Caring for people living with AIDS

This paper discusses the concept of care and its implementation with reference to caring for people living with AIDS (PLWA) as 'a labour of love'. The first part of the paper elaborates on care as love, an emotion, and care as labour, an activity, followed by a discussion on four interconnected phases of care, namely 'caring about', 'taking care of', 'care-giving' and 'care-receiving' and the requirements for 'good' care. The gendered nature of care and the resources required for adequate quality care are also discussed. The emphasis in this paper is on the arrangement of care for PLWA, at the micro-level of the household as provided by family and community members, while recognising the role of the state and the market in care provision. This framework is applied to cases from non-urban KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The cases, presented according to the four phases of care, not only illustrate care for PLWA as emotion and hard work, but also reveal the gendered nature of care and the resources required to provide quality care. The discussion, the last part of the paper, reflects on care as emotion and care as work and what it entails for different gender groups in this cultural setting characterised by limited access to especially economic resources, where social capital proved to be a crucial resource for the PLWA to access care. It also goes beyond the four phases of care by incorporating the experiences of the caregiver and her/his response to the feedback received from the care receiver

CHALLENGES FOR BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The primary goal of partnerships in social development is to strategically join efforts to reduce poverty, address inequalities and social injustices through the redistribution of resources, and through social and economic development programmes. This can only be achieved when there is a true commitment from all partners involved to take up the challenges of building partnerships which could provide a negotiated framework for a partnership strategy for social development. These challenges include understanding the changing role of the state, redefining partnerships, empowerment of NGOs to be service deliverers and advocates, the creation of an enabling environment, recognition and balancing of social development partners’ strengths and weaknesses, an agreement on the social development agenda and a plan for sustainable social development. Although a partnership strategy for social development needs to be in place to provide broad guidelines, each kind and level of partnership need to be uniquely negotiated, planned, designed and maintaine

The Role of Small and Medium Enterprises in Development of Tourism in a Post-war Context: the Case of Angola

ost-war countries face a challenge in the process of re-entering the tourism market for several reasons. The damages caused by the violent war environment create the challenges of restoring their image, their economy and of asserting security. As a result, post-war countries have limited monetary resources for development. For this reason, they turn to tourism to help in their development and utilise Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the process to establish the foundations for tourism development. SMEs play an important role in the development process because they provide products and services and create jobs. This study explores the factors related to developing tourism in a post-war context, along with the importance of SMEs in this process. Angola is used as case study of a post-war country that has great potential, yet remains unable to compete effectively as an attractive tourism destination.&nbsp

Efficacy of conventional drinking water treatment processes in removing problem-causing phytoplankton and associated organic compounds

Seven phytoplankton groups were recorded in the source water supplied to South Africa’s largest conventional drinking water treatment plant (DWTP). Two phytoplankton genera, Anabaena and Ceratium were identified as the problem-causing phytoplankton due to their ability to interfere with the water treatment process and negatively impact on water quality. The objectives of this study were to identify problem-causing phytoplankton genera and investigate the efficacy of unit processes in removing phytoplankton genera and associated organic compounds. Phytoplankton and organic compound data were obtained from four different sampling localities throughout the treatment plant and statistically analysed to evaluate the removal efficiencies of unit processes. The highest percentage removal for the Cyanophyceae average seasonal concentration (> 1 000 cells/mℓ) was recorded at 98%, while the highest percentage removal for the Dinophyceae average seasonal concentration (± 9 cells/mℓ) was recorded at 100%. Microcystis and Anabaena were removed by the processes of coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation (> 95%), while Ceratium cells were removed by sand filtration (> 80%). Ineffective removal of Ceratium by coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation (and subsequent penetration to the sand filtration step) will negatively impact on filter run times when these phytoplankton genera are present in high concentrations in the source water. Total photosynthetic pigments (TPP) were removed effectively by all the different water treatment processes. Not enough statistical evidence could be displayed to suggest effective removal of geosmin in this conventional water treatment plant. With good removal of intact cyanobacteria cells during coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation, geosmin concentrations in the final water could be kept to accepted organoleptic levels of 5–10 ng/ℓ in the final water. Optimising conventional drinking water treatment processes can effectively remove problem-causing phytoplankton as well as their associated organic compounds and thereby reduce the potential risk to drinking water consumers.Keywords: coagulation, sand filtration, drinking water, Ceratium, Anabaena, Microcystis, geosmi

Product development within the framework of a National Casting Technology Centre

Published ArticleThe need for a state of the art advanced National Casting Technology Centre (NCTC) has been widely supported throughout industry and recognised as an important facilitator in the growth of the foundry industry. This initiative also aligns itself with the government's Advanced Manufacturing Technology Strategy (AMTS), which is an implementation strategy in support of the South African government's Integrated Manufacturing Strategy (IMS) and National R&D Strategy (NRDS). The AMTS aims at supporting and developing the downstream high technology manufacturing industry, inter alia through the aerospace, automotive and metals sectors. In light of the above and in an effort to retain and expand the current national skills, expertise and facilities in advanced casting technologies, the National Product Development Centre at the CSIR has initiated a process of establishing a National Casting Technology Centre (NCTC). The establishment of the NCTC provides a supportive technology platform for the Advanced Metals Initiative (AMI), which was launched in 2003. The primary objective of the NCTC is to preserve and expand the national expertise and capabilities in cast metals manufacturing by supporting the local casting industry with process development, technology transfer and skills enhancement in order to increase their global competitiveness

The occurrence and removal of algae (including cyanobacteria) and their related organic compounds from source water in Vaalkop Dam with conventional and advanced drinking water treatment processes

Cyanobacterial bloom formation in freshwaters, such as rivers, lakes and dams, is known to occur throughout the world. The Vaalkop Dam, which serves as source to the Vaalkop drinking water treatment works (DWTW), is no exception. Blooms of cyanobacteria occur annually in Vaalkop Dam as well as in dams from which Vaalkop is replenished during low-rainfall periods. These blooms during the summer months are associated with the production of cyanotoxins and taste and odour compounds such as geosmin and MIB. The Vaalkop DWTW uses a combination of conventional and advanced water treatment processes to deal with the cyanobacteria and their related organic compounds in the source water. The overall objectives of this study were to: (i) investigate the occurrence of algae (including cyanobacteria) and cyanotoxins in the Vaalkop Dam; (ii) establish which environmental variables are responsible for the development and onset of algae, and (iii) determine whether the Vaalkop DWTW is able to eliminate the influence that algae (including cyanobacteria) may have on the drinking water. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed seasonal variation in algal assemblages in the raw water. The risk of cyanobacteria bloom formation proved to be especially high during the summer months as the nutrients needed for cyanobacterial growth are available and the temperature range is optimal, causing the production of geosmin, MIB and microcystin. The presence of Ceratium hirundinella (O.F. Müller) Dujardin, in the source water appears to exacerbate the negative effect that cyanobacteria have on the drinking water treatment process. When Ceratium hirundinella is present, floc formation is inhibited, causing more of the problematic algae to penetrate into the drinking water. Even though advanced treatment options such as ozone and granular activated carbon filters are used at Vaalkop DWTW, the effects of the organic compounds produced by cyanobacteria are not entirely eliminated during the treatment process.Keywords: potable water treatment, geosmin, MIB (2-methylisoborneol), microcystin, granular activated carbon (GAC), ozon

METAL ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF BLENDED ELEMENTAL Ti-6Al-4V POWDERS

ArticleSouth Africa primarily produces titanium raw material as a TiO2 rich slag of which most is exported, without further value addition to the mineral. Therefore, powder development becomes a significant aspect of research with possibilities of growth within the titanium metal industry in South Africa. Commercially pure titanium has been successfully blended in conventional powder metallurgy processing, but the use of blended elemental powder to produce Ti-6Al-4V powder for metal additive manufacturing alloy parts has not been demonstrated yet. The objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of using blended elemental Ti-6Al-4V powder for use in a powder bed additive manufacturing (AM) system. In this paper a literature review and proposed methodology are presented and the expected outcomes are discussed

Open set learning with augmented category by exploiting unlabelled data (open-LACU)

Considering the nature of unlabelled data, it is common for partially labelled training datasets to contain samples that belong to novel categories. Although these so-called observed novel categories exist in the training data, they do not belong to any of the training labels. In contrast, open-sets define novel categories as those unobserved during during training, but present during testing. This research is the first to generalize between observed and unobserved novel categories within a new learning policy called open-set learning with augmented category by exploiting unlabeled data or open-LACU. This study conducts a high-level review on novelty detection so to differentiate between research fields that concern observed novel categories, and the research fields that concern unobserved novel categories. Open-LACU is then introduced as a synthesis of the relevant fields to maintain the advantages of each within a single learning policy. Currently, we are finalising the first open-LACU network which will be combined with this pre-print to be sent for publication.Comment: 11 Page

Potential of Entomopathogenic Nematodes for the Control of Plangia graminea (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) under Laboratory Conditions

Plangia graminea, locally known as a katydids or “krompokkels”, is a minor pest of vineyards in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Is feed on leaves, and sporadically on the skin of grapevine berries. Under natural conditions, katydids are not of much agricultural importance, but pest outbreaks during favourable conditions can result in significant foliar damage. Observations indicate an increase in katydid abundance and damage intensity in recent years. Currently, no agrochemicals are registered for the control of this species, and its present natural enemies are unlikely to provide sufficient control without augmentation. In this study, 12 entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) species were evaluated against the nymphs of Plangia graminea in laboratory bioassays, and mortality by infection was investigated.  Seven locally occurring nematode species achieved significant mortality, with H. zealandica, H. indica, S. jeffreyense and S. yirgalemense being found to perform the best (> 90% mortality). &nbsp

Soil Organic Matter Along a Degradation Gradient in a Semi-Arid Rangeland of South Africa

In a semi-arid South Africa rangeland on a sandy loam soil, artificial manipulations to create various rangeland conditions typical of different levels of livestock impact were shown to result in considerable losses of organic matter after 15 years (Du Preez & Snyman, 1993). In this follow-up study on a similar soil, we regularly measured the organic matter content following the conversion of rangeland in a good to a poor ecological condition, an undisturbed bare soil and a cultivated soil respectively. The changes in soil organic matter content after five years are reported