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Nature uses inorganic elements for biological processes based on the useful chemistry, abundance, and availability of each metal. Transition metals are critical in the biogeochemical cycling of essential elements and the bioinorganic chemistry of organisms. Hydrolysis-prone metals such as iron and titanium are abundant on Earth but are mostly insoluble in oxic aqueous environments. Nearly every organism requires iron for survival, therefore Nature evolved to stabilize iron from hydrolysis and hydrolytic precipitation through protein and small molecule mechanisms. Like iron, titanium primarily exists as insoluble mineral oxides and is second only to iron as the most abundant transition metal in the Earth’s crust. Despite the reputation as an inert and insoluble metal, titanium can be solubilized and made bioavailable through by chemical and biological weathering. Currently there is no known native role for titanium, however it is quite bioactive. As a stronger Lewis acid, titanium can compete with iron in binding to biomolecules and proteins. It is of interest to investigate the interactions between hydrolysis-prone metals and biological systems, from whole cell organisms to proteins and small molecules. The non-pathogenic bacterium Rhodococcus ruber GIN-1 was isolated for its ability to strongly adhere to titanium dioxide (TiO2) over other metal oxides, providing an opportunity to study the interactions between whole bacterial cells and metal oxides. The GIN-1 strain incorporates Ti(IV) ions into its biomass after adherence to anatase, rutile, and a mixture of the two morphologies. Six metals were quantitated in TiO2-exposed and control (unexposed) cells by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. The exposure to TiO2 caused a significant uptake of titanium with concomitant loss of iron, zinc, and possibly manganese. A collaborative project with the Strongin laboratory at Temple University works to develop stable, biomaterial photocatalysts for environment remediation of toxic inorganic contaminants. Ferritins are a class of proteins that mineralizes and stores iron as a non- toxic ferrihydrite nanoparticle. These proteins can be photoactivated with ultraviolet light to release iron from its core to remediate environmental contaminants. Ferritin can be sensitized with plasmonic gold nanoparticles to extend the photoactivity of the catalyst to the visible spectrum. Work in this thesis highlights the contribution to this collaboration from the Valentine laboratory, included the expression and purification of proteins in E. coli (human H-chain ferritin, human L-chain ferritin, and bacterial DNA protection from starved cells protein), mutation of proteins to improve sensitization of catalyst, and biomineralization with iron and titanium. The trafficking of hydrolysis prone metals is vital for the survival of nearly every organism. Iron transport proteins such as transferrins are studied to understand how nature utilizes a difficult essential metal across the domains of life. Most transferrins have two homologous lobes and are believed to have evolved from a gene duplication of a monolobal transferrin. The ascidian Ciona intestinalis has genes for both a bilobal and monolobal transferrin. Nicatransferrin (nicaTf), the monolobal transferrin from C. intestinalis, is a primitive protein that may provide insight on the evolution of transferrins in higher organisms. It is advantageous to use E. coli expression systems to produce recombinant proteins, however protein misfolding and aggregation can be a concern. To improve expression of nicaTf in E. coli, codon optimization and disulfide bonded protein expression were used. Finally, siderophores are small, high affinity iron-chelating molecules secreted from lower organisms that scavenge iron in iron-limiting conditions. R. ruber GIN-1 and R. ruber DSM 43338 strains both secrete siderophores in artificial seawater media. There are several siderophores identified from Rhodococcus species, however none have been reported from any R. ruber strain. A new siderophore was isolated and preliminary work has been done to purify and characterize the molecule. Understanding the siderophore- metal ion interactions may help elucidate the mechanism of how R. ruber cells obtain titanium from the metal-oxide particles. / Chemistry

Background: HIV drug resistance is presumed to be inevitable due to the error-prone nature of the virus. However, poor adherence to the antiretroviral drugs is proven to be an impending factor for HIV drug resistance development. Of these two explanations, which is the most common reason for HIV drug resistance?Method: A total of 40 published studies about HIV drug resistance, were retrospectively collected in Pubmed (May 2017), from 36 different countries for this paper. From each study was participants, percentage of HIV drug resistance and HIV-1 subtype extracted for analysis. All studies were than classified by either high-income, middle-income or low-income, based on a country income status, defined by the World Bank. HIV drug resistance was tested against: continents, HIV-1 subtypes, number of study participants, income levels, GDP per capita and EWI’s. All statistical analysis was performed in R: The R project for statistical computing.Result: This paper show, that HIV drug resistance primarily is caused by poor adherence which is closely associated with drug stock out. Highest HIV drug resistance levels was found in middle-income countries. However, number of participants enrolled per study was important for the outcome and this indicates that HIV drug resistance would be higher in low-income countries if larger studied had been carried out in these settings. This means that there is a large unrecorded prevalence of HIV drug resistance in low-income countries.

abstract: With tremendous increase in the popularity of networked multimedia applications, video data is expected to account for a large portion of the traffic on the Internet and more importantly next-generation wireless systems. To be able to satisfy a broad range of customers requirements, two major problems need to be solved. The first problem is the need for a scalable representation of the input video. The recently developed scalable extension of the state-of-the art H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video coding standard, also known as H.264/SVC (Scalable Video Coding) provides a solution to this problem. The second problem is that wireless transmission medium typically introduce errors in the bit stream due to noise, congestion and fading on the channel. Protection against these channel impairments can be realized by the use of forward error correcting (FEC) codes. In this research study, the performance of scalable video coding in the presence of bit errors is studied. The encoded video is channel coded using Reed Solomon codes to provide acceptable performance in the presence of channel impairments. In the scalable bit stream, some parts of the bit stream are more important than other parts. Parity bytes are assigned to the video packets based on their importance in unequal error protection scheme. In equal error protection scheme, parity bytes are assigned based on the length of the message. A quantitative comparison of the two schemes, along with the case where no channel coding is employed is performed. H.264 SVC single layer video streams for long video sequences of different genres is considered in this study which serves as a means of effective video characterization. JSVM reference software, in its current version, does not support decoding of erroneous bit streams. A framework to obtain H.264 SVC compatible bit stream is modeled in this study. It is concluded that assigning of parity bytes based on the distribution of data for different types of frames provides optimum performance. Application of error protection to the bit stream enhances the quality of the decoded video with minimal overhead added to the bit stream. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Electrical Engineering 2011

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / O sobrepeso induzido por uma dieta rica em gordura atrasa a cicatrização através do prolongamento da fase inflamatória, entretanto, quando recebem uma dieta obesogênica, alguns ratos são suscetíveis a desenvolver sobrepeso, enquanto outros são resistentes. Drogas anti-inflamatórias não-esteróides são frequentemente utilizadas para reduzir a inflamação. Este estudo investigou a cicatrização cutânea em ratos propensos a obesidade induzida por dieta (DIO) e em ratos resistentes a dieta (DR) e avaliou a participação da administração do celecoxibe na cicatrização cutânea destes animais. Ratos machos foram alimentados com uma dieta padrão (Controle, C) ou com uma dieta rica em gordura saturada (30%). Após 19 semanas, o grupo experimental foi subdividido nos grupos DIO e DR. Uma lesão excisional foi feita e os animais foram mortos 7 ou 14 dias depois. Os grupos tratados receberam uma dose diária de 5 ou 10 mg/kg/dia de celecoxibe a partir de dois dias antes da lesão até 7 dias após a lesão, quando foram mortos. O peso corporal foi maior no grupo DIO comparado aos grupos C e DR. A gordura retroperitoneal foi maior no grupo DIO do que nos grupos C e DR e foi maior no grupo DR do que no grupo C. O tratamento com o celecoxibe não alterou o maior peso corporal apresentado pelo grupo DIO ou a maior porcentagem de gordura retroperitoneal apresentada pelos grupos DIO e DR. Todos os grupos tratados com celecoxibe 10 mg apresentaram atraso na cicatrização e não foram mais analisados. O grupo DIO apresentou intolerância a glicose, e ambos os grupos DIO e DR apresentaram atraso na contração e na reepitelização da lesão. O tratamento com celecoxibe 5 mg reverteu a intolerância a glicose no grupo DIO e a contração atrasada nos grupos DIO e DR. Comparado ao grupo DR, o grupo DIO apresentou maior quantidade de células inflamatórias, assim como maiores níveis de peroxidação lipídica. O tratamento com celecoxib (5 mg) não reduziu o número de PMN, mas reduziu o número de mastócitos no grupo DIO, o número de macrófagos e a peroxidação lipídica em ambos os grupos. A diferenciação miofibroblástica e o remodelamento dos vasos foram atrasados em ambos os grupos DIO e DR. O tratamento com celecoxibe 5 mg aumentou a diferenciação miofibroblástica, mas não alterou os vasos sanguíneos. A quantidade de hidroxiprolina foi semelhante nos grupos DIO e DR. O tratamento com celecoxibe 5 mg aumentou a quantidade de hidroxiprolina em todos os grupos. A quantidade de nitrito foi menor no grupo do que no grupo DR. A expressão de TNF-α foi aumentada no grupo DIO comparada ao grupo DR. Nossos resultados mostraram que os ratos DIO assim como os ratos DR apresentam retardo na cicatrização cutânea devido principalmente a intensa inflamação, e a baixa dose de celecoxibe acelerou o reparo cutâneo nestas condições. / Overweight induced by high-fat diet delays wound healing through elongation of inflammatory phase, however, when receiving an obesogenic diet, some rats are susceptible to eveloping the overweight phenotype, whereas others are resistant. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs are frequently used to reduce the inflammation. This study investigated cutaneous wound healing in diet-induced obesity (DIO)-prone and diet-resistant (DR) rats and evaluated the contribution of celecoxib administration on cutaneous wound healing of these animals. Male rats were fed with a standard (Control, C) or high-saturated fat (30%) diet. After 19 weeks, experimental group was subdivided into DIO and DR groups. An excisional lesion was made and the animals were killed 7 or 14 days later. Treated groups received a daily dose of celecoxib 5 or 10 mg/kg/day from two days before wounding until 7 days after wounding when were killer. The body weight was higher in the DIO group compared to the C and DR groups. Retroperitoneal fat was higher in the DIO group than in the C and DR groups and was higher in the DR group than in the C group. Celecoxib-treatment did not alter the higher body weight presented by DIO group or higher retroperitoneal fat percentage displayed by DIO and DR groups. All groups treated with celecoxib 10 mg showed delayed wound healing, and werent further analysed. The DIO group presented glucose intolerance, and both the DIO and DR groups presented delayed wound contraction and re-epithelialisation. The celecoxib 5 mg-treatment reversed the glucose intolerance in the DIO group and the delayed contraction in the DIO and DR groups. Compared to the DR group, the DIO group displayed higher amounts of inflammatory cells as well as higher levels of lipid peroxidation. Celecoxib-treatment (5 mg) did not reduce the number of PMN, but reduce mast cells number in DIO group and macrophages number and lipid peroxidation in both groups. Myofibroblastic differentiation and vessel remodeling were delayed in both the DIO and DR groups. The celecoxib 5 mg-treatment increased the myofibroblastic differentiation, but did not alter the blood vessels. Hydroxyproline levels were similar in the DIO and DR groups. The celecoxib 5 mg-treatment increased the hydroxyproline levels in all groups. Nitrite levels were lower in the DIO group than in the DR group. TNF-α expression was increased in the DIO group compared to the DR group. Our results showed that DIO as well as DR rats present delays in cutaneous wound healing due mainly to intense inflammation, and a lowdose of celecoxib accelerates cutaneous repair in these conditions.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-13T14:50:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014-02-25Bitstream added on 2014-08-13T17:59:51Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000771322.pdf: 795316 bytes, checksum: e03e738556583e78c68280d321cd6c8e (MD5) / Fundamentação/Objetivos: A Síndrome do Desconforto Respiratório Agudo (SDRA) cursa com altos índices de mortalidade apesar do melhor entendimento de sua fisiopatologia e avanços no tratamento. Existem várias terapias adjuvantes à ventilação mecânica (VM), dentre as quais se destaca a posição prona, que possibilita homogeneização da distribuição do volume corrente (VC) e promove recrutamento alveolar, e o óxido nítrico inalatório (NOi) que promove vasodilatação pulmonar seletiva direcionando o fluxo sanguíneo de áreas mal ventiladas para áreas bem ventiladas e com perfusão diminuída, otimizando a relação ventilação/perfusão e melhorando a oxigenação, com diminuição da resistência vascular pulmonar. Pela melhora da relação ventilação/perfusão, o gás pode permitir o emprego de VM menos agressiva, que, por sua vez, pode diminuir o risco de lesão pulmonar induzida pela VM e a morbidade. Objetivo: comparar os efeitos da posição prona com os do NOi sobre a oxigenação, mecânica respiratória, lesão histopatológica e inflamatória em modelo experimental de lesão pulmonar aguda (LPA). Métodos: Cinquenta coelhos foram instrumentados com traqueostomia e acessos vasculares e ventilados mecanicamente. A LPA foi induzida por infusão traqueal de salina aquecida (30mL/Kg, 38°C). Os coelhos foram submetidos à VMC protetora e distribuídos em quatro grupos: 1) animais com LPA em VMC protetora em posição supina (GVMS; n=15); 2) animais com LPA em VMC protetora + posição prona (GVMP; n=15); 3) animais com LPA em VMC protetora + NOi em posição supina (GVNO; n=15) e 4) animais sem lesão pulmonar submetidos à VMC protetora (sadio – GS; n=5). Os desfechos foram: oxigenação, avaliada pela relação PaO2/FiO2 e índice de oxigenação (IO); inflamação pulmonar, avaliada pela porcentagem de polimorfonucleares (PMN) no lavado broncoalveolar (BAL) e pelo nível de TNF-alfa medido no BAL e lesão ... / Background/Objectives: The Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is associated with high mortality rate despite better understanding of its pathophysiology and treatment advances. There are several adjuvant therapies that can be associated to mechanical ventilation (MV), among which stands out the prone position, which allows homogeneous tidal volume (VT) distribution and promotes alveolar recruitment; and inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) which promotes selective pulmonary vasodilation directing blood flow from areas poorly ventilated to well-ventilated areas and decreased perfusion, optimizing the ventilation/perfusion ratio and improving oxygenation with reduced pulmonary vascular resistance. Improved ventilation/perfusion ratio, allows the use of lesser aggressive mechanical ventilation (MV) treatment, which reduces the risk of lung injury induced by MV and morbidity. Objective: To compare the effects of prone position with iNO on oxygenation, respiratory mechanics, inflammatory and histological injury in an experimental model of acute lung injury (ALI). Methods: Fifty rabbits were instrumented with tracheotomy and vascular access and mechanically ventilated. ALI was induced by tracheal infusion of warm saline (30mL/kg, 38°C). Rabbits underwent protective conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) were divided in four groups: 1) Animals with ALI in protective CMV + supine position (GVMS, n=15), 2) animals with ALI in protective CMV + prone position (GVMP, n=15) and 3) animals with ALI in protective CMV + iNO in supine position (GVNO, n=15). Additionally, there were five animals without lung injury submitted to protective CMV (Healthy group - GS, n=5). The outcomes were oxygenation, measured by PaO2/FiO2 ratio and oxygenation index (OI), lung inflammation assessed by the percentage of polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and TNF-alpha measured in BAL, and histological pulmonary injury determined by a injury ...

Orientador: José Roberto Fioretto / Banca: Marcelo Barciela Brandão / Banca: Marcos Aurélio de Moraes / Resumo: Fundamentação/Objetivos: A Síndrome do Desconforto Respiratório Agudo (SDRA) cursa com altos índices de mortalidade apesar do melhor entendimento de sua fisiopatologia e avanços no tratamento. Existem várias terapias adjuvantes à ventilação mecânica (VM), dentre as quais se destaca a posição prona, que possibilita homogeneização da distribuição do volume corrente (VC) e promove recrutamento alveolar, e o óxido nítrico inalatório (NOi) que promove vasodilatação pulmonar seletiva direcionando o fluxo sanguíneo de áreas mal ventiladas para áreas bem ventiladas e com perfusão diminuída, otimizando a relação ventilação/perfusão e melhorando a oxigenação, com diminuição da resistência vascular pulmonar. Pela melhora da relação ventilação/perfusão, o gás pode permitir o emprego de VM menos agressiva, que, por sua vez, pode diminuir o risco de lesão pulmonar induzida pela VM e a morbidade. Objetivo: comparar os efeitos da posição prona com os do NOi sobre a oxigenação, mecânica respiratória, lesão histopatológica e inflamatória em modelo experimental de lesão pulmonar aguda (LPA). Métodos: Cinquenta coelhos foram instrumentados com traqueostomia e acessos vasculares e ventilados mecanicamente. A LPA foi induzida por infusão traqueal de salina aquecida (30mL/Kg, 38°C). Os coelhos foram submetidos à VMC protetora e distribuídos em quatro grupos: 1) animais com LPA em VMC protetora em posição supina (GVMS; n=15); 2) animais com LPA em VMC protetora + posição prona (GVMP; n=15); 3) animais com LPA em VMC protetora + NOi em posição supina (GVNO; n=15) e 4) animais sem lesão pulmonar submetidos à VMC protetora (sadio - GS; n=5). Os desfechos foram: oxigenação, avaliada pela relação PaO2/FiO2 e índice de oxigenação (IO); inflamação pulmonar, avaliada pela porcentagem de polimorfonucleares (PMN) no lavado broncoalveolar (BAL) e pelo nível de TNF-alfa medido no BAL e lesão... / Abstract: Background/Objectives: The Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is associated with high mortality rate despite better understanding of its pathophysiology and treatment advances. There are several adjuvant therapies that can be associated to mechanical ventilation (MV), among which stands out the prone position, which allows homogeneous tidal volume (VT) distribution and promotes alveolar recruitment; and inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) which promotes selective pulmonary vasodilation directing blood flow from areas poorly ventilated to well-ventilated areas and decreased perfusion, optimizing the ventilation/perfusion ratio and improving oxygenation with reduced pulmonary vascular resistance. Improved ventilation/perfusion ratio, allows the use of lesser aggressive mechanical ventilation (MV) treatment, which reduces the risk of lung injury induced by MV and morbidity. Objective: To compare the effects of prone position with iNO on oxygenation, respiratory mechanics, inflammatory and histological injury in an experimental model of acute lung injury (ALI). Methods: Fifty rabbits were instrumented with tracheotomy and vascular access and mechanically ventilated. ALI was induced by tracheal infusion of warm saline (30mL/kg, 38°C). Rabbits underwent protective conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) were divided in four groups: 1) Animals with ALI in protective CMV + supine position (GVMS, n=15), 2) animals with ALI in protective CMV + prone position (GVMP, n=15) and 3) animals with ALI in protective CMV + iNO in supine position (GVNO, n=15). Additionally, there were five animals without lung injury submitted to protective CMV (Healthy group - GS, n=5). The outcomes were oxygenation, measured by PaO2/FiO2 ratio and oxygenation index (OI), lung inflammation assessed by the percentage of polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and TNF-alpha measured in BAL, and histological pulmonary injury determined by a injury ... / Mestre

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / O sobrepeso induzido por uma dieta rica em gordura atrasa a cicatrização através do prolongamento da fase inflamatória, entretanto, quando recebem uma dieta obesogênica, alguns ratos são suscetíveis a desenvolver sobrepeso, enquanto outros são resistentes. Drogas anti-inflamatórias não-esteróides são frequentemente utilizadas para reduzir a inflamação. Este estudo investigou a cicatrização cutânea em ratos propensos a obesidade induzida por dieta (DIO) e em ratos resistentes a dieta (DR) e avaliou a participação da administração do celecoxibe na cicatrização cutânea destes animais. Ratos machos foram alimentados com uma dieta padrão (Controle, C) ou com uma dieta rica em gordura saturada (30%). Após 19 semanas, o grupo experimental foi subdividido nos grupos DIO e DR. Uma lesão excisional foi feita e os animais foram mortos 7 ou 14 dias depois. Os grupos tratados receberam uma dose diária de 5 ou 10 mg/kg/dia de celecoxibe a partir de dois dias antes da lesão até 7 dias após a lesão, quando foram mortos. O peso corporal foi maior no grupo DIO comparado aos grupos C e DR. A gordura retroperitoneal foi maior no grupo DIO do que nos grupos C e DR e foi maior no grupo DR do que no grupo C. O tratamento com o celecoxibe não alterou o maior peso corporal apresentado pelo grupo DIO ou a maior porcentagem de gordura retroperitoneal apresentada pelos grupos DIO e DR. Todos os grupos tratados com celecoxibe 10 mg apresentaram atraso na cicatrização e não foram mais analisados. O grupo DIO apresentou intolerância a glicose, e ambos os grupos DIO e DR apresentaram atraso na contração e na reepitelização da lesão. O tratamento com celecoxibe 5 mg reverteu a intolerância a glicose no grupo DIO e a contração atrasada nos grupos DIO e DR. Comparado ao grupo DR, o grupo DIO apresentou maior quantidade de células inflamatórias, assim como maiores níveis de peroxidação lipídica. O tratamento com celecoxib (5 mg) não reduziu o número de PMN, mas reduziu o número de mastócitos no grupo DIO, o número de macrófagos e a peroxidação lipídica em ambos os grupos. A diferenciação miofibroblástica e o remodelamento dos vasos foram atrasados em ambos os grupos DIO e DR. O tratamento com celecoxibe 5 mg aumentou a diferenciação miofibroblástica, mas não alterou os vasos sanguíneos. A quantidade de hidroxiprolina foi semelhante nos grupos DIO e DR. O tratamento com celecoxibe 5 mg aumentou a quantidade de hidroxiprolina em todos os grupos. A quantidade de nitrito foi menor no grupo do que no grupo DR. A expressão de TNF-α foi aumentada no grupo DIO comparada ao grupo DR. Nossos resultados mostraram que os ratos DIO assim como os ratos DR apresentam retardo na cicatrização cutânea devido principalmente a intensa inflamação, e a baixa dose de celecoxibe acelerou o reparo cutâneo nestas condições. / Overweight induced by high-fat diet delays wound healing through elongation of inflammatory phase, however, when receiving an obesogenic diet, some rats are susceptible to eveloping the overweight phenotype, whereas others are resistant. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs are frequently used to reduce the inflammation. This study investigated cutaneous wound healing in diet-induced obesity (DIO)-prone and diet-resistant (DR) rats and evaluated the contribution of celecoxib administration on cutaneous wound healing of these animals. Male rats were fed with a standard (Control, C) or high-saturated fat (30%) diet. After 19 weeks, experimental group was subdivided into DIO and DR groups. An excisional lesion was made and the animals were killed 7 or 14 days later. Treated groups received a daily dose of celecoxib 5 or 10 mg/kg/day from two days before wounding until 7 days after wounding when were killer. The body weight was higher in the DIO group compared to the C and DR groups. Retroperitoneal fat was higher in the DIO group than in the C and DR groups and was higher in the DR group than in the C group. Celecoxib-treatment did not alter the higher body weight presented by DIO group or higher retroperitoneal fat percentage displayed by DIO and DR groups. All groups treated with celecoxib 10 mg showed delayed wound healing, and werent further analysed. The DIO group presented glucose intolerance, and both the DIO and DR groups presented delayed wound contraction and re-epithelialisation. The celecoxib 5 mg-treatment reversed the glucose intolerance in the DIO group and the delayed contraction in the DIO and DR groups. Compared to the DR group, the DIO group displayed higher amounts of inflammatory cells as well as higher levels of lipid peroxidation. Celecoxib-treatment (5 mg) did not reduce the number of PMN, but reduce mast cells number in DIO group and macrophages number and lipid peroxidation in both groups. Myofibroblastic differentiation and vessel remodeling were delayed in both the DIO and DR groups. The celecoxib 5 mg-treatment increased the myofibroblastic differentiation, but did not alter the blood vessels. Hydroxyproline levels were similar in the DIO and DR groups. The celecoxib 5 mg-treatment increased the hydroxyproline levels in all groups. Nitrite levels were lower in the DIO group than in the DR group. TNF-α expression was increased in the DIO group compared to the DR group. Our results showed that DIO as well as DR rats present delays in cutaneous wound healing due mainly to intense inflammation, and a lowdose of celecoxib accelerates cutaneous repair in these conditions.

Conflict is a complex phenomenon and a major part of sustainability challenges and therefore requires holistic approach for its prevention. This thesis argues that integrating Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) at the structural level of conflict prevention can provide long term solutions to conflict escalation around the world. SSD provides a holistic approach for addressing the sustainability challenges and complexity of conflict prevention. Sustainability issues (social and ecological) were identified to be at the heart of many conflicts. Both the social (human needs) and ecological (environmental) dimensions are always violated in each conflict. The mechanisms for these violations are embedded in the structures (Political, Economic, Social and environmental) and institutional arrangements that are inherent in conflict-prone societies. Addressing these structural factors has potentials to provide long term solutions to conflict escalation. The connections between conflict and sustainability might not always be easily seen. Using the FSSD as an analytical tool in conjunction with other conflict analysis tools has greater capacity to bring to limelight previously unrecognized risk factors of conflict escalation while at the same time revealing known factors as sustainability challenges. The thesis described the links between conflict,structural conflict prevention, sustainability and Strategic Sustainable Development. Keywords: Conflict, Conflict Prevention, Conflict prone-societies, Structural Prevention, Sustainability, and Strategic Sustainable Development. / <p>+46767485159</p>

Mycolic acids are long chain lipids from the cell walls of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The Nkuku phage display library was previously used to obtain monoclonal antibody binders to mycolic acids. In total 11 binders were obtained of which one was selected (MAC10) for further investigation by genetic engineering as presented in this dissertation. The antibodies of the Nkuku phage display library are in the format of single chain variable fragments (scFv). ScFv’s constitute only the epitope binding domains of an antibody consisting of the VH and VL domains fused into a single chain by a flexible linker protein. The selected anti-mycolic acid scFv is referred to as mycolic acid clone 10 (MAC10). Genes encoding the scFv’s of the Nkuku phage display library were cloned into the plasmid pHEN-1, a phage display vector. This vector is not commercially available or ideally suited for expression of scFv proteins. Therefore two vectors were investigated as possible targets for subcloning. The plasmids pGE20 and pAK400 were previously used for the expression of scFv antibody proteins. Subcloning into plasmid pAK400 proved to be the more efficient of the two investigated for subcloning. This subcloning yielded the recombinant plasmid pAKJS. Following the subcloning scFv protein expression was attempted using the plasmids pMAC10 (derived from pHEN-1) and pAKJS (derived from pAK400). Expression of MAC10 using plasmid pMAC10 in both Escherichia coli TG-1 and HB2151 was constitutive. This demonstrates that plasmid pHEN-1 is a non ideal vector as expression should not occur unless induced. Expression of MAC10 did not occur when pAKJS and Escherichia coli HB2151 were used. This was due to both the vector and expression host producing inhibitor protein for the Lac Z promoter controlling expression of the scFv. The MAC10 gene was subsequently randomized using the directed evolution method, error prone PCR. Sequence analysis of the five selected mutants indicated an average mutation rate of 8.6 mutations per 1000 base pairs. From the combined total of all five mutants, transversions made up the majority of substitutions. The majority of transversion mutations occurred at A-T base pairs. Transition substation mutations that made up the minority of total mutations occurred mostly at G-C base pairs. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Biochemistry / unrestricted