Burdened By Race

Since its emergence in the late 19th century, coloured identity has been pivotal to racial thinking in southern Africa. The nature of colouredness is a highly emotive and controversial issue as it embodies many of the racial antagonisms, ambiguities and derogations prevalent in the subcontinent. Throughout their existence coloured communities have had to contend with being marginal minorities stigmatised as the insalubrious by-products of miscegenation. Burdened By Race showcases recent innovative research and writing on coloured identity in southern Africa. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines and applying fresh theoretical insights, the book brings new levels of understanding to processes of coloured self-identification. It examines diverse manifestations of colouredness, using interlinking themes and case studies from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi to present analyses that challenge and overturn much of the conventional wisdom around identity in the current literature

Teachers' League of South Africa 1913-40

Besides examining the history of the Teachers' League of South Africa, a specifically coloured teachers' association, during its conservative phase from 1913 to 1940, this thesis in addition attempts to investigate the nature and development of this organization in the context of the wider social dynamic of which it was both part and product. The League is thus not only studied as a professional association but also as a specific constituent of the broader social categories of the coloured elite, the coloured people and South African society. The origins of the T.L.S.A. was rooted in the subordination of peoples of colour in Cape settler society and the development through the 19th century of a segregated education system at the Cape. More immediately, as a result of the social and political consequences of the mineral revolution intensifying racial discrimination against blacks, one of the responses of the coloured elite was the establishment of the League, through the mediation of the African Political Organisation, to protect coloured educational interests, regarded to be crucial to their advancement. The League was a typical embodiment of the assimilationist aspirations and accommodationist strategies that resulted from coloured elite marginality. This is evident in the growth and maturity of the League being largely in response to the progressive and systematic enforcement of segregation against coloureds over this period. More significantly, the League fully accepted white middle class values and codes of behaviour and its organizational life was dominated by the striving to conform to these norms. The League also displayed the essential powerlessness of the coloured elite as its representative in the tripartite contest with the Education Department and churches to influence the direction of coloured education. The interstitial position of the coloured elite in South African society was manifested by the League contradicting its basic principle of non-racism by the qualified acceptance of coloured inferiority and trying to use its closer assimilation to Western culture to claim a position of relative privilege for coloureds vis-a-vis Africans. It is apparent that at all levels of its existence the League was captive to its coloured identity and status

‘Not Black Enough’: Changing Expressions of Coloured Identity in Post-Apartheid South Africa

M. Adhikari, ‘Hope, Fear, Shame, Frustration: Continuity and Change in the Expression of Coloured Identity in White Supremacist South Africa, 1910-1994’ (PhD thesis, University of Cape Town, 2002). The central argument of the dissertation is that Coloured identity is better understood not as having evolved through a series of transformations during this period, as conventional historical thinking would have it, but to have remained surprisingbly stable throughout the era of white rule. This is not to contend that Coloured identity was static or that it lacked fluidity, but that the continuities during this period were more fundamental to the way in which it operated as a social identity than the changes it experienced. It is argued at some length that this stability was derived from a central core of enduring characteristics that regulated the way in which Colouredness functioned as an identity during this period. For the core of the argument, see especially pp. 7-8 and 24-43

Hope, fear, shame and frustration: Continuity and change in the expression of Coloured Identity in white supremacist South African 1910-1994

This article seeks to explain the basic impulses behind coloured exclusivity in white supremacist South Africa and to elaborate on continuity and change in the processes of coloured self-definition by identifying the core attributes of coloured identity and outlining the ways in which they operated to reinforce and reproduce that identity. The central argument is that coloured identity is better understood not as having evolved through a series of transformations, as conventional historical thinking would have it and as the existing literature assumes, but as having remained remarkably stable throughout the era of white rule. It is argued that this stability derived from a core of enduring characteristics that informed the manner in which colouredness functioned as an identity during this period. This is not to contend that coloured identity was static or that it lacked fluidity, but that there were both important constraints on the ways in which it was able to find expression and sufficiently strong continuities in its day-to-day functioning for coloured identity to have remained recognisably uniform despite radical changes in the social and political landscape during this time. The principal constituents of this stable core are the assimilationism of the coloured people, which spurred hopes of future acceptance into the dominant society; their intermediate status in the racial hierarchy, which generated fears that they might lose their position of relative privilege and be relegated to the status of Africans; the negative connotations, especially the shame attached to racial hybridity, with which colouredness was imbued; and finally, the marginality of the coloured community, which severely limited their options for social and political action, giving rise to a great deal of frustration

Hope, fear, shame, frustration : continuity and change in the expression of coloured identity in white supremacist South Africa, 1910-1994

Bibliography: leaves 329-352.This thesis examines the ways in which Coloured identity manifested itself in South African society from the time the South African state was formed in 1910 till the institution of democratic rule in 1994. The central argument of the dissertation is that Coloured identity is better understood, not as having evolved through a series of transformations during this period, as conventional historical thinking would have it, but to have remained remarkably stable throughout the era of white rule. This is not to contend that Coloured identity was static or that it lacked fluidity but that the continuities during this period were more fundamental to the way in which it operated as a social identity than the changes it experienced. It is argued that this stability was derived from a central core of enduring characteristics that regulated the way in which Colouredness functioned as an identity during this period. Each of the four emotions in the title of the thesis corresponds to a key characteristic at the heart of the identity. The principal constituents of this stable core are the assimilationism of the Coloured people (hope), their intermediate status in the racial hierarchy (fear), the negative connotations, especially that of racial hybridity, with which it was imbued (shame), and finally, the marginality of the Coloured community (frustration)

Circulating Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer: A Potential Liquid Biopsy

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have emerged as a new generation of liquid biomarker that allows for noninvasive longitudinal disease monitoring. CTCs represent a rare cell population in the blood, surrounded by billions of hematopoietic cells. Due to the rarity of CTCs in the blood, the isolation of pure CTCs’ populations has proven to be challenging. However, a number of new technologies have emerged using CTCs cytometric/immunological and physical characteristics. Currently, patients with greater than 5 CTCs have a shorter progression-free survival, as compared with those with less than 5 CTCs per 7.5 ml of whole blood. Although the CTC count itself is an independent prognostic marker, the field is shifting toward understanding metastasis-relevant marker expression on CTCs for the improvement of the prognostic significance of CTCs. This chapter first introduces the principles of CTC isolation and detection methods, then the clinical utility of CTCs for prediction of prognosis and therapy response. Lastly, the heterogeneity of CTCs will be discussed

Prevalence of frailty and association with patient centered outcomes:A prospective registry-embedded cohort study from India

Purpose:We aimed to study the prevalence of frailty, evaluate risk factors, and understand impact on outcomes in India. Methods:This was a prospective registry-embedded cohort study across 7 intensive care units (ICUs) and included adult patients anticipated to stay for at least 48hrs. Primary exposure was frailty, as defined by a score ≥5 on the Clinical Frailty Scale and primary outcome was ICU mortality. Secondary outcomes included in-hospital mortality and resource utilization. We used generalized linear models to evaluate risk factors and model association between frailty and outcomes. Results:838 patients were included, with median (IQR) age 57 (42,68) yrs.; 64.8% were male. Prevalence of frailty was 19.8%. Charlson comorbidity index (OR:1.73 (95%CI:1.39,2.15)), Subjective Global Assessment categories mild/moderate malnourishment (OR:1.90 (95%CI:1.29, 2.80)) and severe malnourishment [OR:4.76 (95% CI:2.10,10.77)] were associated with frailty. Frailty was associated with higher odds of ICU mortality (adjusted OR:2.04 (95% CI:1.25,3.33)), hospital mortality (adjusted OR:2.36 (95%CI:1.45,3.84)), development of stage2/3 AKI (unadjusted OR:2.35 (95%CI:1.60, 3.43)), receipt of non-invasive ventilation (unadjusted OR:2.68 (95%CI:1.77, 4.03)), receipt of vasopressors (unadjusted OR:1.47 (95%CI:1.04, 2.07)), and receipt of kidney replacement therapy (unadjusted OR:3.15 (95%CI:1.90, 5.17)). Conclusions:Frailty is common among critically ill patients in India and is associated with worse outcomes. <br/

Notes towards a history of Khoi literature

This article puts forward a revisionist history of Khoi literature, and also presents a number of translated Khoi narratives that have not been available in English before. Compared to the large volume of Bushman literature and scholarship, there has been very little Khoi literature and engagement with it, and an argument is presented to account for this gap in South African cultural history. Until now, the major source of Khoi literature was Wilhelm Bleek’s Reynard the Fox in South Africa (1864), and this text is critically interrogated as a limiting version of Khoi orature. An alternative corpus of Khoi narratives is presented that was originally published in Leonard Schultze’s Aus Namaland und Kalahari (1907).Web of Scienc

Survey of information technology in Intensive Care Units in Ontario, Canada

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a data-rich environment where information technology (IT) may enhance patient care. We surveyed ICUs in the province of Ontario, Canada, to determine the availability, implementation and variability of information systems.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A self-administered internet-based survey was completed by ICU directors between May and October 2006. We measured the spectrum of ICU clinical data accessible electronically, the availability of decision support tools, the availability of electronic imaging systems for radiology, the use of electronic order entry and medication administration systems, and the availability of hardware and wireless or mobile systems. We used Fisher's Exact tests to compare IT availability and Classification and Regression Trees (CART) to estimate the optimal cut-point for the number of computers per ICU bed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We obtained responses from 50 hospitals (68.5% of institutions with level 3 ICUs), of which 21 (42%) were university-affiliated. The majority electronically accessed laboratory data and imaging reports (92%) and used picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) (76%). Other computing functions were less prevalent (medication administration records 46%, physician or nursing notes 26%; medication order entry 22%). No association was noted between IT availability and ICU size or university affiliation. Sites used clinical information systems from15 different vendors and 8 different PACS systems were in use. Half of the respondents described the number of computers available as insufficient. Wireless networks and mobile computing systems were used in 23 ICUs (46%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Ontario ICUs demontrate a high prevalence of the use of basic information technology systems. However, implementation of the more complex and potentially more beneficial applications is low. The wide variation in vendors utilized may impair information exchange, interoperability and uniform data collection.</p

Mortality, morbidity, and hospitalisations due to influenza lower respiratory tract infections, 2017: an analysis for the global burden of disease study 2017

Although the burden of influenza is often discussed in the context of historical pandemics and the threat of future pandemics, every year a substantial burden of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) and other respiratory conditions (like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) are attributable to seasonal influenza. The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2017 is a systematic scientific effort to quantify the health loss associated with a comprehensive set of diseases and disabilities. In this Article, we focus on LRTIs that can be attributed to influenza. Methods: We modelled the LRTI incidence, hospitalisations, and mortality attributable to influenza for every country and selected subnational locations by age and year from 1990 to 2017 as part of GBD 2017. We used a counterfactual approach that first estimated the LRTI incidence, hospitalisations, and mortality and then attributed a fraction of those outcomes to influenza. Findings: Influenza LRTI was responsible for an estimated 145 000 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 99 000–200 000) deaths among all ages in 2017. The influenza LRTI mortality rate was highest among adults older than 70 years (16·4 deaths per 100 000 [95% UI 11·6–21·9]), and the highest rate among all ages was in eastern Europe (5·2 per 100 000 population [95% UI 3·5–7·2]). We estimated that influenza LRTIs accounted for 9 459 000 (95% UI 3 709 000–22 935 000) hospitalisations due to LRTIs and 81 536 000 hospital days (24 330 000–259 851 000). We estimated that 11·5% (95% UI 10·0–12·9) of LRTI episodes were attributable to influenza, corresponding to 54 481 000 (38 465 000–73 864 000) episodes and 8 172 000 severe episodes (5 000 000–13 296 000). Interpretation: This comprehensive assessment of the burden of influenza LRTIs shows the substantial annual effect of influenza on global health. Although preparedness planning will be important for potential pandemics, health loss due to seasonal influenza LRTIs should not be overlooked, and vaccine use should be considered. Efforts to improve influenza prevention measures are needed. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation