Filament identification and dominance of Eikelboom Type 0092 in activated sludge from wastewater treatment facilities in Cape Town, South Africa

Routine characterisation of activated sludge and identification of the filamentous population by microscopic and/or other non-culture dependent techniques can assist in diagnosing the aetiology of poor performance of wastewater treatment works (WWTWs). In South Africa, most facilities rely solely on physicochemical indicators, treating reactors as ‘black-boxes’, with the result that process adjustments are often delayed, to the detriment of the environment. This study was performed in order to gain insight into the filamentous population found in activated sludge in Cape Town WWTWs, to compare these with other global and local literature findings, and to build capacity in this science. Physicochemical and plant performance parameters, in terms of nutrient removal and settling, were obtained from routine operational data and assessed in conjunction with the microscopic analyses of activated sludge samples taken over a 6-month period. Hypotheses on the links between filament types and/or plant  configurations and/or operational parameters were formulated using  existing literature. In order of prevalence, the five most common dominant filament species in 96 activated sludge samples were: Eikelboom Type  0092, Eikelboom Type 1851, nocardioforms, Microthrix parvicella and  Eikelboom Type 021N. In order to compile a statistically significant  database, it is recommended that an extensive nationwide study is  conducted to link filament types with plant configurations, operational parameters and geographical locations.Keywords: activated sludge, bulking, identification, filament, Type 009

A Comparative Analysis of Human Trafficking: The United States of America (USA) and the Republic of South Africa (RSA)

Human trafficking is a serious global problem that transcends international borders and disciplinary boundaries. It presents a conglomeration of problems generally dealt with by public health, criminal justice, social service and immigration agencies. Victim advocates state that millions are victimized each year. The data suggest that law enforcement agencies perceive human trafficking to be of greater, or equal, concern for the myriad of social institutions and participants affected by human trafficking than for law enforcement, itself. Policy recommendations are to refocus the law enforcement response - which may include various approaches that can simultaneously benefit public health - by incorporating an Epidemiological Criminology framework to help to guide the development of more systematic and integrative insight into the world of human trafficking

FRB 20121102A: images of the bursts and the varying radio counterpart

As more Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are being localised, we are learning that some fraction have persistent radio sources (PRSs). Such a discovery motivates an improvement in our understanding of the nature of those counterparts, the relation to the bursts themselves and why only some FRBs have PRSs. We report on observations made of FRB 20121102A with the MeerKAT radio telescope. Across five epochs, we detect the PRS associated with FRB 20121102A. Our observations are split into a cluster of four epochs (MJD 58732 - 58764) and a separate single epoch about 1000days later. The measured flux density is constant across the first four observations but then decays by more than one-third in the final observation. Our observations on MJD 58736 coincided with the detections of 11 bursts from FRB 20121102A by the MeerTRAP backend, seven of which we detected in the image plane. We discuss the importance of image plane detections when considering the commensal transient searches being performed with MeerKAT and other radio facilities. We find that MeerKAT is so sensitive that within a two-second image, we can detect any FRB with a flux density above 2.4mJy at 1.3GHz and so could localise every FRB that has been detected by CHIME to date.Comment: Accepted in MNRA

Evaluation of Selected Aspects of the Nutrition Therapeutic Programme Offered to HIV-Positive Women of Child-Bearing Age in Western Cape Province, South Africa

Background: The Nutrition Therapeutic Programme (NTP) involves the provision of food supplements at primary health clinics (PHCs) to correct nutritional deficiencies in vulnerable groups. Although previous studies have identified problems with implementing the programme at PHCs, assessments of its efficiency have been scarce.Objective: To evaluate implementation of the NTP at PHCs that provide antiretroviral therapy.Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted at 17 PHCs located within 3 districts of Western Cape Province. Two target groups were chosen: 32 staff members working at the sites and 21 women of child-bearing age enrolled in the NTP. Questionnaires were used to obtain data.Results: Only 2 women (10%) lived in food-secure households; the rest were either at risk of hunger (29%) or classified as hungry (61%). Most of the women knew they had to take the supplements to improve their nutritional status, but the majority only recalled receiving basic nutritional advice, and the information was mainly given verbally. Ten of the women had shared their supplements with others, mostly with their children. The study identified lack of clearly defined NTP responsibilities at the PHCs, causing confusion amongst the staff. Although many staff members expressed problems with the NTP, only 38% of them reported having routine evaluations regarding the programme.Conclusion: Several aspects compromised the effectiveness of the NTP, including socioeconomic factors leading to clients’ non-compliance. The strategic organisation and implementation of the NTP varied between different PHCs offering antiretroviral therapy, and staff experienced difficulties with the logistics of the programme

Strict inequalities of critical values in continuum percolation

We consider the supercritical finite-range random connection model where the points $x,y$ of a homogeneous planar Poisson process are connected with probability $f(|y-x|)$ for a given $f$. Performing percolation on the resulting graph, we show that the critical probabilities for site and bond percolation satisfy the strict inequality $p_c^{\rm site} > p_c^{\rm bond}$. We also show that reducing the connection function $f$ strictly increases the critical Poisson intensity. Finally, we deduce that performing a spreading transformation on $f$ (thereby allowing connections over greater distances but with lower probabilities, leaving average degrees unchanged) {\em strictly} reduces the critical Poisson intensity. This is of practical relevance, indicating that in many real networks it is in principle possible to exploit the presence of spread-out, long range connections, to achieve connectivity at a strictly lower density value.Comment: 38 pages, 8 figure

Fungal pathogens of Proteaceae

Species of Leucadendron, Leucospermum and Protea (Proteaceae) are in high demand for the international floriculture market due to their brightly coloured and textured flowers or bracts. Fungal pathogens, however, create a serious problem in cultivating flawless blooms. The aim of the present study was to characterise several of these pathogens using morphology, culture characteristics, and DNA sequence data of the rRNA-ITS and LSU genes. In some cases additional genes such as TEF 1-α and CHS were also sequenced. Based on the results of this study, several novel species and genera are described. Brunneosphaerella leaf blight is shown to be caused by three species, namely B. jonkershoekensis on Protea repens, B. nitidae sp. nov. on Protea nitida and B. protearum on a wide host range of Protea spp. (South Africa). Coniothyrium-like species associated with Coniothyrium leaf spot are allocated to other genera, namely Curreya grandicipis on Protea grandiceps, and Microsphaeropsis proteae on P. nitida (South Africa). Diaporthe leucospermi is described on Leucospermum sp. (Australia), and Diplodina microsperma newly reported on Protea sp. (New Zealand). Pyrenophora blight is caused by a novel species, Pyrenophora leucospermi, and not Drechslera biseptata or D. dematoidea as previously reported. Fusicladium proteae is described on Protea sp. (South Africa), Pestalotiopsis protearum on Leucospermum cuneiforme (Zimbabwe), Ramularia vizellae and R. stellenboschensis on Protea spp. (South Africa), and Teratosphaeria capensis on Protea spp. (Portugal, South Africa). Aureobasidium leaf spot is shown to be caused by two species, namely A. proteae comb. nov. on Protea spp. (South Africa), and A. leucospermi sp. nov. on Leucospermum spp. (Indonesia, Portugal, South Africa). Novel genera and species elucidated in this study include Gordonomyces mucovaginatus and Pseudopassalora gouriqua (hyphomycetes), and Xenoconiothyrium catenata (coelomycete), all on Protea spp. (South Africa)

The time to extinction for an SIS-household-epidemic model

We analyse a stochastic SIS epidemic amongst a finite population partitioned into households. Since the population is finite, the epidemic will eventually go extinct, i.e., have no more infectives in the population. We study the effects of population size and within household transmission upon the time to extinction. This is done through two approximations. The first approximation is suitable for all levels of within household transmission and is based upon an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process approximation for the diseases fluctuations about an endemic level relying on a large population. The second approximation is suitable for high levels of within household transmission and approximates the number of infectious households by a simple homogeneously mixing SIS model with the households replaced by individuals. The analysis, supported by a simulation study, shows that the mean time to extinction is minimized by moderate levels of within household transmission