Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

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ABSTRACT Heartwater, a tick-borne disease caused by Ehrlichia ruminantium, is considered to be a significant cause of mortality amongst domestic and wild ruminants in South Africa. The main vector is Amblyomma hebraeum and although previous epidemiological studies have outlined endemic areas based on mortalities, these have been limited by diagnostic methods which relied mainly on positive brain smears. The indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFA) has a low specificity for heartwater organisms as it cross-reacts with some other species. Since the advent of biotechnology and genomics, molecular epidemiology has evolved using the methodology of traditional epidemiology coupled with the new molecular techniques. A new quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) test has been developed for rapid and accurate diagnosis of heartwater in the live animal. This method can also be used to survey populations of A. hebraeum ticks for heartwater. Sampling whole blood and ticks for this qPCR differs from routine serumsampling, which is used for many serological tests. Veterinary field staff, particularly animal health technicians, are involved in surveillance and monitoring of controlled and other diseases of animals in South Africa. However, it was found that the sampling of whole blood was not done correctly, probably because it is a new sampling technique specific for new technology, where the heartwater organism is much more labile than the serumantibodies required for other tests. This qPCR technique is highly sensitive and can diagnose heartwater in the living animal within 2 hours, in time to treat it. Poor sampling techniques that decrease the sensitivity of the test will, however, result in a false negative diagnosis. This paper describes the development of a skills training programme for para-veterinary field staff, to facilitate research into the molecular epidemiology of heartwater in ruminants and eliminate any sampling bias due to collection errors. Humane handling techniques were also included in the training, in line with the current focus on improved livestock welfare.

From the 1820s an ever present feature of most British ports has been the voluntary societies, little- studied before, offering spiritual and social welfare support to serving seafarers. The perspective taken in this study is that although there were numerous individual societies voluntary effort for seafarers constitutes a single movement. The continued existence of many societies well into the twentieth century suggests that the movement should be examined longitudinally in order to assess its contribution in relation to the changing context in which such welfare operated. To establish the internal operations of seamen's missions and. sailors' homes. the records of a selprtirnn nflarge and small societies quantifiable data as well as Particular attention has been target population - seafarers using contemporary sources; using public records, and to changing religious context has that of of social policy, a welfare state. have been examined for other forms of evidence. paid to the nature of the - and the situation in port, to involvement of the State the industrial context. The been examined closely, as has s it progressed towards the The study reveals the considerable voluntary effort which contributed to the movement, confirming the wide coverage of British ports which was achieved and the extent to which it was able to match the growing numbers of seafarers. The product of evangelical interest in the well-being of others, there was particular concern for rescuing the seafarer from the evils of port districts, especially crimping. Though to many seafarers. marginal in religious terms, seafarers' charities were more significant in social terms as the sole providers of social support throughout much of the period of this study. Although some local societies survived to the 1970s, by the 1890s the movement had changed from a mass of local societies to domination by the branch networks of a few national societies. Apart from control of seafaring employment, State intervention was not significant in seafaring welfare except in the 1940s, while the role of the shipping industry was small. The decline of the movement in Britain was linked with the effects of inflation, changing patterns of seafaring and the decline of the British shipping industry. In the broader religious and social welfare contexts, seamen's missions and homes were typical products of the nineteenth century and in their evolution to 1970 paralleled closely developments in religion and social welfare in Britain.

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In recent decades civilized society in the general line of welfare included low rent housing. Public housing is one of the social actions necessary for the attainment of material requisites of well-being because individual actions in the ordinary business of life will not satisfy the needs of men in this direction. Although some strides have been made along these lines, our nation-wide housing predicament is still among the domestic problems most in need of our immediate attention. We must face the fact that our metropolitan areas, in which more than 90 percent of our population will soon be living, are today in an acutely dangerous financial position. The exodus from our urban centers of the upper middle-income class and professional groups has resulted in a loss, for the cities, of taxable income. The urban movement of great numbers of large-sized, low-income families has, at the same time, resulted in the social as well as the economic cost of overcrowding, undermaintenance and inadequate city services. These long-term population trends pose financial problems to city and suburban areas. We have made only minor efforts to solve them. The solution of our difficulties seems more remote when one considers that the annual subsidy to potato growers alone is larger than all federal contributions to urban renewal. It may cost the federal government five billion dollars a year for the next ten years to support a nation-wide program for developing and renewing our cities, towns and suburbs. If so, this will amount to less than 7 percent of the total budget. It will be no more than the cost of current aids and subsidies to agriculture which benefit directly one-tenth of our population. Today, four-fifths of all American families live in cities or in the suburbs which surround them. By 1975, our growing population will sweep approximately fifty-five million additional people into metropolitan areas. Fifty million of these people will be compelled by economic circumstances to accept the then existing and decaying areas, vacated by those of more adequate means, thus perpetuating the dilemma of the slums of tomorrow.1 1The Advisory Council of the Democratic National Committee, The State of Our Cities and Suburbs in a Changing America (Washington, D.C., 1960), p. 3.

This study examines the extent to which the educational component of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act impacted African-American TANF recipients' access to postsecondary education in Jackson, Mississippi in 2011. This study was based on the premise that policies within the legislation restrict opportunities for welfare recipients to pursue postsecondary education as a pathway to self-sufficiency. For welfare recipients who often believe that college is inaccessible due to financial means, access is especially important for them. Participants in this study were thirty-two African-American women receiving TANF benefits from the State of Mississippi who were either enrolled in a college program or participated in the job readiness training supported by the Mississippi Department of Human Services. A qualitative research methodology was used to analyze the data. The data revealed that there is total consensus among the participants on the importance of postsecondaryeducation as a measure of future economic well-being for themselves and their families. Findings specifically revealed that many of the participants strongly believe that policies associated with welfare reform have prevented or denied them full access to education and that some of the policies should be changed. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that the 1996 Welfare Act impacted access to postsecondary education for TANF recipients in Jackson, Mississippi to some degree; and that after 15 years of stagnated welfare reform policies, specifically policies associated with work requirements, TANF recipients in Mississippi are longing for better educational opportunities that will allow them to enjoy a self-sustaining lifestyle.