Congregational boundaries, new church developement and congregational relationships within the Dutch reformed church

In this article it is argued that in any system in which membership of a particular congregation is determined by the members themselves through subjective criteria, the relationship between congregations is influenced detrimentally. Subjective criteria are the opposite of objective criteria such as geographical boundaries or different language groups. The same is true when a congregation is not respected as God’s complete church. Beside this, subjective criteria also question God’s providence and also the essential variety of God given gifts that should be present in the congregation in order to function as a complete and healthy Body of Christ. New church development has to take all this into consideration when churches for different culture and generation groups are planted within the borders of existing congregations. It is, after all, not context that is the norm for the church, but God Himself through his Word and Spirit

Die ring. In diens van onderlinge sorg.

THE CLASSIS. IN SERVICE OF MUTUAL CONCERNCongregations of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa are facing  various challenges which they cannot meet on their own. The classis or presbytery was born in the sixteenth century when reformed congregations also went through very difficult times. Its aim was to help congregations fulfil their needs. Neighbouring congregations that are close enough to understand each other’s needs and able to meet as often as needed, constitute this governing body. It has its roots in the sense of unity and concern that existed between the congregations of the first century. Throughout the history of the classis in the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, this same sense of unity and concern about the welfare of the congregations constituted the presbytery. Today it is still an integral part of the church’s organization and can help congregations to fulfil their God-given calling in their own context.Article text in Afrikaan

Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in Gauteng on the decline : Experience at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg. South Africa

PKBackground: The incidence of rheumatic fever (RF) and its complications has waned over the past three to four decades throughout the Western world, but RF remains a problem in developing countries and in the indigenous populations of some well-resourced countries. A marked decline in children presenting with acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and chronic rheumatic heart disease (RHD) has been observed over the past two decades at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH) in southern Gauteng Province, South Africa, which mainly serves the periurban population of Soweto. Objectives: To analyse the observed decline in ARF and RHD, and consider the reasons for the decrease. Methods: Review of children with ARF and RHD captured on a computerised database of all children seen in the Paediatric Cardiology Unit at CHBAH during 1993 - 2010. Results: The records of 467 children with ARF and RHD were retrieved from the database. The majority provided addresses in Gauteng, Soweto and North West Province. The number of children documented to have ARF or RHD declined from 64 in 1993 to 3 in 2010. Onethird of the patients underwent surgery, the majority mitral valve repair. Most of the patients requiring surgery had addresses in parts of Gauteng other than Soweto and other provinces, with relatively few originating from Soweto. Conclusion: The decline in the number of children with ARF and RHD presenting to CHBAH may be attributed to an improvement in socioeconomic conditions and better access to medical care for the referral population over the past two decades

On-line moisture measurement of rocks, using microwave techniques

Includes bibliographical references.On-line measurement of the moisture content of process streams in a mineral processing plant is vital for their efficient operation. Although many industrial moisture meters are available, most of these were designed to determine the moisture content of low density, fine grained, uniformly surfaced and low resistance materials. Consequently these meters operate poorly on mineral treatment plants as the measured material, rock, is dense, uneven and consists of mixtures of various minerals. A literature survey revealed that of the many methods available, only three techniques could be used for on-line moisture determination in mineral processing operations.These were microwave attenuation, phase and frequency techniques

Factors limiting and preventing emerging farmers to progress to commercial agricultural farming in the King William’s town area of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

The aim of the study was to investigate the main limiting factors that prevent emerging farmers from progressing from subsistence to commercial agricultural farming in the Eastern Cape Province. The study was conducted in the King William’s Town area by means of a structured questionnaire survey. A sample of 50 households was drawn from the research area which was chosen owing to its uniqueness with regard to agricultural potential. A descriptive analysis technique was employed to investigate the main limiting factors faced by farming households in migrating towards commercial agricultural markets. The findings demonstrated that the specific limiting factors emerging farmers face are poor physical infrastructure such as poor roads, lack of transportation to the markets from the farms, lack of marketing skills and information, poor market infrastructure, and high transaction costs, insufficient land availability to expand production, lack of agricultural implements to better production, poor production and farm management skills, as well as low education levels which results in an inability to interpret market information to be used in production planning and marketing. The results from the study highlighted that the government has a crucial role to play in increasing market participation of emerging farmers through encouraging group marketing, upgrading of roads to enable smooth accessibility of farmers to output markets and the establishment of local point sales in farming rural areas. Finally the study recommended that government provides planned workshops to all farmers in order to equip them with marketing knowledge.Keywords: Emerging farmer; Constraints; Eastern Cape Province

Communication-related outcomes of cochlear implant use by late-implanted prelingually deafened adults

Cochlear implantation of prelingually deafened adults is a contentious issue and information about the outcomes of late-implanted prelingually deafened (LIPD) adults is still largely undocumented. The question this study set out to answer, is what impact a late cochlear implantation has on the communication-related outcomes, both self-reported and objectively measured, of prelingually deafened adults. Consequently, this investigation determined the auditory, language, speech-intelligibility and quality of life outcomes of a group of LIPD adults. A combined qualitative and quantitative cross-sectional research approach was utilized for this multiple case study investigation. A semi-structured interview, audiological test battery and communication assessments were conducted using seven LIPD adults of a well-established cochlear implant program in South Africa. The results of the study indicated that the LIPD adults’ objectively assessed auditory, language and speech intelligibility outcomes are poorer than would be expected from good cochlear implant users, but the self-reported outcomes indicated that they experienced the cochlear implant as worthwhile and positive. The findings of this study provide more in-depth information regarding the communication-related outcomes of this population, and this information may be used by audiologists and speech-language therapists during counselling of prelingually deafened candidates to ensure appropriate expectations. CopyrightDissertation (MCommunication Pathology)--University of Pretoria, 2010.Speech-Language Pathology and AudiologyUnrestricte

Modeling Pressure-Ionization of Hydrogen in the Context of Astrophysics

The recent development of techniques for laser-driven shock compression of hydrogen has opened the door to the experimental determination of its behavior under conditions characteristic of stellar and planetary interiors. The new data probe the equation of state (EOS) of dense hydrogen in the complex regime of pressure ionization. The structure and evolution of dense astrophysical bodies depend on whether the pressure ionization of hydrogen occurs continuously or through a ``plasma phase transition'' (PPT) between a molecular state and a plasma state. For the first time, the new experiments constrain predictions for the PPT. We show here that the EOS model developed by Saumon and Chabrier can successfully account for the data, and we propose an experiment that should provide a definitive test of the predicted PPT of hydrogen. The usefulness of the chemical picture for computing astrophysical EOS and in modeling pressure ionization is discussed.Comment: 16 pages + 4 figures, to appear in High Pressure Researc

Beskerming van kinderregte in die Suid-Afrikaanse reg in die lig van die Kinderwet 38 van 2005

Afrikaans textSuid-Afrika het ‘n ver pad gekom sedert die 16de eeu in die erkenning en ontwikkeling van kinderregte. Kinderregte word vandag ten volle erken in die Grondwet, wat die hoogste gesag in die land is. Hierdie studie het ten doel om die beskerming van kinderregte in die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg te ondersoek, met verwysing na die rol wat internasionale reg, soos die United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (“die Konvensie”) en die African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 1990 (“Afrika Handves”) in die ontwikkeling van kinderregte gespeel het. Spesifieke voorskrifte ingevolge waarvan die regte van kinders beskerm word is ondersoek,insluitend artikel 28 van die Grondwet en sekere bepalings van die Kinderwet. Weens die beperkte omvang van hierdie verhandeling, is sekere afgebakende voorbeelde uit die Kinderwet ondersoek met spesifieke verwysing na kinders se regte en tradisionele waardes soos manlike besnydenis, vroulike besnydenis en maagdelikheidstoetse. Daar is gekyk of die praktiese probleme op regeringsvlak, byvoorbeeld die voorsiening en befondsing van maatskaplike dienste, die implementering van die bepalings van die Kinderwet vertraag. Skrywer kom tot die slotsom dat die bepalings van die Kinderwet alleenlik nie voldoende is om effektiewe beskerming aan sekere groepe kinders te verleen nie en hierdie probleme lei daartoe dat kinderregte nie behoorlik gerealiseer en geïmplementeer word nie, en dat daar nie ‘n behoorlike balans tussen die regte en verantwoordelikhede van die kind, die ouers en die staat bereik word nie. Moontlike oplossings vir die probleem en tekortkominge in die uitvoering van die Kinderwet word voorgestel in die slot hoofstuk.South Africa has come a long way since the 16th century in the recognition and development of children's rights. Children's rights are now fully recognized in the Constitution, the supreme authority in the country. This study aims to investigate the protection of children's rights in South African law, with reference to the role of international law, such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the rights and Welfare of the child 1990, in the development of children's rights. Specific provisions under which the rights of children protected is examined, including Section 28 of the Constitution and certain provisions of the Children’s Act. Due to the limited scope of this paper, some designated examples from the Children’s Act are examined with particular reference to children's rights and traditional values such as male circumcision, female circumcision and virginity testing. It is looked at if whether the practical problems experienced on government level, the provision and funding of social services delay the implementation of the provisions of the Children's Act .Author comes to the conclusion that the provisions of the Children alone is not sufficient to ensure effective protection of the rights of certain groups of children and that these problems led to children's rights not properly realized and implemented, and that a proper balance between the rights and responsibilities of the child, the parents and the state is not reached. In the concluding chapter possible solutions to the problems and shortcomings in the implementation of the Children’s Act is suggested.JurisprudenceLL

Coastal and marine research and capacity building

UID/SOC/04647/2013Most, if not all, of the recommendations contained in this State of the Coast Report, relies on two cross-cutting and fundamental qualities. Firstly, managers, decision- and policy-makers and the various end-users have access to the products of scientific research in order to wisely govern and manage the use and exploitation of resources. In this context, data, information and knowledge are the basis for realising the benefit of an Ocean Economy. Secondly, both the management of resources and the underpinning knowledge base relies on the availability of people with the appropriate capability to be responsible custodians of such resources. Accordingly, education, awareness and training offer a long-term solution for the sustainable development of a coastal and ocean economy. The core objectives of this chapter are first, to help in the understanding of how national and regional research agendas can contribute to a consistent and complete “bigger picture” of data, information and knowledge required to manage the coastal and marine resources of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), and secondly, present processes that contribute to the regional and national knowledge-base. The first part of the chapter will examine the past, current and future coastal and marine research priorities at various scales and how research has been or is conducted in the region. The second part of the chapter will explore the development of regional capacity for coastal and marine research and how existing research has been supported in the past. The chapter will conclude with successes on how science has contributed to decision- and policy-making in the region.publishersversionpublishe