Breast cancer: current developments in molecular approaches to diagnosis and treatment
- de la Mare, Jo-Anne, Contu, Lara, Hunter, Morgan C, Moyo, Buhle, Sterrenberg, Jason N, Dhanani, Karim C H, Mutsvunguma, Lorraine Z, Edkins, Adrienne L
- Authors: de la Mare, Jo-Anne , Contu, Lara , Hunter, Morgan C , Moyo, Buhle , Sterrenberg, Jason N , Dhanani, Karim C H , Mutsvunguma, Lorraine Z , Edkins, Adrienne L
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164819 , vital:41175 , DOI: 10.2174/15748928113086660046
- Description: Due to the high heterogeneity of breast cancers, numerous recent patents describe improved methods of detection and classification which promise better patient prognosis and treatment. In particular, there has been a shift towards more effective genetic screening to identify specific mutations associated with breast tumours, which may lead to “personalised medicine” with improved outcomes. Two challenging areas of breast cancer research involve the development of treatments for the highly aggressive triple negative breast cancer subtype as well as the chemotherapy-resistant cancer stem cell subpopulation. In addition, despite numerous recent advances in breast cancer treatment in woman, male breast cancer remains poorly understood and there are limited therapies available which are developed specifically for men. This review serves to report on important developments in the treatment of breast malignancies patented in the past two years as well as to highlight the current gaps in the field of breast cancer therapeutics and areas which require further study.
- Full Text:
- Authors: de la Mare, Jo-Anne , Contu, Lara , Hunter, Morgan C , Moyo, Buhle , Sterrenberg, Jason N , Dhanani, Karim C H , Mutsvunguma, Lorraine Z , Edkins, Adrienne L
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164819 , vital:41175 , DOI: 10.2174/15748928113086660046
- Description: Due to the high heterogeneity of breast cancers, numerous recent patents describe improved methods of detection and classification which promise better patient prognosis and treatment. In particular, there has been a shift towards more effective genetic screening to identify specific mutations associated with breast tumours, which may lead to “personalised medicine” with improved outcomes. Two challenging areas of breast cancer research involve the development of treatments for the highly aggressive triple negative breast cancer subtype as well as the chemotherapy-resistant cancer stem cell subpopulation. In addition, despite numerous recent advances in breast cancer treatment in woman, male breast cancer remains poorly understood and there are limited therapies available which are developed specifically for men. This review serves to report on important developments in the treatment of breast malignancies patented in the past two years as well as to highlight the current gaps in the field of breast cancer therapeutics and areas which require further study.
- Full Text:
Climate Change and Environmental Challenges in Southern African Development Community (SADC): Responses in the Age of Globalisation
- Chikunda, Charles, Mandikonza, Caleb
- Authors: Chikunda, Charles , Mandikonza, Caleb
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/437249 , vital:73363 , ISBN 9789462098367 , https://brill.com/display/book/9789462098367/BP000009.xml
- Description: There is evidence that one of the greatest controversies facing Africa today is how to make sense of the two leading global intentions of the 21st century: sustainable development and globalisation. These two paradigms appear to have some op-posing tendencies within them, some of which are contestable. Globalisation advocates for liberalisation; reduction or elimina-tion of state regulations on the market, free reign, and a high degree of rights to the large corporations that dominate the market. Globalisation also entails the cross flow of knowledge and knowledge forms.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Chikunda, Charles , Mandikonza, Caleb
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/437249 , vital:73363 , ISBN 9789462098367 , https://brill.com/display/book/9789462098367/BP000009.xml
- Description: There is evidence that one of the greatest controversies facing Africa today is how to make sense of the two leading global intentions of the 21st century: sustainable development and globalisation. These two paradigms appear to have some op-posing tendencies within them, some of which are contestable. Globalisation advocates for liberalisation; reduction or elimina-tion of state regulations on the market, free reign, and a high degree of rights to the large corporations that dominate the market. Globalisation also entails the cross flow of knowledge and knowledge forms.
- Full Text:
Differential motif enrichment analysis of paired ChIP-seq experiments
- Lesluyes, Tom, Johnson, James, Machanick, Philip, Bailey, Timothy L
- Authors: Lesluyes, Tom , Johnson, James , Machanick, Philip , Bailey, Timothy L
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/439250 , vital:73559 , https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-15-752
- Description: Motif enrichment analysis of transcription factor ChIP-seq data can help identify transcription factors that cooperate or compete. Previously, little attention has been given to comparative motif enrichment analysis of pairs of ChIP-seq experiments, where the binding of the same transcription factor is assayed under different conditions. Such comparative analysis could potentially identify the distinct regulatory partners/competitors of the assayed transcription factor under different conditions or at different stages of development.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Lesluyes, Tom , Johnson, James , Machanick, Philip , Bailey, Timothy L
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/439250 , vital:73559 , https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-15-752
- Description: Motif enrichment analysis of transcription factor ChIP-seq data can help identify transcription factors that cooperate or compete. Previously, little attention has been given to comparative motif enrichment analysis of pairs of ChIP-seq experiments, where the binding of the same transcription factor is assayed under different conditions. Such comparative analysis could potentially identify the distinct regulatory partners/competitors of the assayed transcription factor under different conditions or at different stages of development.
- Full Text:
E-Literacy training in deep rural areas: The Siyakhula Living Lab experience
- Gumbo, Sibukelo, Ntšekhe, Mathe, Terzoli, Alfredo
- Authors: Gumbo, Sibukelo , Ntšekhe, Mathe , Terzoli, Alfredo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431411 , vital:72772 , http://proceedings.e-skillsconference.org/2014/e-skills141-154Gumbo824.pdf
- Description: Within the discourse of broadband deployment in poor areas (particular-ly rural), very little attention is generally put on the critical enabler repre-sented by e-literacy training that empowers people to use ICT systems, especially in the form of full-fledged machines such as fixed, tower and laptop computers (These machines are still more preferable for growing a generation of ‘producers’ as opposed to ‘consumers’ in the ICT space.) This paper reports on the experience in running e-literacy in a deep rural area, as part of the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL), whose end goal is to diffuse production oriented ICTs in poor areas of South Africa and Africa. In particular it will expand on the feedback given by the par-ticipants to the last edition of the e-literacy course, run in the first se-mester of 2014. The lessons learned from this experience include: the need for linguistic localization of the learning material or at least part of its presentation; the importance of teaching and learning that facilitates (easy) transfer of knowledge gained to other ICT settings (such as mo-biles; or uses to support business); and the importance of face-to-face courses to allow real interaction with the people living in the targeted areas, partly as a strategic means to forging relations towards the reali-zation of the Living Lab vision (co-creation of solutions with empowered users). Altogether, e-literacy courses have proved to be critical to the broad aim of SLL of ‘activating’the segment of society living in poor ar-eas towards self-determination. A small but telling indicator is the trans-formation in the view people have of themselves once certified as e-literate.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Gumbo, Sibukelo , Ntšekhe, Mathe , Terzoli, Alfredo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431411 , vital:72772 , http://proceedings.e-skillsconference.org/2014/e-skills141-154Gumbo824.pdf
- Description: Within the discourse of broadband deployment in poor areas (particular-ly rural), very little attention is generally put on the critical enabler repre-sented by e-literacy training that empowers people to use ICT systems, especially in the form of full-fledged machines such as fixed, tower and laptop computers (These machines are still more preferable for growing a generation of ‘producers’ as opposed to ‘consumers’ in the ICT space.) This paper reports on the experience in running e-literacy in a deep rural area, as part of the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL), whose end goal is to diffuse production oriented ICTs in poor areas of South Africa and Africa. In particular it will expand on the feedback given by the par-ticipants to the last edition of the e-literacy course, run in the first se-mester of 2014. The lessons learned from this experience include: the need for linguistic localization of the learning material or at least part of its presentation; the importance of teaching and learning that facilitates (easy) transfer of knowledge gained to other ICT settings (such as mo-biles; or uses to support business); and the importance of face-to-face courses to allow real interaction with the people living in the targeted areas, partly as a strategic means to forging relations towards the reali-zation of the Living Lab vision (co-creation of solutions with empowered users). Altogether, e-literacy courses have proved to be critical to the broad aim of SLL of ‘activating’the segment of society living in poor ar-eas towards self-determination. A small but telling indicator is the trans-formation in the view people have of themselves once certified as e-literate.
- Full Text:
Food security in a perfect storm: using the ecosystem services framework to increase understanding
- Poppy, G M, Chiotha, S, Eigenbrod, Felix, Harvey, Celia A, Honzák, M, Hudson, M D, Jarvis, A, Madise, N J, Schreckenberg, Kate, Shackleton, Charlie M, Villa, Ferdinando, Dawson, Terence P
- Authors: Poppy, G M , Chiotha, S , Eigenbrod, Felix , Harvey, Celia A , Honzák, M , Hudson, M D , Jarvis, A , Madise, N J , Schreckenberg, Kate , Shackleton, Charlie M , Villa, Ferdinando , Dawson, Terence P
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60952 , vital:27900 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0288
- Description: Achieving food security in a ‘perfect storm’ scenario is a grand challenge for society. Climate change and an expanding global population act in concert to make global food security even more complex and demanding. As achieving food security and the millennium development goal (MDG) to eradicate hunger influences the attainment of other MDGs, it is imperative that we offer solutions which are complementary and do not oppose one another. Sustainable intensification of agriculture has been proposed as a way to address hunger while also minimizing further environmental impact. However, the desire to raise productivity and yields has historically led to a degraded environment, reduced biodiversity and a reduction in ecosystem services (ES), with the greatest impacts affecting the poor. This paper proposes that the ES framework coupled with a policy response framework, for example Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR), can allow food security to be delivered alongside healthy ecosystems, which provide many other valuable services to humankind. Too often, agro-ecosystems have been considered as separate from other natural ecosystems and insufficient attention has been paid to the way in which services can flow to and from the agro-ecosystem to surrounding ecosystems. Highlighting recent research in a large multi-disciplinary project (ASSETS), we illustrate the ES approach to food security using a case study from the Zomba district of Malawi.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Poppy, G M , Chiotha, S , Eigenbrod, Felix , Harvey, Celia A , Honzák, M , Hudson, M D , Jarvis, A , Madise, N J , Schreckenberg, Kate , Shackleton, Charlie M , Villa, Ferdinando , Dawson, Terence P
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60952 , vital:27900 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0288
- Description: Achieving food security in a ‘perfect storm’ scenario is a grand challenge for society. Climate change and an expanding global population act in concert to make global food security even more complex and demanding. As achieving food security and the millennium development goal (MDG) to eradicate hunger influences the attainment of other MDGs, it is imperative that we offer solutions which are complementary and do not oppose one another. Sustainable intensification of agriculture has been proposed as a way to address hunger while also minimizing further environmental impact. However, the desire to raise productivity and yields has historically led to a degraded environment, reduced biodiversity and a reduction in ecosystem services (ES), with the greatest impacts affecting the poor. This paper proposes that the ES framework coupled with a policy response framework, for example Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR), can allow food security to be delivered alongside healthy ecosystems, which provide many other valuable services to humankind. Too often, agro-ecosystems have been considered as separate from other natural ecosystems and insufficient attention has been paid to the way in which services can flow to and from the agro-ecosystem to surrounding ecosystems. Highlighting recent research in a large multi-disciplinary project (ASSETS), we illustrate the ES approach to food security using a case study from the Zomba district of Malawi.
- Full Text:
Happiness, national pride and the 2010 World Cup
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67265 , vital:29065 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781317664185
- Description: publisher version , The potential for national pride to take on shades of both the authentic and the hubristic is reflected in the International Social Survey Program's (ISSP) use of two different multi-item measures of national pride, a general and a domain-specific one. In contrast, domain-specific national pride is characterized as 'not overtly nationalistic, imperialistic, nor chauvinistic' and is expressed as positive feelings towards national accomplishments in a range of domains including arts, science and sport. Most scholars who take an interest in the impact of sport mega-events acknowledge that national pride is related to concepts such as patriotism and nationalism whose meanings are difficult to disentangle. The South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), which has tracked the attitudes of South African adults around the 2010 World Cup, has confirmed this idea. The longitudinal SASAS study found that subsequent to the event, there was an enormous upswing in the belief that the World Cup had a positive impact on social cohesion.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67265 , vital:29065 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781317664185
- Description: publisher version , The potential for national pride to take on shades of both the authentic and the hubristic is reflected in the International Social Survey Program's (ISSP) use of two different multi-item measures of national pride, a general and a domain-specific one. In contrast, domain-specific national pride is characterized as 'not overtly nationalistic, imperialistic, nor chauvinistic' and is expressed as positive feelings towards national accomplishments in a range of domains including arts, science and sport. Most scholars who take an interest in the impact of sport mega-events acknowledge that national pride is related to concepts such as patriotism and nationalism whose meanings are difficult to disentangle. The South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), which has tracked the attitudes of South African adults around the 2010 World Cup, has confirmed this idea. The longitudinal SASAS study found that subsequent to the event, there was an enormous upswing in the belief that the World Cup had a positive impact on social cohesion.
- Full Text: false
Losing, using, refusing, cruising: first-generation South African women academics narrate the complexity of marginality
- Idahosa, Grace E, Vincent, Louise
- Authors: Idahosa, Grace E , Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141820 , vital:38007 , DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2014.874766
- Description: In this article we ask how senior academic women in South Africa narrate their experience of being ‘outside in’ the teaching machine. Wide research literature documents the gross underrepresentation of women in senior positions in the academy. It has been argued that intertwined sexist, patriarchal and phallocentric knowledges and practices in academic institutions produce various forms of discrimination, inequality, oppression and marginalisation. Academic women report feeling invisible and retreating to the margins so as to avoid victimisation and discrimination. Others have pointed to the tension between the ‘tenure clock’ and ‘biological clock’ as a source of anxiety. However, experiences of academic women are not identical. In the context of studies showing the importance of existing personal and social resources, prior experience and having mentors and role models in the negotiation of inequality and discrimination, we document the narratives of women academics who are the first in their families to graduate with a university degree.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Idahosa, Grace E , Vincent, Louise
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141820 , vital:38007 , DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2014.874766
- Description: In this article we ask how senior academic women in South Africa narrate their experience of being ‘outside in’ the teaching machine. Wide research literature documents the gross underrepresentation of women in senior positions in the academy. It has been argued that intertwined sexist, patriarchal and phallocentric knowledges and practices in academic institutions produce various forms of discrimination, inequality, oppression and marginalisation. Academic women report feeling invisible and retreating to the margins so as to avoid victimisation and discrimination. Others have pointed to the tension between the ‘tenure clock’ and ‘biological clock’ as a source of anxiety. However, experiences of academic women are not identical. In the context of studies showing the importance of existing personal and social resources, prior experience and having mentors and role models in the negotiation of inequality and discrimination, we document the narratives of women academics who are the first in their families to graduate with a university degree.
- Full Text:
Ocean warming, a rapid distributional shift, and the hybridization of a coastal fish species
- Potts, Warren M, Henriques, Romina, Santos, Carmen V D, Munnik, Kate, Ansorge, Isabelle J, Dufois, Francois, Sauer, Warwick H H, Booth, Anthony J, Kirchner, Carola, Shaw, Paul W
- Authors: Potts, Warren M , Henriques, Romina , Santos, Carmen V D , Munnik, Kate , Ansorge, Isabelle J , Dufois, Francois , Sauer, Warwick H H , Booth, Anthony J , Kirchner, Carola , Shaw, Paul W
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125375 , vital:35777 , https://doi.10.1111/gcb.12612
- Description: Despite increasing awareness of large-scale climate-driven distribution shifts in the marine environment, no study has linked rapid ocean warming to a shift in distribution and consequent hybridization of a marine fish species. This study describes rapid warming (0.8 °C per decade) in the coastal waters of the Angola-Benguela Frontal Zone over the last three decades and a concomitant shift by a temperature sensitive coastal fish species (Argyrosomus coronus) southward from Angola into Namibia. In this context, rapid shifts in distribution across Economic Exclusive Zones will complicate the management of fishes, particularly when there is a lack of congruence in the fisheries policy between nations. Evidence for recent hybridization between A. coronus and a congener, A. inodorus, indicate that the rapid shift in distribution of A. coronus has placed adults of the two species in contact during their spawning events. Ocean warming may therefore revert established species isolation mechanisms and alter the evolutionary history of fishes. While the consequences of the hybridization on the production of the resource remain unclear, this will most likely introduce additional layers of complexity to their management.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Potts, Warren M , Henriques, Romina , Santos, Carmen V D , Munnik, Kate , Ansorge, Isabelle J , Dufois, Francois , Sauer, Warwick H H , Booth, Anthony J , Kirchner, Carola , Shaw, Paul W
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125375 , vital:35777 , https://doi.10.1111/gcb.12612
- Description: Despite increasing awareness of large-scale climate-driven distribution shifts in the marine environment, no study has linked rapid ocean warming to a shift in distribution and consequent hybridization of a marine fish species. This study describes rapid warming (0.8 °C per decade) in the coastal waters of the Angola-Benguela Frontal Zone over the last three decades and a concomitant shift by a temperature sensitive coastal fish species (Argyrosomus coronus) southward from Angola into Namibia. In this context, rapid shifts in distribution across Economic Exclusive Zones will complicate the management of fishes, particularly when there is a lack of congruence in the fisheries policy between nations. Evidence for recent hybridization between A. coronus and a congener, A. inodorus, indicate that the rapid shift in distribution of A. coronus has placed adults of the two species in contact during their spawning events. Ocean warming may therefore revert established species isolation mechanisms and alter the evolutionary history of fishes. While the consequences of the hybridization on the production of the resource remain unclear, this will most likely introduce additional layers of complexity to their management.
- Full Text:
Trophodynamics of three decapod crustaceans in a temperate estuary using stable isotope and fatty acid analyses
- Antonio, Emily S, Richoux, Nicole B
- Authors: Antonio, Emily S , Richoux, Nicole B
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478894 , vital:78237 , https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10761
- Description: Temporal variations in stable isotope ratios and fatty acid composition were examined in 3 crustacean species and their potential food sources in a temperate estuary. We hypothesized that the shrimp Palaemon peringueyi, the mud prawn Upogebia africana and the sand prawn Callichirus kraussi have disparate diets due to interspecific differences in metabolism and feeding mode and that diets of the crustaceans all change temporally due to variations in available food. The species with the most variable diet was expected to have the greatest niche differentiation. We sampled the 3 crustaceans and their food sources on occasions spanning 4 seasons. The diet of P. peringueyi changed from a dominance of benthic microalgae in spring and winter to increased contributions of particulate organic matter (POM) in summer, with preferential sequestration of 22: 6ω3. U. africana showed a stable dependence on estuarine POM as the main source of its energy, while C. kraussi relied more on marine POM, except in winter, when benthic microalgae was an important energy source. The 2 infaunal prawns showed elevated proportions of 16: 1ω7 and 20: 5ω3 throughout most of the year, probably originating from diatoms. P. peringueyi showed a different preferred diet than the 2 prawns, resulting in an isotopic niche segregation from the infaunal prawns, but the fatty acid niche of the shrimp overlapped with the prawns. Stable isotope values revealed the temporal variations in the origins and proportions of different food sources contributing to the diet of each species, while fatty acid data provided information on finer-scale trophic interactions. Temporal variations in estuarine consumer diets should be considered in estuarine food web studies whenever possible.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Antonio, Emily S , Richoux, Nicole B
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478894 , vital:78237 , https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10761
- Description: Temporal variations in stable isotope ratios and fatty acid composition were examined in 3 crustacean species and their potential food sources in a temperate estuary. We hypothesized that the shrimp Palaemon peringueyi, the mud prawn Upogebia africana and the sand prawn Callichirus kraussi have disparate diets due to interspecific differences in metabolism and feeding mode and that diets of the crustaceans all change temporally due to variations in available food. The species with the most variable diet was expected to have the greatest niche differentiation. We sampled the 3 crustaceans and their food sources on occasions spanning 4 seasons. The diet of P. peringueyi changed from a dominance of benthic microalgae in spring and winter to increased contributions of particulate organic matter (POM) in summer, with preferential sequestration of 22: 6ω3. U. africana showed a stable dependence on estuarine POM as the main source of its energy, while C. kraussi relied more on marine POM, except in winter, when benthic microalgae was an important energy source. The 2 infaunal prawns showed elevated proportions of 16: 1ω7 and 20: 5ω3 throughout most of the year, probably originating from diatoms. P. peringueyi showed a different preferred diet than the 2 prawns, resulting in an isotopic niche segregation from the infaunal prawns, but the fatty acid niche of the shrimp overlapped with the prawns. Stable isotope values revealed the temporal variations in the origins and proportions of different food sources contributing to the diet of each species, while fatty acid data provided information on finer-scale trophic interactions. Temporal variations in estuarine consumer diets should be considered in estuarine food web studies whenever possible.
- Full Text:
Vice-Chancellor's 2014 Address to Graduation Ceremonies
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: vital:7869 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016418
- Full Text:
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: vital:7869 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016418
- Full Text:
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