Key Challenges and Potential Urban Modelling Opportunities in South Africa, with Specific Reference to the Gauteng City-Region

Urban growth and land use change models, supported by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software and increased digital data availability, have the potential to become important tools for monitoring and guiding urban spatial planning and development. Five broad categories of urban models are utilised internationally, that is, land use transportation models, cellular automata, system dynamics, agent-based models and spatial economics/econometric models. This paper provides a broad overview of South African modelling projects that monitor or simulate urban spatial change. The review identified a variety of government and academic urban modelling initiatives. These initiatives mostly track trends, rather than simulating future scenarios, and analyse historical land cover change using GIS and remote sensing software. There is a risk within Gauteng, however, that out-dated data, different population projections, duplicated tools, limited spatial data infrastructure (SDI) and a lack of resources; could compromise urban spatial change modelling efforts within government institutions. As such, the paper discusses key challenges and opportunities for modelling urban spatial change, with specific reference to the Gauteng City-Region – the heartland of the South African economy and the Southern African region

Implementation of liquid culture for tuberculosis diagnosis in a remote setting: lessons learned.

Although sputum smear microscopy is the primary method for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis in low-resource settings, it has low sensitivity. The World Health Organization recommends the use of liquid culture techniques for TB diagnosis and drug susceptibility testing in low- and middle-income countries. An evaluation of samples from southern Sudan found that culture was able to detect cases of active pulmonary TB and extra-pulmonary TB missed by conventional smear microscopy. However, the long delays involved in obtaining culture results meant that they were usually not clinically useful, and high rates of non-tuberculous mycobacteria isolation made interpretation of results difficult. Improvements in diagnostic capacity and rapid speciation facilities, either on-site or through a local reference laboratory, are crucial

Spatial statistical analysis of dissatisfaction with the performance of local government in the Gauteng City-Region, South Africa

South Africa in general, and the Gauteng City-Region in particular, are grappling with rising service delivery protests and increasing levels of dissatisfaction with government performance. Besides internal government performance measures, citizen satisfaction surveys are useful in providing citizen-based measurement of satisfaction with service delivery and the performance of government. With 27 490 respondents across Gauteng, the 2013 Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) Quality of Life (QoL) survey provides an interesting snap shot of attitudes towards government. A spatial statistical approach is applied to the 2013 QoL survey data to analyse patterns of dissatisfaction with the performance of local government. The analysis reveals spatial clustering in the level of dissatisfaction with the performance of local government. It also reveals percentage of respondents dissatisfied with dwelling, mean sense of safety index, and percentage agree the country is going in the wrong direction, as significant predictors of the level of local dissatisfaction. Other predictors include the percentage of respondents that think lack of maintenance is the biggest problem facing the community, and percentage agree that politics is waste of time. These results imply the need for incorporating spatial analysis and targeting in the formulation of policy aimed at improving government performance

Knowledge of Staff Nurses on Management of Deconditioning in Older Adults: A Cross- Sectional Study

Introduction: A significant issue facing today’s acute care nurse is the ability to respond to the rising number of  older adults admitted to the hospital, while simultaneously preventing complications of hospitalization, specifically deconditioning. Objective: The aim of this paper was to examine knowledge of staff nurses on management of deconditioning in older adults, in Baguio- Benguet area in the Philippines. Methods: The study made use of cross- sectional design. Sampling technique used was total enumeration, where 130 out of 135 nurses met the inclusion criteria. A 65 item questionnaire was used in gathering data. Data was subjected to statistical treatment where T- test and F- test were used accordingly. Results: Number of years of nursing experience tends to deteriorate the staff nurses’ knowledge on deconditioning management. Hospital affiliation is a significant factor that affects the knowledge of staff nurses on deconditioning management. Continuing education improves the knowledge of staff nurses on deconditioning management. Conclusion: Study suggests that it is important to establish gerontology continuing education programs with a core component on deconditioning treatment and prevention to enhance nurses’ knowledge on management of deconditioning so as to improve the care provided to older adults. Keywords: Continuing Education, Deconditioning Management, Gerontological Nursing, Gerontological Program, Staff Nurses and Older adults

Moderating Variables On SMEs Strategies And Competitiveness For International Trade: A Survey Of Horticultural Traders In Urban And Peri-Urban Areas In Kenya

Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) strategy and competitiveness in international trade in developing countries context have not been fully explored. This paper posits that SMEs competitiveness as a result of its strategy is moderated by an array of internal and external factors. Accordingly, this paper examines key moderating variables on the SMEs strategies as a construct that influence enterprise competitiveness. The objectives of the paper are three fold: to identify the moderating factors on SME strategies and competitiveness, to evaluate the level and extent of moderation of such variables and to evaluate the relationship between enterprise strategy and competitiveness. The hypotheses were developed and tested using data collected using survey of traders in the urban and peri-urban areas of Uasin Gishu District, Kenya. Systematic random sampling technique was used to pick 50 of the 200 traders in the market. Data was collected using self-administered structured questionnaire to the respondents. Factor analysis was used to extract latent factors and provide an understanding of structures and identify the moderating factors. Further, linear multiple regression analysis was performed on the extracted factors against sales volume as a measure of competitiveness. This was used in the assessment of various dimensions of the enterprise performance of SMES. Ten factors with high eigen values of more than one were extracted. The regression model could not provide conclusive results on the effect of strategy on competitiveness, but could be indicative of the complexity of the underlying interactions

Morphological and Molecular Identification of the Causal Agent of Anthracnose Disease of Avocado in Kenya

Anthracnose disease of avocado contributes to a huge loss of avocado fruits due to postharvest rot in Kenya. The causal agent of this disease has not been clear but presumed to be Colletotrichum gloeosporioides as reported in other regions where avocado is grown. The fungus mainly infects fruits causing symptoms such as small blackish spots, “pepper spots,” and black spots with raised margin which coalesce as infection progresses. Due to economic losses associated with the disease and emerging information of other species of fungi as causal agents of the disease, this study was aimed at identifying causal agent(s) of the disease. A total of 80 fungal isolates were collected from diseased avocado fruits in Murang’a County, the main avocado growing region in Kenya. Forty-six isolates were morphologically identified as Colletotrichum spp. based on their cultural characteristics, mainly whitish, greyish, and creamish colour and cottony/velvety mycelia on the top side of the culture and greyish cream with concentric zonation on the reverse side. Their spores were straight with rounded end and nonseptate. Thirty-four isolates were identified as Pestalotiopsis spp. based on their cultural characteristics: whitish grey mycelium with black fruiting structure on the upper side and greyish black one on the lower side and septate spores with 3-4 septa and 2 or 3 appendages at one end. Further molecular studies using ITS indicated Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Colletotrichum boninense, and Pestalotiopsis microspora as the causal agents of anthracnose disease in avocado. However, with this being the first report, there is a need to conduct further studies to establish whether there is coinfection or any interaction thereof

Isolation, Identification and Characterization of Urinary Tract Infectious Bacteria and the Effect of Different Antibiotics

Introduction: Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) defines a condition in which the urinary tract is infected with a pathogen causing inflammation which is a common, distressing and occasionally life threatening condition. UTI affects people of all  ages and both gender. In all patients with UTI are reported with asymptomatic bacteriuria. Female are more susceptible to  UTIs compared to  male. To ensure appropriate therapy, current knowledge of  the  organisms  that  cause  UTI  and  their  antibiotic  is  susceptibility is mandatory. Methods: This study focused on the frequency of uropathogens and  their antibiotic susceptibility in different gender in Madurai District. Cultural and biochemical characterization  of  uropathogens revealed  the  prevalence  of  both  gram-positive and gram-negative organisms Results: E. coli was the predominant isolate isolated from the urine specimen followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis and Enterococcus faecalis. Among the antibiotics tested, chloraphenicol and ciprofloxacin (100%) were found to be effective for empirical treatment of UTI and has covered the majority of urinary pathogens followed by tetracycline,  gentamycin and kanamycin (83%), Ampicillin (67). Streptomycin, Rifampicin and amoxicillin were less effective (50%). Conclusion: Some of the isolates were resistant to penicillin-G, Streptomycin, rifampicin and amoxicillin which are more frequently prescribed and indicates that increased consumption of a particular antibiotic leads to acquisition of resistance by the uropathogens.   Resistance rates among common uropathogens continue to evolve and appear to be increasing too many commonly used antimicrobial agents and a continued surveillance of resistance rates among uropathogens is needed to ensure appropriate recommendations for the treatment of the urinary tract infections. Keywords: Urinary tract infection, Drug resistence, Uropathogens, Biochemical tests

Antioxidant activity and antimicrobial properties of <i>Entada leptostachya</i> and <i>Prosopis juliflora</i> extracts

Background: Natural phytoconstituents produced by plants for their sustenance have been reported to reduce disease. Objectives: This study determined the phytoconstituents, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of crude methanolic extracts of Entada leptostachya and Prosopis juliflora extracts. Methodology: Antioxidant activity was determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and β-carotene assays; the total phenolic and flavonoid were estimated using Folin–Ciocalteau and aluminium chloride, whereas antimicrobial activity was determined using the zone of inhibition method. Results: Screening of the extracts revealed the presence of terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins and phenols. Fourier transform infrared spectra of the extracts revealed presence of hydrogen bonded –OH functional group. E. leptostachya barks had the highest antioxidant activity followed by P. juliflora roots, E. leptostachya roots and P. juliflora leaves [μg/mL]. Prosopis juliflora (roots) had the highest bleaching effect, whereas E. leptostachya (barks) had the lowest bleaching effect. The total flavonoids were determined to be 0.15 ± 0.02 mg/g, 1.18 ± 0.18 mg/g, 0.39 ± 0.05 mg/g and 0.64 ± 0.03 mg/g for E. leptostachya roots, E. leptostachya barks, P. juliflora leaves and P. juliflora roots extracts, respectively. The total phenols were determined to be 0.93 ± 0.18 mg/g, 2.69 ± 0.41 mg/g, 0.62 ± 0.08 mg/g and 0.62 ± 0.08 mg/g for E. leptostachya roots, E. leptostachya barks, P. juliflora roots and P. juliflora leaves extracts. All plant extracts exhibited moderate activity against the growth of selected microorganisms. Conclusion: Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the two plants was as a result of secondary metabolites found in the crude extracts

Flowering margins support natural enemies between cropping seasons

IntroductionPopulations of natural enemies of insect pests are declining owing to agricultural intensification and indiscriminate use of pesticides, and this may be exacerbated in agricultural systems that clear all margin plants after the cropping season for other uses such as fodder. Retaining a diversity of non-crop flowering vegetation outside the cropping season may support more resilient and effective natural pest regulation.MethodsWe tested the potential for non-crop vegetation to support natural enemies in fields across two locations after harvesting the primary crops of lablab and maize.ResultsA total of 54 plant species were recorded across the sites in Kenya with 59% of them being annuals and 41% perennials. There was a significant seasonal variation in plant species richness (ANOVA: F1, 16 = 33. 45; P&lt; 0.0001) and diversity (ANOVA: F1, 16 = 7.20; P = 0.0511). While time since harvesting was a significant factor influencing the overall abundance of natural enemies (ANOVA: F2, 1,133 = 8.11; P&lt; 0.0001), they were generally higher in abundance in locations with margin plants or where a diversity of margin plants was observed.DiscussionThese findings demonstrate that flowering plants in agricultural systems offer refuge and alternative food for natural enemies and potentially other beneficial insects between cropping seasons. The conservation of natural enemies between crops may lead to more effective natural pest regulation early in the following crop, thus reducing reliance on insecticides application