3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Still life - a novel and reflexive essay(2008-09-12T11:19:59Z) Myburgh, PierABSTRACT The largest part of this thesis is a novel called Still Life, which explores the mourning process of a mother who loses her baby, and the effect it has on her life and her marriage. The novel alternates between the present and the past (which is 23 years before) so that it illustrates the mother’s reaction to the death of her baby at the time of the death, and her personal development (or lack thereof) many years on.The second part of the thesis is an essay, which reflects on grieving in general and the expression of grief through literature, as well as some of the aspects of the writing process, with particular consideration given to the development of plot,the choice of point-of-view, symbolism, the ending and the choice of writing in a second language.Item Trends and patterns of smoking in the South African adult population: 1995-1998(2006-10-25T14:22:05Z) Braimoh, BelloBackground Smoking is undoubtedly a major risk factor for morbidity, disability and premature death. Its use results in grave health and economic losses not only to the individual but also to the population and the world at large. Many surveys have been done in South Africa to estimate the prevalence of smoking. It is therefore imperative and expedient to have an overall impression of the prevalence rates over time. And also it is important to assess how subgroups affect the prevalence and trends in the national population. This will be of help in determining which subgroups have achieved reduction in smoking prevalence and which have not; evaluating the tobacco control policies in the country; and in designing specific interventions. This research was undertaken to determine the trends and patterns of smoking in the South African adult population Objectives The objectives for this study were: Regarding the South African adult population during 1995 – 1998, to: 1. Compute the prevalence of smoking and assess the trends of smoking prevalence. 2. Assess the patterns and trends of smoking prevalence in subgroups by sex, age, marital status, race, locality (urban or rural), education and province. 3. Identify factors in the population that may account for patterns and trends in smoking prevalence over time 4. Make recommendations regarding the public health implications of the findings 5 Methods This was an analytical study involving secondary analysis of existing datasets from four South African representative national surveys. From 11 surveys, which measured smoking in the South African population, four surveys were selected using some inclusion and exclusion criteria. The population of interest was the South Africa adult population (18 – 49), so variables of interest (outcome variable was current smokers) for this group were extracted. Prevalence (frequency) rates estimation of smoking in the national population and in subgroups were then estimated. Unadjusted odds ratios and adjusted odds ratios were computed by bi-variate cross tabulation and multivariate logistic regression respectively. Time-trend analyses (Maentel Haenszel chi-squared test) were computed by logistic regression for trend in proportions Results From 1995 to 1997 about 1/3 of the adult South African population were smokers, but that dropped significantly to about ¼ in 1998. For the period however, there was no significant trend. The prevalence of smoking varied with, and was largely depended on population subgroup; while it was as high as 63.9% among Coloured males, 62.3% among Coloured females, 53.7 % among all males, 52.7% among rural males, it was as low as 11.4% among all females, 6.8% among rural females, 10.83% among Indian females and 5.06% among Black females. The only significant trends was an increasing smoking prevalence among Blacks, Coloured men, people with tertiary education, Free State and Gauteng provinces, age group 35 – 44; urban men and a decreasing smoking prevalence in all women, urban women and black women, age group 18 – 24 and the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Northen Cape and Mpumalanga provinces. Sex, race, age, and education were the major risk factors for smoking in theItem Characterization of a novel cell death related gene, DWNN, in cervical cancer(2006-03-13) Ledwaba, Ramatsobane JohannaDWNN-deficient Chinese Hamster Ovary cells have been found to be resistant to staurosporine-induced apoptosis. The human DWNN gene is located on chromosome 16p21, with 18 exons and is 36 kb long. It is alternatively spliced at exon 16 and makes two major mRNA transcripts, 1.1 and 6.1 kb, encoding 13 kDa and 200 kDa proteins respectively. The purpose of the study was to elucidate the possible role of DWNN in cervical cancer and apoptosis, to establish tissue distribution and expression levels of DWNN at protein and mRNA levels in cervical cancer. In situ hybridization studies showed elevated levels of the three mRNA transcripts in cervical cancer as compared to the normal tissues. The transcripts were localized in the nuclei of invaded stroma, moderately differentiated islands of tumours, dysplastic epithelium and some infiltrating lymphocytes. Immunocytochemistry showed that DWNN proteins were highly expressed in the dysplastic epithelium, dysplastic endocervical glands, moderately and well differentiated islands of tumours and the invaded stroma. Image analysis indicated elevated expression levels in the islands of tumours. Apoptosis detection by TUNEL revealed high apoptotic levels in the invaded stroma and moderately differentiated islands of tumours and this significantly correlated with DWNN localization. Proliferation assay using Ki67 antibody was found to be indirectly directly proportional to DWNN expression. Antiapoptotic Bcl-2 expression levels were found to be inversely proportional to the expression levels of DWNN. The up-regulated levels of DWNN in cervical cancers in contrast to normal tissues suggest DWNN to be proapoptotic, as there were elevated levels of apoptosis in the same sites where there were high levels of DWNN expression and Bcl-2 was down-regulated in the same sites. DWNN expression significantly correlated with apoptotic levels and was indirectly proportional to ki67 in human cervical cancers. Real Time PCR also confirmed the up-regulation in levels of DWNN in cervical cancer. This study suggests that the DWNN gene may be involved in apoptosis. Further characterization of this gene could lead to its manipulation as a diagnostic marker and a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment.