Housing and health in an informal settlement upgrade in Cape Town, South Africa

Taking a socio-ecological perspective the World Health Organisation recognizes that housing comprises four interrelated dimensions—the physical structure of the house, the home, the neighbourhood infrastructure and the community. Housing related health vulnerability arises when residents are exposed to poor conditions in any one of these dimensions and augmented when two or more co-exists. Regardless the relationship between housing and health in the global south remains largely under explored; in particular there has been little focus on health outcomes resulting from upgrading of informal settlements. Applying this framework we report from an in situ upgrading of the informal settlement of Imizamo Yethu in Cape Town, South Africa. Data gathered from surveys are used to determine whether differences in each of these dimensions exist between housing type; both formal upgrades and shacks. Results show that whilst no significant differences exist in self-reported physical health, residents of formal housing are less likely to report mental health issues, have a stronger sense of belonging and report greater satisfaction with both neighbourhood and home than shack residents. However, these contested spaces are not easily interpreted and community tension, exclusion and disadvantage highlight the complex interactions between each of the interrelated dimensions and policies regarding housing intervention. The paper highlights the complex relationship between housing and health that is often lost in simplistic measures of housing when outcomes related to the indoor environment alone are considered

Parotid haemangiomas in childhood: a case for MRI

Seven infants with unilateral parotid haemangiomas seen at one centre are presented. Their case notes and special investigations an reviewed. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is revealed as the investigation of choice because of picture quality, definition of soft tissues and lack of exposure to ionizing radiation. MRI allows a definite diagnosis to be made without any invasive procedure being required. A future study following up these infants may be of interest because of controversy regarding the spontaneous resolution of these lesions

Reintegrating informal settlements into the Greater Cairo Region of Egypt through the regional highway network

This study analyses informal settlements and the regional highway network in the Greater Cairo Region of Egypt to propose alternatives to reduce regional spatial fragmentation that may lead to spatial segregation. Findings indicate that the street structure of informal settlements provides a configuration that supports social interaction for their residents. While the regional highway network can act to physically disconnect the wider region by isolating or splitting neighbourhoods, some highways can act as an integrator. Analysis at the urban scale can identify points in the settlements’ street networks where they can be connected to the regional transport network, which could have an impact on regional consolidation

Technique for the collection of clear urine from the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)

Urine samples can be a very useful diagnostic tool for the evaluation of animal health. In this article, a simple technique to collect urine from the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) was described, based on a similar unpublished technique developed for the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) using a canine urinary catheter. With this technique, it was possible to collect relatively clean urine samples from Nile crocodiles of different sizes using canine urinary catheters or small diameter stomach tubes. Based on the gross anatomical features of the cloaca of the Nile crocodile, it was confirmed that urine accumulates in a chamber consisting of the urodeum and coprodeum. Faecal material is stored temporarily in the very short rectum, which is separated from the urinary chamber by the rectocoprodeal sphincter.The Norwegian Council for Higher Education’s Program for Development, Research and Educationhttp://www.jsava.co.zamn201

Remembering Marikana: Public art intervention and the right to the city in Cape Town

This article investigates the role played by cultural initiatives in urban struggles in South Africa, and the emergence of public art to assert the right to the city. I explore how artistic– activist interventions engage an understanding of social justice and the right to the city in provocative visual and performance art. I demonstrate how such interventions reflect Lefebvre’s conceptualisation of the city as a space to be inhabited in an active process, which critically includes its re-imagination. The paper focuses on creative interventions in Cape Town that confronted the city’s genteel public space with the second and third anniversary of the shooting of 34 striking miners at Marikana on August 16 2012. I argue that bringing the commemoration of the massacre into the public urban space – where post-apartheid Cape Town exhibits its claim to cosmopolitanism – challenges the politics of space in South Africa. I asked, how these cultural initiatives articulate claims through reimagining the city how they engage with the intertwined politics of culture and class followed by both the city and the nation–state, and how the artistic practices contest urban citizenship in contemporary South Africa

Cranial Pathologies in a Specimen of Pachycephalosaurus

. The specimen features two large oval depressions on the dorsal surface, accompanied by numerous circular pits on the margin and inner surface of the larger depressions.In order to identify the origin of these structures, computed tomography (CT) data and morphological characteristics of the specimen are analyzed and compared with similar osteological structures in fossil and extant archosaurs caused by taphonomic processes, non-pathologic bone resorption, and traumatic infection/inflammatory origins. The results of these analyses suggest that the structures are pathologic lesions likely resulting from a traumatic injury and followed by secondary infection at the site.The presence of lesions on a frontoparietal dome, and the exclusivity of their distribution along the dorsal dome surface, offers further insight into frontoparietal dome function and supports previously hypothesized agonistic behavior in pachycephalosaurids

Plot by plot: plotting urbanism as an ordinary process of urbanization

With this paper, we analyse an ordinary urban process, which has received little attention so far and propose a new concept to take account of it: plotting urbanism. It is usually subsumed under terms like “urban informality” or “incremental urbanism” and not studied as a distinct process. In comparing Lagos, Istanbul and Shenzhen we captured four defining features of plotting urbanism: first, it unfolds in a piecemeal fashion with limited comprehensive planning. Second, it emerges from conflicts between multiple overlapping modes of territorial regulation, land tenure and property rights, which result in specific territorial compromises. Third, plotting is based on commodification of housing and land, which might accentuate socio-economic differentiations between property-owners, who often live in the same area, and their tenants. The term “plotting” highlights the key role of the plot in the process. It also alludes to strategic acts of collaboration for individual and collaborative benefit