The People And Customer Effects Of Bus Reforms In South Africa

Bus reforms in South Africa have had a dramatic impact on people (employees) and customers (passengers), especially during the last five to ten years. These so-called soft issues are sometimes overlooked in favour of the policy and structural issues. The main focus of this paper is on the people and customer effects of the bus reforms and not on the operational effects. These effects also had an impact on travel patterns, service levels, etc and although customers were on the receiving end of such changes, most of these issues fall outside the scope of this paper. An attempt is made to critically evaluate these effects and to propose solutions. The following are some of the more important effects that have become noticeable throughout the commuter bus industry: · Pre- and post tender pressures resulted in a substantial rationalisation of services and organisations. · The demarcation of tenders resulted in smaller operating entities, which in turn have a dramatic impact on people and management practices. · Large numbers of people were retrenched. Managing a downsized operation has become the key challenge. · Manpower costs have become a source of competitive advantage to secure tenders with negative effects on the continued employment of high calibre staff. · Organised labour fiercely resists reforms that could lead to further job losses and practices that weaken the position of employees. · Former training and development functions were severely rationalised or discontinued as a result of cost pressures. · Accelerated Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) has become a national policy focus. The industry made considerable progress on the BEE agenda. · The penalty system of tendered contracts redefined customer focus. · Fewer people employed in the bus industry and more demanding customers have become the key challenges. Proposed solutions include closer cooperation with organised labour, replacement of a career orientation with an entrepreneurial orientation, accelerated training and development, reassessment of the impact of lower remuneration, full implementation of the tender system, multi skilling, more focused customer care training and further research to substantiate the people and customer effects of bus reforms

Decreased cerebrospinal fluid amyloid β 38, 40, 42, and 43 levels in sporadic and hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy

ObjectiveVascular amyloid β (Aβ) accumulation is the hallmark of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). The composition of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of CAA patients may serve as a diagnostic biomarker of CAA. We studied the diagnostic potential of the peptides Aβ38, Aβ40, Aβ42, and Aβ43 in patients with sporadic CAA (sCAA), hereditary Dutch-type CAA (D-CAA), and Alzheimer disease (AD).MethodsAβ peptides were quantified by immunoassays in a discovery group (26 patients with sCAA and 40 controls), a validation group (40 patients with sCAA, 40 patients with AD, and 37 controls), and a group of 22 patients with D-CAA and 54 controls. To determine the diagnostic accuracy, the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated using a receiver operating characteristic curve with 95% confidence interval (CI).ResultsWe found decreased levels of all Aβ peptides in sCAA patients and D-CAA patients compared to controls. The difference was most prominent for Aβ42 (AUC of sCAA vs controls for discovery: 0.90, 95% CI = 0.82–0.99; for validation: 0.94, 95% CI = 0.89–0.99) and Aβ43 (AUC of sCAA vs controls for discovery: 0.95, 95% CI = 0.88–1.00; for validation: 0.91, 95% CI = 0.83–1.0). All Aβ peptides except Aβ43 were also decreased in sCAA compared to AD (CSF Aβ38: AUC = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.71–0.93; CSF Aβ40: AUC = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.80–0.96; CSF Aβ42: AUC = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.66–0.92).Paroxysmal Cerebral Disorder

[Organ donation after euthanasia. Handle with great care]

Contains fulltext : 137265.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Recently, organ donation after euthanasia has been a topic of discussion in the Dutch media and scientific literature. Unfortunately, both the articles in question and the media interviews contained several unsubstantiated statements. This article describes the background of organ donation after euthanasia and refutes some of the recent statements. It discusses why it is expected that organ donation after euthanasia will result in a far fewer additional organ donors that originally stated. In conclusion, euthanasia is a topic that should be handled with great care

Parkinsonism. Possible solutions to a Diagnostic Challenge.

Contains fulltext : 81838.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)RU Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 07 oktober 2009Promotores : Kremer, H.P.H., Bloem, B.R. Co-promotores : Verbeek, M.M., Esselink, R.A.J.160 p

[Organ donation after euthanasia. Handle with great care]

Recently, organ donation after euthanasia has been a topic of discussion in the Dutch media and scientific literature. Unfortunately, both the articles in question and the media interviews contained several unsubstantiated statements. This article describes the background of organ donation after euthanasia and refutes some of the recent statements. It discusses why it is expected that organ donation after euthanasia will result in a far fewer additional organ donors that originally stated. In conclusion, euthanasia is a topic that should be handled with great care

Ethanol intoxication is a confounding factor in traumatic brain injury outcome.

Item does not contain fulltex

An unusual journey of a pulmonary artery catheter through the heart

Contains fulltext : 154100.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access

Liquoronderzoek in de differentiële diagnostiek van multipele systeematrofie.

Contains fulltext : 51694.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access

CSF neurofilament proteins levels are elevated in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Contains fulltext : 88280.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)In this study we investigated the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of neurofilament light (NFL) and heavy chain (NFHp35), total tau (t-tau), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) to detect disease specific profiles in sporadic Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (sCJD) patients and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. CSF levels of NFL, NFHp35, t-tau, and GFAP of 23 sCJD patients and 55 AD patients were analyzed and compared to non-demented controls. Median NFL, NFHp35, GFAP, and t-tau levels were significantly increased in sCJD patients and AD patients versus controls (p < 0.0001 in all). NFL, NFHp35, and t-tau levels were significantly increased in sCJD patients versus AD patients (p < 0.005), but GFAP concentrations did not differ between sCJD and AD. The results suggest that neuroaxonal damage, reflected by higher CSF levels of NFL, NFHp35, and t-tau, is more pronounced in the pathophysiology of sCJD than in AD. The comparable CSF GFAP concentrations suggest that astroglial damage or astrocytosis is equally pronounced in the pathophysiology of AD and sCJD. Prospective studies are needed to determine whether NFL and NFHp35 may be additional tools in the differential diagnosis of rapidly progressive dementias