Differential regulation of monocyte cytokine release by αV and β2 integrins that bind CD23:
- Authors: Edkins, Adrienne L , Borland, Gillian , Acharya, Mridu , Cogdell, Richard , Ozanne, Bradford W , Cushley, William
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/165153 , vital:41213 , DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2012.03576.x
- Description: The human soluble CD23 (sCD23) protein displays highly pleiotropic cytokine‐like activity. Monocytic cells express the sCD23‐binding integrins αVβ3, αVβ5, αMβ2 and αXβ2, but it is unclear which of these four integrins most acutely regulates sCD23‐driven cytokine release. The hypothesis that ligation of different sCD23‐binding integrins promoted release of distinct subsets of cytokines was tested. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and sCD23 promoted release of distinct groups of cytokines from the THP‐1 model cell line.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Dragging young people down the drain: the mobile phone, gossip mobile website Outoilet and the creation of a mobile ghetto
- Authors: Schoon, Alette
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147858 , vital:38679 , DOI: 10.1080/02560046.2012.744723
- Description: This qualitative study uses the domestication model to describe how a geographically based gossip mobile website, Outoilet (old toilet), helped to shape the meanings of everyday life for young adults in Hooggenoeg, a poor black low-income urban settlement in Grahamstown, South Africa. All the residents here know one another and there is very little privacy, and the mobile phone, during the period of this research, reinforced the lack of privacy through gossip. Such gossip promoted an inward-looking collective sociability. As this article demonstrates, subjects of gossip avoided the streets to escape collective surveillance. Outoilet's explicit sexual language seemed to target those who attempted social mobility by replicating local discourses of respectability and shame. Contrary to findings from other contexts, the mobile phone here thus promoted a collective sociability and may have discouraged mobility as well as economic development.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Electrocatalytic behavior of cobalt phthalocyanine complexes immobilized on glassy carbon electrode towards the reduction of dicrotophos pesticide
- Authors: Vilakazi, Sibulelo , Nyokong, Tebello , Fukuda, Takamitsu , Kobayashi, Nagao
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/245832 , vital:51409 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S1088424612501040"
- Description: Electrocatalytic properties of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc), cobalt tetra-carboxy phthalocyanine (CoTCPc) and cobalt octa-carboxy (CoOCPc), towards the detection of dicrotophos have been studied. Catalytic behavior towards the reduction of dicrotophos was found to be dependent on the pH, as well as the substitution on the phthalocyanine ring. Strong electron withdrawing groups on the phthalocyanine ring yielded best catalysis as evidenced by the enhancement of the reduction peak current, (~5 fold) compared to the bare glassy carbon electrode. The analysis gave a good detection limit of 1.25 × 10-7 M, and good linearity for the studied concentration range. A high Tafel slope value was obtained, indicating a strong interaction between dicrotophos and the cobalt phthalocyanine complex.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Electrospun polyacrylic acid polymer fibers functionalized with metallophthalocyanines for photosensitizing and gas sensing applications
- Authors: Zugle, Ruphino , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/243543 , vital:51162 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10601325.2012.662006"
- Description: The photophysical and photochemical properties of tetraaminophthalocyanine complexes of lutetium and zinc covalently linked to polyacrylic acid were studied alongside those of unsubstituted zinc phthalocyanine within the same polymeric fiber matrix. All three phthalocyanines within the solid fiber matrices showed photoactivity by the generation of singlet oxygen as was observed in solution. The fluorescence behaviors of the composite fibers equally parallel those in solution. For the unsubstituted zinc phthalocyanine composite, the fiber showed fluorescence quenching on interaction with gaseous nitrogen dioxide similar to that in DMF and, thus could be a promising nanofabric material in developing optoelectronic devices that are responsive to the gas.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Embrace! Invest! Flourish!: Africa rising
- Authors: Malila, Vanessa
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159539 , vital:40306 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC134110
- Description: Currently the trend across Africa within the media landscape is growth - compared with its European and American counterparts who are feeling the full weight of the current financial crisis which has seen many newspapers downsize, cut jobs and suffer massive cost cutting strategies.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Exploring relationship between value-and life-orientation and job satisfaction:
- Authors: Louw, Lynette , Mayer, Claude-Hélène , Baxter, Jeremy
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142782 , vital:38116 , DOI: 10.4102/ac.v12i1.131
- Description: The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between value- and life-orientation and job satisfaction, as well as determining the influence of gender, age and cultural group within the selected South African organisational context.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Facile deposition of gold nanoparticle thin films on semi-permeable cellulose substrate
- Authors: Sosibo, Ndabenhle , Mdluli, Phumlani , Mashazi, Philani N , Tshikhudo, Robert , Skepu, Amanda , Vilakazi, Sibulelo , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/242638 , vital:51063 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2012.08.043"
- Description: This study reports the facile method for the deposition of gold nanoparticle thin film onto a monoporous semi-permeable cellulose membrane through the diffusion of borohydride ions leading to the reduction of AuCl4− ions. The synthesis of gold nanoparticle thin film was deposited on one side of the membrane that was exposed to AuCl4− ions while the other side containing a reducing agent remained clear. The gold nanoparticle thin film exhibited a broad surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak at 529 nm. Various characterization techniques were employed and all demonstrated the presence of gold thin film. The reported method represents a simplistic method for the deposition of gold nanoparticle thin films and various other metal nanoparticles may be deposited following this method.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Firm age, collateral value, and access to debt financing in an emerging economy: evidence from South Africa
- Authors: Ezeoha,Abel , Botha, Ferdi
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/396060 , vital:69147 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC31367"
- Description: This paper applies the Blundell and Bond system generalised method of moments (GMM) two-step estimator to examine the impact of age and collateral value on debt financing, using a panel of 177 non-financial companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange over the period 1999 to 2009. The results show that South African firms have target leverage ratios and adjust their capital structures from time to time to achieve their respective targets, that the relationship between firm age and debt financing is non-monotonic, and that firms with higher collateral value are likely to face fewer constraints on borrowing and therefore have greater access to medium-term and long-term debts. Robustness tests also reveal that during start-up and maturity stages, a firm's access to debt markets is significantly influenced by investments in assets that are acceptable to external creditors as collateral. These findings suggest that debt financing policies could be more critical for firms in the start-up and maturity stages.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Five unpublished coins of Alexander the Great and his successors in the Rhodes University Collection
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Snowball, Warren D
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68489 , vital:29267 , http://dx.doi.org/10.7445/50-0-73
- Description: Publisher version , The article briefly discusses the economic and political significance of the Alexander III (“the Great”) type silver tetradrachm and publishes three of his coins currently held by the Rhodes University Classics Museum. Based on stylistic elements, they are classified as from the Amphipolis and Arados mints and were probably minted during his lifetime. Two further tetradrachms from the empires of Alexander’s successors, Ptolemy II and Seleucus IV, are also published.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Functional programming and security
- Authors: Motara, Yusuf, M
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/428985 , vital:72551 , https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1201.5728
- Description: This paper analyses the security contribution of typical functional-language features by examining them in the light of accepted information security principles. Imperative and functional code are compared to illustrate various cases. In conclusion, there may be an excellent case for the use of functional languages on the grounds of better security; however, empirical research should be done to validate this possibility.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Guy Butler’s South Africanism: ‘Being present where you are’
- Authors: Wright, Laurence
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: vital:7069 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007460 , https://doi.org/10.1080/10131752.2012.730182
- Description: preprint , A peer-reviewed lecture delivered at Rhodes University on the occasion of the presentation to Professor Wright of the English Academy's Gold Medal, 16 November 2011. Guy Butler (1918-2001) has been gone some ten years. This lecture sets out to illuminate the thinking behind his important role in South Africa's national life. The institutions he created continue to make vital cultural contributions in South Africa's efforts to make sense of its own complex historical make-up, working towards a happier, richer, and more equal future. However, despite what he achieved, there is little surety that today the rationale informing his massive effort to foster processes of artistic and cultural endeavour has been appreciated or accurately understood.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Having a phone, having style:
- Authors: Schoon, Alette
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159506 , vital:40303 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC135828
- Description: It was dusk, and a group of young men with a dog trailing behind them, were walking past on a dusty township road in Hooggenoeg, an RDP village on the rim of the Grahamstown bowl. While they ambled along, one was holding up a mobile phone on which music was playing, dancing while he walked. This was exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to observe in my new identity as researcher and participant observer, and was why I had agreed to judge the Hooggenoeg fashion show which turned out to be more of a beauty competition. While I'm not generally fond of these kind of shows and the way they essentialise beauty, I agreed because I wanted to get more of a sense of how mobile phones are integrated into the everyday lives of these young adults.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Higher education, academic communities, and the intellectual virtues
- Authors: Jones, Ward E
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/275647 , vital:55066 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12005"
- Description: Because higher education brings members of academic communities in direct contact with students, the reflective higher education student is in an excellent position for developing two important intellectual virtues: confidence and humility. However, academic communities differ as to whether their members reach consensus, and their teaching practices reflect this difference. In this essay, Ward Jones argues that both consensus-reaching and non-consensus-reaching communities can encourage the development of intellectual confidence and humility in their students, although each will do so in very different ways.
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- Date Issued: 2012
How do HIV and AIDS impact the use of natural resources by poor rural populations?: The case of wild animal products
- Authors: Kaschula, Sarah , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182344 , vital:43822 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC97203"
- Description: As a result of heightened financial and food insecurity, populations adversely affected by HIV and/or AIDS may be more likely to utilise wild natural resources to supplement their diet and livelihoods. Should this effect be pronounced, HIV and AIDS may pose a serious environmental threat. We explored the hypothesis that the presence of factors in the household, such as chronic illness in and recent mortality of individuals in a high HIV-risk age group, as well as the fostering of orphans, are associated with increased utilisation of wild animal products (WAPs) at the household level. We randomly surveyed 519 households from four sites in rural South Africa, recording household socio-economic status, the utilisation of wild animal products and health and demographic factors attributed to HIV or AIDS. Binary logistic regressions were used to test if households with markers of HIV and/or AIDS affliction were more likely to have a higher incidence and frequency of WAP utilisation relative to non-afflicted households, after adjusting for socio-economic and demographic variables. We found that, although households with markers of HIV and/or AIDS were generally poorer and had higher dependency ratios, there was no evidence to support the hypothesis that WAP harvesting was associated with either poverty, or markers of HIV and/or AIDS affliction. Our findings suggest that generalisations about a possible interaction between HIV and/or AIDS and the environment may not uniformly apply to all categories of natural resources or to all user groups.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Human rights and post-conflict peace building in the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Authors: Juma, Laurence
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/128438 , vital:36109 , https://0-hdl.handle.net.wam.seals.ac.za/10520/EJC192855
- Description: This article deals with normative issues that arose in the post-conflict peace-building processes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It undertakes an historical review of the major episodes in the DRC peace process and highlights how these episodes yielded to the establishment of the interim government in 2003 and the enactment of the current constitution. It mainly highlights the proprietary consequences of the Lusaka peace Accord, the transformative aspects of the 2005 Constitution and the role that international organs, especially the ICC, have played in consolidating peace in the DRC.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2012
Imidazole-functionalized polymer microspheres and fibers–useful materials for immobilization of oxovanadium (IV) catalysts
- Authors: Walmsley, Ryan S , Ogunlaja, Adeniyi S , Coombes, Matthew J , Chidawanyika, Wadzanai J U , Litwinski, Christian , Torto, Nelson , Nyokong, Tebello , Tshentu, Zenixole R
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/246041 , vital:51431 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1039/C2JM15485D"
- Description: Both polymer microspheres and microfibers containing the imidazole functionality have been prepared and used to immobilize oxovanadium(IV). The average diameters and BET surface areas of the microspheres were 322 μm and 155 m2 g−1 while the fibers were 1.85 μm and 52 m2 g−1, respectively. XPS and microanalysis confirmed the incorporation of imidazole and vanadium in the polymeric materials. The catalytic activity of both materials was evaluated using the hydrogen peroxide facilitated oxidation of thioanisole. The microspheres were applied in a typical laboratory batch reactor set-up and quantitative conversions (>99%) were obtained in under 240 min with turn-over frequencies ranging from 21.89 to 265.53 h−1, depending on the quantity of catalyst and temperature. The microspherical catalysts also proved to be recyclable with no drop in activity being observed after three successive reactions. The vanadium functionalized fibers were applied in a pseudo continuous flow set-up. Factors influencing the overall conversion and product selectivity, including flow rate and catalyst quantity, were investigated. At flow rates of 1–4 mL h−1 near quantitative conversion was maintained over an extended period. Keeping the mass of catalyst constant (0.025 g) and varying the flow rate from 1–6 mL h−1 resulted in a shift in the formation of the oxidation product methyl phenyl sulfone from 60.1 to 18.6%.
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- Date Issued: 2012
In vitro photodynamic effect of aluminum tetrasulfophthalocyanines on melanoma skin cancer and healthy normal skin cells
- Authors: Maduray, Kaminee , Odhay, Bharti , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/245762 , vital:51403 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdpdt.2011.07.001"
- Description: Photodynamic therapy is a medical treatment that uses an inactive dye/drug and lasers as a light source to activate the dye/drug to produce a toxic form of oxygen that destroys the cancer cells. This study aimed at investigating the cytotoxic effects of different concentrations of aluminum tetrasulfophthalocyanines in its inactive and active state (laser induced) on melanoma skin cancer cells, healthy normal skin fibroblast and keratinocyte cells. Experimentally, 3 x 10(4) cells/ml were seeded in 24-well plates before treatment with different concentrations of aluminum tetrasulfophthalocyanines. After 2 h, cells were irradiated with a light dose of 4.5 J/cm(2). Post-irradiated cells were incubated for 24 h before cell viability was measured using the CellTiter-Blue Viability Assay. Results showed that aluminum tetrasulfophthalocyanines at high concentrations were cytotoxic to melanoma cells in the absence of laser activation. In the presence of laser activation of aluminum tetrasulfophthalocyanines at a concentration of 40 mu g/ml decreased cell viability of melanoma cells to 45%, fibroblasts to 78% and keratinocytes to 73%. At this photosensitizing concentration of aluminum tetrasulfophthalocyanines the efficacy of the treatment light dose 4.5 J/cm(2) and the cell death mechanism induced by photoactivated aluminum tetrasulfophthalocyanines was evaluated. A light dose of 4.5 J/cm(2) was more efficient in killing a higher number of melanoma cells and a lower number of fibroblast and keratinocyte cells than the other light doses of 2.5 J/cm(2), 7.5 J/cm(2) and 10.5 J/cm(2). Apoptosis features such as blebbing, nucleus condensation, nucleus fragmentation and the formation of apoptotic bodies were seen in the photodynamic therapy treated melanoma skin cancer cells. This in vitro photodynamic therapy study concludes that using aluminum tetrasulfophthalocyanines at a photosensitizing concentration of 40 mu g/ml in combination with a laser dose of 4.5 J/cm(2) was potentially lethal for melanoma skin cancer cells and less harmful for the normal healthy skin cells. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Integrating stomach content and stable isotope analyses to elucidate the feeding habits of non-native sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus
- Authors: Kadye, Wilbert T , Booth, Anthony J
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124843 , vital:35703 , https://doi.10.1007/s10530-011-0116-6
- Description: Sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus was introduced into the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, in 1976 and there are concerns about its possible negative impacts on native biota. This study investigated its trophic impact by examining its feeding habits. Stomach content and stable isotope analyses were compared from three localities—the Great Fish River, Sundays River and Glen Melville Dam. Stomach content analysis indicated a catholic diet dominated by fish particularly in all localities.Spatially, however, the diets revealed differences based on the dominance of macrophytes that were only present in the rivers, and aquatic invertebrates that appeared more diverse within the Great Fish River compared to other localities. By contrast, stable isotopes revealed a more generalised feeding pattern with no clear dominance of particular prey. Stable isotopes further showed that the catfish was a complex predator, with large catfish being top predators whereas smaller size groups appeared to feed lower in the food chain. An ontogenetic shift in diet was evident, with small fish predominantly consuming aquatic invertebrates and shifting towards fish with increasing size. High dietary overlap suggests the potential risk associated catfish feeding, especially the potential of piscivory by small catfish that are more likely to persist in shallow and marginal where endangered indigenous minnows occur. The alteration of environmental conditions, especially flow by inter basin water transfer (IBWT) schemes, was inferred to have had a probable influence its invasion success. Occurrence of other invaders, which was facilitated by the IBWT together with the catfish, posits the risk of invasion meltdown within the study systems.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Inter-seasonal persistence and size-structuring of two minnow species within headwater streams in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Kadye, Wilbert T , Booth, Anthony J
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124866 , vital:35705 , https://doi.10.1111/j.1439-0426.2012.02027.x
- Description: This study examined temporal variation in population dynamics and size structuring of two cyprinid minnows, Pseudobarbus afer and Barbus anoplus, in relation to their proximate physical habitats. Population estimates were determined using three-pass depletion sampling during both summer and winter. The habitats were characterised by seasonal variation in all physico-chemical conditions and spatial variation in substrata compositions. Whereas significant differences in population size were noted between seasons for B. anoplus, no differences were found between seasons for density and capture probability for either species. An increase in boulders was associated with increase in population size and density for P. afer; for B. anoplus, increased percentages of bedrock and bank vegetation were associated with an increase in population size and probability of capture, respectively. According to Canonical Correspondence Analysis, size structuring in P. afer was explained predominantly by seasonality, with smaller length classes associated with the seasonal variable of summer, while larger length classes were associated with pH that was higher in winter. By comparison, for B. anoplus, the habitat variables – bank vegetation and bedrock – accounted for much of the explained variance for size structuring. Recruitment appeared to be the major driver of size structuring for the two species; refugia, especially boulders and bank vegetation, also appeared to be important. Overall, the two species were adapted to the headwater streams that were generally variable in environmental conditions. Potential invasions by non-native invasive fishes that occur within the mainstream habitats threaten these two species. Efforts should continue to protect these minnows from such invasions by constructing barriers to upstream migration of non-native fishes into these headwater habitats.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Interaction of CdTe quantum dots with 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical
- Authors: Adegoke, Oluwasesan , Chidawanyika, Wadzanai J U , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/245751 , vital:51402 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-011-1012-2"
- Description: The interaction of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH●) free radical with thiol-capped CdTe quantum dots (QDs) has been studied by UV–vis spectroscopy, steady state and time resolved fluorescence measurements. Addition of DPPH● radical to CdTe QDs resulted in fluorescence quenching. The interaction occurs through static quenching as this was confirmed by fluorescence lifetime measurements. Time course absorption studies indicates that DPPH● may be reduced by interaction with QDs to the substituted hydrazine form (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazine) DPPH-H. The mechanism of fluorescence quenching of CdTe QDs by DPPH● is proposed.
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- Date Issued: 2012