necessitate larger somatic and visual brain areas. Using orbit size to index eye and visual cortex size, I demonstrate a robust positive relationship between absolute latitude and orbit volume in recent humans. I show that Neanderthals, who solely inhabited high latitudes, have significantly larger orbits than contemporary anatomically modern humans (AMH), who evolved in lower latitude Africa and had only relatively recently dispersed into higher latitudes. Since Neanderthals and AMH dated 27-75kya have almost identical endocranial volumes, I argue that if a greater proportion of the Neanderthal brain was required for somatic and visual processing, this would reduce the volume of neural tissue available for other functions. Since, according to the Social Brain Hypothesis, neocortex volume is positively associated with social complexity, I propose that Neanderthals might have been limited to smaller social networks than AMH. The second part of the thesis explores the challenge of maintaining social networks across greater geographic distances at higher latitudes, where high travelling costs seem to prevent whole tribes from bonding during periodic aggregations. Using a gas model I predict that at lower latitudes daily subsistence mobility allows sufficient encounters between subgroups for the tribe to maintain connectivity, whereas in (Sub)Arctic biomes additional mechanisms are required to facilitate tribal cohesion. This may explain the apparent ‘explosion’ of Upper Palaeolithic art in Europe: symbolic representations allowed social ties to be sustained in the absence of frequent face-to-face contact. Overall, this thesis demonstrates that latitude may influence both brain organisation and cultural expression and argues that both can have a substantial impact on the maintenance of hominin social networks at high latitudes.