Comments from the property industry on Masters Real Estate curricula in South Africa

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to report comments given in a survey of property professionals in the industry on Masters Real Estate (MRE) curricula in South Africa. Methodology: A questionnaire was administered to obtain comments from property professionals in the industry on MRE curricula in South Africa. Findings: The property industry survey revealed that MRE curricula in South Africa have both strengths and weaknesses. The main strength of the curricula noted by the property professionals is that the curricula are interdisciplinary. Weaknesses reported include lack of case studies and practical components in the curricula. Research limitations: Results of the survey will not directly influence change to the processes of curriculum development for postgraduate real estate education in South Africa. Curricula development will largely depend on outcomes of discussions of lecturing staff and university administrations implementing the courses. Value: The study will support processes of curricula improvement for MRE programmes in South Afric

Essential non-clinical skills and training required by dentists in South Africa

Dentists possess clinical experience garnered within supervised clinical settings, primarily aimed at diagnosing, treating and preventing oral cavity related diseases.1 Undergraduate dentistry training mostly focuses on the scientific underpinnings of this discipline and building clinical experience, not allowing adequate time for additional coursework.1 According to Haslach et al.2, dentists choose dental careers because they want to help and work with people, as well as desire job and financial security. The current economic downturn has led to a revenue plunge for many independent dental practices, attributed partially to less per capita patient expenditure.3 In response, patients have increasingly embraced preventative measures over more costly procedures, seeking to minimise expenses.4 The global financial crisis further underscores the value of leadership development, given its potential impact on the efficacy of clinic leaders

Divergent selection for reproduction affects dag score, breech wrinkle score and crutching time in Merinos

Merino lines that were divergently selected from the same base population from 1986 to 2009 for their ability to rear multiples were assessed for dag score in autumn and spring, breech wrinkle score, and crutching time. Animals in the Low (L) line had higher dag and breech wrinkle scores and took longer to be crutched than High (H) line contemporaries. Expressed relative to H line least squares means, means of L line individuals were respectively 54%, 65%, 42% and 40% higher for autumn dag score, spring dag score, breech fold score, and crutching time. Gender effects for dag score were inconclusive, as ewe hoggets were more daggy than rams in autumn, with an opposite trend in spring. Shearer (n = 6) also affected crutching times, with an almost twofold difference in mean crutching time from the quickest shearer (27.7 ± 3.1 seconds) to the slowest shearer (49.4 ± 3.7 seconds). The inclusion of dag score and breech wrinkle score as linear covariates in an analysis on crutching time eliminated the effect of selection line. It thus seems that the quicker crutching times of H line animals may be related to line differences for dag score and, to a lesser extent, for breech wrinkle score

Quantifying water requirements of African ungulates through a combination of functional traits

Climate and land use change modify surface water availability in African savannas. Surface water is a key resource for both wildlife and livestock and its spatial and temporal distribution is important for understanding the composition of large herbivore assemblages in savannas. Yet, the extent to which ungulate species differ in their water requirements remains poorly quantified. Here, we infer the water requirements of 48 African ungulates by combining six different functional traits related to physiological adaptations to reduce water loss, namely minimum dung moisture, relative dung pellet size, relative surface area of the distal colon, urine osmolality, relative medullary thickness, and evaporation rate. In addition, we investigated how these differences in water requirements relate to differences in dietary water intake. We observed strong correlations between traits related to water loss through dung, urine and evaporation, suggesting that ungulates minimize water loss through multiple pathways simultaneously, which suggests that each trait can thus be used independently to predict water requirements. Furthermore, we found that browsers and grazers had similar water requirements, but browsers are expected to be less dependent on surface water because they acquire more water through their diet. We conclude that these key functional traits are a useful way to determine differences in water requirements and an important tool for predicting changes in herbivore community assembly resulting from changes in surface water availability

A prospective observational study of preoperative natriuretic peptide testing in adult non-cardiac surgical patients in hospitals in Western Cape Province, South Africa

Background. International guidelines recommend risk stratification to identify high-risk non-cardiac surgical patients. It is also recommended that all patients aged ≥45 years with significant cardiovascular disease should have preoperative natriuretic peptide (NP) testing. Abnormal preoperative B-type NPs have a strong association with postoperative cardiac complications. In South African hospitals, it is not known how many patients with significant cardiovascular disease scheduled for intermediate- to high-risk surgery will have raised NPs.Objectives. To determine the prevalence of abnormal (raised) NPs in non-cardiac surgical patients with cardiac clinical risk factors. A secondary objective was to develop a model to identify surgical patients who may benefit from preoperative NP screening.Methods. The inclusion criteria were patients aged ≥45 years presenting for elective, non-obstetric, intermediate- to high-risk non-cardiac surgery with at least one of the following cardiovascular risk factors: a history of ischaemic heart disease or peripheral vascular disease (coronary equivalent); a history of stroke or transient ischaemic attack; a history of congestive cardiac failure; diabetes mellitus currently on an oral hypoglycaemic agent or insulin; and serum creatinine level >175 µmol/L (>2.0 mg/dL). Blood samples for N-terminal-prohormone B-type NP (NT-proBNP) were collected before induction of anaesthesia. The preoperative prognostic threshold for abnormal (raised) NT-proBNP was ≥300 pg/mL. A generalised linear mixed model was used to determine the association between the risk factors and an abnormal NT-proBNP level.Results. Of 172 patients, 63 (37%) had an elevated preoperative NT-proBNP level. The comorbidities independently associated with elevated preoperative NT-proBNP were coronary artery disease or peripheral vascular disease, congestive cardiac failure, diabetes mellitus, and a creatinine level >175 µmol/L.Conclusions. We strongly recommend that non-cardiac surgical patients aged ≥45 years undergoing intermediate- or high-risk non-cardiac surgery with a history of coronary artery disease/peripheral vascular disease, congestive cardiac failure, diabetes mellitus or elevated creatinine have preoperative NP testing as part of risk stratification

A multicentre cross-sectional descriptive study evaluating the cardiovascular risk profile of preoperatively identified patients with hypertension

Background. The prevalence of hypertension in adults in South Africa (SA) is 35%. Hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in sub-Saharan Africa. However, 49% of people are unaware of their blood pressure status. Screening for hypertension prior to surgery provides a unique opportunity to diagnose and treat affected individuals. Furthermore, assessing overall CV risk identifies patients at highest risk for complications, and improves the utilisation of scarce resources. Objectives. To evaluate the CV risk profile of hypertensive patients in the adult population of the Western Cape Province presenting for elective non-cardiac, non-obstetric surgery. Methods. This report documents the CV risk profile of patients recruited to the HASS-2 study (Hypertension and Surgery Study 2), which was undertaken in seven Western Cape hospitals. Patients were screened for hypertension and pharmacological treatment was initiated or adjusted in patients with stages 1 and 2 disease. Stage 3 patients were referred to a physician. In the present substudy, patients with stages 1 and 2 hypertension were assessed for associated CV risk factors, the presence of target organ damage, and documented CV or kidney disease; they received an overall risk stratification according to the 2018 European Society of Cardiology and the European Society of Hypertension Guidelines. Results. Sixty-one patients with stage 1 and 12 with stage 2 hypertension were analysed. Established CV disease was present in 13.7% of the study population, and CKD (eGFR <60 mL/min) in 10.8%. Seventy-one percent of the study group had a raised body mass index, and 55.9% underlying metabolic syndrome. Prediabetes and diabetes were present in 16.1% and 14.5%, respectively. According to the 2018 European guidelines, 34.7% were at moderate, 33.3% at high and 16.7% at very high risk for a CV event in the following 10 years.Conclusions. The perioperative period is a critical time during which surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists can influence patients’ CV risk of adverse events. This involves appropriate screening, education and treatment. In this study population, nearly 9 out of 10 elective surgical patients with stage 1 or 2 hypertension had CV risk factors placing them at moderate to very high risk. The simultaneous assessment of these additional CV risk parameters, in addition to diagnosis and management of hypertension, may further decrease the health and financial burden in resource-limited facilities in SA, and improve CV outcomes.

Comparative analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis pe and ppe genes reveals high sequence variation and apparent absence of selective constraints

CITATION: McEvoy, C. R. E. et al. 2012. Comparative analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis pe and ppe genes reveals high sequence variation and apparent absence of selective constraints. PLoS ONE, 7(4): e30593, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030593.The original publication is available at http://journals.plos.org/plosoneMycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) genomes contain 2 large gene families termed pe and ppe. The function of pe/ppe proteins remains enigmatic but studies suggest that they are secreted or cell surface associated and are involved in bacterial virulence. Previous studies have also shown that some pe/ppe genes are polymorphic, a finding that suggests involvement in antigenic variation. Using comparative sequence analysis of 18 publicly available MTBC whole genome sequences, we have performed alignments of 33 pe (excluding pe_pgrs) and 66 ppe genes in order to detect the frequency and nature of genetic variation. This work has been supplemented by whole gene sequencing of 14 pe/ppe (including 5 pe_pgrs) genes in a cohort of 40 diverse and well defined clinical isolates covering all the main lineages of the M. tuberculosis phylogenetic tree. We show that nsSNP's in pe (excluding pgrs) and ppe genes are 3.0 and 3.3 times higher than in non-pe/ppe genes respectively and that numerous other mutation types are also present at a high frequency. It has previously been shown that non-pe/ppe M. tuberculosis genes display a remarkably low level of purifying selection. Here, we also show that compared to these genes those of the pe/ppe families show a further reduction of selection pressure that suggests neutral evolution. This is inconsistent with the positive selection pressure of “classical” antigenic variation. Finally, by analyzing such a large number of genes we were able to detect large differences in mutation type and frequency between both individual genes and gene sub-families. The high variation rates and absence of selective constraints provides valuable insights into potential pe/ppe function. Since pe/ppe proteins are highly antigenic and have been studied as potential vaccine components these results should also prove informative for aspects of M. tuberculosis vaccine design.http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0030593Publisher's versio

Chemical Classification of Spherules Recovered From The Pacific Ocean Site of The CNEOS 2014-01-08 (IM1) Bolide

We have conducted an extensive towed-magnetic-sled survey during the period of June 14-28, 2023, over the seafloor about 85 km north of Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, centered around the calculated path of the bolide CNEOS 2014-01-08 (IM1). We found about 850 spherules of diameter 0.1-1.3 millimeters in our samples. The samples were analyzed by micro-XRF, Electron Probe Microanalyzer and ICP Mass spectrometry. Here we report major and trace element compositions of the samples and classify spherules based on that analysis. We identified 78% of the spherules as primitive, in that their compositions have not been affected by planetary differentiation. We divided these into four groups corresponding to previously described cosmic spherule types. The remaining 22% appear to all reflect planetary igneous differentiation and are all different from previously described spherules. We call them D-type spherules. A portion of the D-spherules show an excess of Be, La and U, by up to three orders of magnitude relative to the solar system standard of CI chondrites. Detailed mass spectroscopy of 12 of these BeLaU-type spherules, the population of which may constitute up to ~10% of our entire collected sample, suggests that they are derived from material formed by planetary igneous fractionation. Their chemical composition is unlike any known solar system material. We compare these compositions to known differentiated bodies in the solar system and find them similar to evolved planetary materials - with lunar KREEP the closest in terms of its trace element enrichment pattern, but unusual in terms of their elevated CI-normalized incompatible elements. The BeLaU-type spherules reflect a highly differentiated, extremely evolved composition of an unknown source.Comment: 26 pages, 20 figures, submitted for publicatio

The Scientific Investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Using Multimodal Ground-Based Observatories

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) have resisted explanation and have received little formal scientific attention for 75 years. A primary objective of the Galileo Project is to build an integrated software and instrumentation system designed to conduct a multimodal census of aerial phenomena and to recognize anomalies. Here we present key motivations for the study of UAP and address historical objections to this research. We describe an approach for highlighting outlier events in the high-dimensional parameter space of our census measurements. We provide a detailed roadmap for deciding measurement requirements, as well as a science traceability matrix (STM) for connecting sought-after physical parameters to observables and instrument requirements. We also discuss potential strategies for deciding where to locate instruments for development, testing, and final deployment. Our instrument package is multimodal and multispectral, consisting of (1) wide-field cameras in multiple bands for targeting and tracking of aerial objects and deriving their positions and kinematics using triangulation; (2) narrow-field instruments including cameras for characterizing morphology, spectra, polarimetry, and photometry; (3) passive multistatic arrays of antennas and receivers for radar-derived range and kinematics; (4) radio spectrum analyzers to measure radio and microwave emissions; (5) microphones for sampling acoustic emissions in the infrasonic through ultrasonic frequency bands; and (6) environmental sensors for characterizing ambient conditions (temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind velocity), as well as quasistatic electric and magnetic fields, and energetic particles. The use of multispectral instruments and multiple sensor modalities will help to ensure that artifacts are recognized and that true detections are corroborated and verifiable. Data processing pipelines are being developed that apply state-of-the-art techniques for multi-sensor data fusion, hypothesis tracking, semi-supervised classification, and outlier detection

Quantification and identification of sperm subpopulations using computer-aided sperm analysis and species-specific cut-off values for swimming speed

Motility is an essential characteristic of all fl agellated spermatozoa and assessment of this parameter is one criterion for most semen or sperm evaluations. Computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) can be used to measure sperm motility more objectively and accurately than manual methods, provided that analysis techniques are standardized. Previous studies have shown that evaluation of sperm subpopulations is more important than analyzing the total motile sperm population alone. We developed a quantitative method to determine cut-off values for swimming speed to identify three sperm subpopulations. We used the Sperm Class Analyzer ® (SCA) CASA system to assess the total percentage of motile spermatozoa in a sperm preparation as well as the percentages of rapid, medium and slow swimming spermatozoa for six mammalian species. Curvilinear velocity (VCL) cut-off values were adjusted manually for each species to include 80% rapid, 15% medium and 5% slow swimming spermatozoa. Our results indicate that the same VCL intervals cannot be used for all species to classify spermatozoa according to swimming speed. After VCL intervals were adjusted for each species, three unique sperm subpopulations could be identifi ed. The effects of medical treatments on sperm motility become apparent in changes in the distribution of spermatozoa among the three swimming speed classes.Web of Scienc