The impact of share index futures trading on the volatility and liquidity of the underlying assets on the Johannesburg stock exchange

Bibliography: leaves 68-71.This study covers the period from 1990 to 1997 and investigates the relationship between the volume and value of index futures trading for the three main share indices and the volatility of the underlying assets on the JSE. The results of the regression tests indicate significant positive relationships between futures trading activity and the volatility of the underlying assets for the All Gold Index and the Industrial Index. This suggests that increased futures trading is associated with increased volatility in the underlying assets. The relationships were not significant for the All Share Index. The results support the hypothesis that index futures trading increases the volatility of the underlying assets

Risk factors for diabetic foot ulceration in diabetic patients presenting at primary healthcare clinics in South Africa

Abstract: Objective: The main purpose of the study was to investigate the need for podiatrists as members of the primary healthcare team. One of the objectives of the study was to determine the percentage of patients presenting at the two Primary Healthcare clinics who are at risk of developing foot complications as a result of an underlying concomitant systemic disease. Research design and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study in which data was collected from patients presenting at two homogeneously selected Primary Healthcare (PHC) clinics in Johannesburg. Nursing staff assisted by a final year podiatry student collected data using a self-constructed data collection form (DCF) from each consenting patients as part of their routine patient consultation. Simple descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Results: Data was collected and analysed from 1077 patients and showed that 29% of the patients had diabetes. Diabetic foot ulceration risk factors that were recorded included peripheral neuropathy in 74% of diabetic patients, structural foot deformities in 47%, peripheral vascular symptoms in 39% and foot ulcer in 28% of the diabetic patients. Conclusion: Early identification of diabetic patients who are at high risk of diabetic foot ulceration is important and can be achieved via a mandatory diabetic foot screening with subsequent multidisciplinary foot-care interventions. Understanding the factors that place patients with diabetes at high risk of ulceration, together with an appreciation of the links between different aspects of the disease process and foot function, is essential to the prevention and management of diabetic foot complications. Significance of the study • There is limited data available on diabetic foot risk factors across all levels of care in South Africa. • The study found that up to 74% of patients presenting at PHC facilities in this study had symptoms of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and 28% had foot ulcers. • The findings are suggestive of a need for diabetic foot assessment to be mandated at PHC level as part of the routine diabetic patient assessment and for Podiatrists to be involved at this level of care

Systolic function evaluated with cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging in HIV-infected patients

BACKGROUND : Of all areas worldwide, sub-Saharan Africa is worst affected by the HIV and/or AIDS epidemic. Cardiovascular manifestations are very common and are a powerful contributor to mortality, but often go undetected. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is the most reliable method of assessing cardiac function and morphology and, with this in mind, we initiated a cross-sectional study comparing CMR-determined morphological and functional parameters in asymptomatic HIV-infected patients who were not yet on treatment and early in the disease, with HIV-uninfected control patients. OBJECTIVES : To ascertain whether there were any morphological abnormalities or systolic functional impairments on CMR in untreated asymptomatic HIV-infected patients, compared with HIV-uninfected control individuals. METHODS : The CMR studies were performed using a 1.5-T whole-body clinical magnetic resonance 16-channel scanner (Achieva, Philips Medical Systems, Best, The Netherlands), using a cardiac five-element phased-array receiver coil (SENSE coil). Functional assessment was performed on 36 HIV-infected patients and the findings compared with 35 HIV-uninfected control patients who were matched for age and sex. RESULTS : There was no significant difference in systolic function between the HIV-uninfected and the HIV-infected patients. The left ventricular end diastolic mass (LVEDM) was slightly higher in the HIV-infected group, but this was statistically insignificant. CONCLUSION : No significant differences were found regarding the CMR systolic functional analysis and morphological parameters between the HIV-infected and the healthy volunteers.http://www.sajr.org.za/am2017Internal MedicineRadiolog

Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation in Patients with Schizophrenia and Non-Affected Siblings

BACKGROUND: Patients with schizophrenia often experience problems regulating their emotions. Non-affected relatives show similar difficulties, although to a lesser extent, and the neural basis of such difficulties remains to be elucidated. In the current paper we investigated whether schizophrenia patients, non-affected siblings and healthy controls (HC) exhibit differences in brain activation during emotion regulation. METHODS: All subjects (n = 20 per group) performed an emotion regulation task while they were in an fMRI scanner. The task contained two experimental conditions for the down-regulation of emotions (reappraise and suppress), in which IAPS pictures were used to generate a negative affect. We also assessed whether the groups differed in emotion regulation strategies used in daily life by means of the emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ). RESULTS: Though the overall negative affect was higher for patients as well as for siblings compared to HC for all conditions, all groups reported decreased negative affect after both regulation conditions. Nonetheless, neuroimaging results showed hypoactivation relative to HC in VLPFC, insula, middle temporal gyrus, caudate and thalamus for patients when reappraising negative pictures. In siblings, the same pattern was evident as in patients, but only in cortical areas. CONCLUSIONS: Given that all groups performed similarly on the emotion regulation task, but differed in overall negative affect ratings and brain activation, our findings suggest reduced levels of emotion regulation processing in neural circuits in patients with schizophrenia. Notably, this also holds for siblings, albeit to a lesser extent, indicating that it may be part and parcel of a vulnerability for psychosis

Child health, infant formula funding and South African health professionals : eliminating conflict of interest

Lake et al. refer to the Allergy Society of South Africa (ALLSA) as an example of a professional body that may be fostering transgressions of regulation R991 (R991) of the Regulations Relating to Foodstuffs for Infants and Young Children. They also infer that the low breastfeeding rate (BFR) in South Africa (SA) is a direct result of aggressive breastmilk substitute (BMS) marketing and transgressions of R991 and call for a total dissociation between BMS suppliers and healthcare professionals.The South African Medical Research Councilhttp://www.samj.org.zaam2021ImmunologyPaediatrics and Child Healt

Recommendations for return to sport during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

In this viewpoint we make specific recommendations that can assist and make the return to sport/exercise as safe as possible for all those impacted - from the recreational athlete to the elite athlete. We acknowledge that there are varying rules and regulations around the world, not to mention the varying philosophies and numerous schools of thought as it relates to return to sport/exercise and we have been cognisant of this in our recommendations. Despite the varying rules and circumstances around the world, we believe it is essential to provide some helpful and consistent guidance for return to training and sport for sport and exercise physicians around the world at this most difficult time. The present viewpoint provides practical and medical recommendations on the resumption to sport process.</p

Infographic. Clinical recommendations for return to play during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 AND RETURN TO PLAY The world of sport has recently returned to training and competition following suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is concerning that a number of athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to competition. 1 Numerous authors have attempted to address return to play given the importance and complexity of the issue, with notable attention on possible cardiac implications.2–6 SCOPE OF THE INFOGRAPHIC The specific recommendations shown in the present infographic (figure 1) have been generated by a panel of international experts and represent a compilation of the numerous approaches used to inform resumption of regular sports during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the different regulations around the world and the particular characteristics of each sport, it is essential to provide informative, consistent and specific guidance for safe return to training and competition at this most difficult time. ..

Recommendations for return to sport during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

In this viewpoint we make specific recommendations that can assist and make the return to sport/exercise as safe as possible for all those impacted - from the recreational athlete to the elite athlete. We acknowledge that there are varying rules and regulations around the world, not to mention the varying philosophies and numerous schools of thought as it relates to return to sport/exercise and we have been cognisant of this in our recommendations. Despite the varying rules and circumstances around the world, we believe it is essential to provide some helpful and consistent guidance for return to training and sport for sport and exercise physicians around the world at this most difficult time. The present viewpoint provides practical and medical recommendations on the resumption to sport process