Last mile delivery in low income communities: The Sekulula spaza express experiment in South Africa

This article is a description of Sekulula Spaza Express, a business model to deliver goods to informal traders piloted in Khayelitsha and Nyanga in Cape Town, South Africa by Reciprocity, a consultancy based in South Africa. The Sekulula Spaza Express model was established by Reciprocity, with funding from PepsiCo, and tested and tracked over a period of 3 months from January to March 2010. The results allowed to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of last mile delivery in low income communities in the South African context, and identify the bottlenecks that need to be addressed in order to create a financially viable business model. It also demonstrated the value of “learning by doing”, and the valuable learnings that can be gathered at little cost to understand the dynamics of last mile delivery and trading in very low income communities. In this regard, Cape Town and its immediate surroundings present unique features, making the area an ideal testing ground for inclusive business models.Cet article décrit l'expérience Sekulula Spaza Express, modèle d'entreprise qui consiste à livrer des marchandises à des revendeurs informels, mis en place dans les quartiers de Khayelitsha et Nyanga du Cap par Reciprocity, une société de conseil basée en Afrique du Sud. Le modèle Sekulula Spaza Express a été créé par Reciprocity, financé par PepsiCo, et testé et suivi sur une période de 3 mois, de janvier à mars 2010. Les résultats ont permis de mieux comprendre la dynamique de la distribution au dernier kilomètre dans les communautés à faible revenu d'Afrique du Sud, et d'identifier les problèmes de goulots d'étranglement à résoudre afin de créer un modèle d'entreprise financièrement viable. Ils ont également démontré la valeur de “l'apprentissage par l'action”, et les enseignements précieux qui peuvent être tirés à faible coût pour comprendre la dynamique de la distribution au dernier kilomètre et le commerce dans les communautés à très faible revenu. A cet égard, le Cap et sa périphérie présentent des caractéristiques uniques qui en font un terrain de test idéal pour les modèles d'entreprise inclusifs.El presente artículo es una descripción de Sekulula Spaza Express, un modelo de negocio orientado a la distribución de mercancías a comerciantes informales desarrollado en Khayelitsha y Nyanga (Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica) por Reciprocity, una consultora con sede en Sudáfrica. El modelo Sekulula Spaza Express fue implantado por Reciprocity con la financiación de PepsiCo, y se probó y comprobó durante un periodo de tres meses, transcurrido entre enero y marzo de 2010. Los resultados permitieron conocer mejor la dinámica de la distribución en el último tramo de las comunidades con bajos ingresos dentro del contexto sudafricano, así como identificar los cuellos de botella a resolver para crear un modelo de negocio viable desde el punto de vista financiero. También demostró el valor del «aprendizaje a través de la práctica» y la provechosa instrucción que se puede obtener con poco esfuerzo para comprender la dinámica de la distribución y el comercio en el último tramo en comunidades con ingresos muy bajos. Ciudad del Cabo y su entorno inmediato presentan características únicas a este respecto, que convierten la zona en un campo de pruebas ideal para los modelos de negocio inclusivos

Investigating the communicative strategy in 2 Maccabees 3: Six scenes which influence the reader throughout the narrative

The events in the introduction to 2 Maccabees (2 Macc 3:1–39) undoubtedly centre round the Jerusalem Temple. It is depicted as world-renowned, holy and just. Many scholars have therefore highlighted the theme of the Temple in 2 Maccabees, introduced by 2 Maccabees 3. Yet, the reason for the Temple’s centrality is not traditionally seen as more than a mere link to the rest of the narrative. This article, however, asks the question: Why is the author incorporating the Temple in such a specific manner? What is the impact on the implicit reader of this specific depiction of the Temple? In other words, how is the implicit reader’s experience throughout the rest of the narrative influenced by the events in this introduction? To answer these questions, the article identifies six scenes in 2 Maccabees 3 and applies a rhetorical analysis in order to establish the communicative strategy and its possible impact on the implicit reader

On Programmed Cell Death in Plasmodium falciparum: Status Quo

Conflicting arguments and results exist regarding the occurrence and phenotype of programmed cell death (PCD) in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Inconsistencies relate mainly to the number and type of PCD markers assessed and the different methodologies used in the studies. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge and empirical evidence for PCD in the intraerythrocytic stages of P. falciparum. We consider possible reasons for discrepancies in the data and offer suggestions towards more standardised investigation methods in this field. Furthermore, we present genomic evidence for PCD machinery in P. falciparum. We discuss the potential adaptive or nonadaptive role of PCD in the parasite life cycle and its possible exploitation in the development of novel drug targets. Lastly, we pose pertinent unanswered questions concerning the PCD phenomenon in P. falciparum to provide future direction

Evolutionary rates at codon sites may be used to align sequences and infer protein domain function

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sequence alignments form part of many investigations in molecular biology, including the determination of phylogenetic relationships, the prediction of protein structure and function, and the measurement of evolutionary rates. However, to obtain meaningful results, a significant degree of sequence similarity is required to ensure that the alignments are accurate and the inferences correct. Limitations arise when sequence similarity is low, which is particularly problematic when working with fast-evolving genes, evolutionary distant taxa, genomes with nucleotide biases, and cases of convergent evolution.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A novel approach was conceptualized to address the "low sequence similarity" alignment problem. We developed an alignment algorithm termed FIRE (<b><it>F</it></b>unctional <b><it>I</it></b>nference using the <b><it>R</it></b>ates of <b><it>E</it></b>volution), which aligns sequences using the evolutionary rate at codon sites, as measured by the <it>dN</it>/<it>dS </it>ratio, rather than nucleotide or amino acid residues. FIRE was used to test the hypotheses that evolutionary rates can be used to align sequences and that the alignments may be used to infer protein domain function. Using a range of test data, we found that aligning domains based on evolutionary rates was possible even when sequence similarity was very low (for example, antibody variable regions). Furthermore, the alignment has the potential to infer protein domain function, indicating that domains with similar functions are subject to similar evolutionary constraints. These data suggest that an evolutionary rate-based approach to sequence analysis (particularly when combined with structural data) may be used to study cases of convergent evolution or when sequences have very low similarity. However, when aligning homologous gene sets with sequence similarity, FIRE did not perform as well as the best traditional alignment algorithms indicating that the conventional approach of aligning residues as opposed to evolutionary rates remains the method of choice in these cases.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>FIRE provides proof of concept that it is possible to align sequences and infer domain function by using evolutionary rates rather than residue similarity. This represents a new approach to sequence analysis with a wide range of potential applications in molecular biology.</p

Rift Valley Fever Outbreak with East-Central African Virus Lineage in Mauritania, 2003

Phylogenetic studies demonstrated that outbreak strains belonged to the East-Central African lineage

Evolutionary Patterning: A Novel Approach to the Identification of Potential Drug Target Sites in Plasmodium falciparum

Malaria continues to be the most lethal protozoan disease of humans. Drug development programs exhibit a high attrition rate and parasite resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs exacerbates the problem. Strategies that limit the development of resistance and minimize host side-effects are therefore of major importance. In this study, a novel approach, termed evolutionary patterning (EP), was used to identify suitable drug target sites that would minimize the emergence of parasite resistance. EP uses the ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous substitutions (ω) to assess the patterns of evolutionary change at individual codons in a gene and to identify codons under the most intense purifying selection (ω≤0.1). The extreme evolutionary pressure to maintain these residues implies that resistance mutations are highly unlikely to develop, which makes them attractive chemotherapeutic targets. Method validation included a demonstration that none of the residues providing pyrimethamine resistance in the Plasmodium falciparum dihydrofolate reductase enzyme were under extreme purifying selection. To illustrate the EP approach, the putative P. falciparum glycerol kinase (PfGK) was used as an example. The gene was cloned and the recombinant protein was active in vitro, verifying the database annotation. Parasite and human GK gene sequences were analyzed separately as part of protozoan and metazoan clades, respectively, and key differences in the evolutionary patterns of the two molecules were identified. Potential drug target sites containing residues under extreme evolutionary constraints were selected. Structural modeling was used to evaluate the functional importance and drug accessibility of these sites, which narrowed down the number of candidates. The strategy of evolutionary patterning and refinement with structural modeling addresses the problem of targeting sites to minimize the development of drug resistance. This represents a significant advance for drug discovery programs in malaria and other infectious diseases

Last mile delivery in low income communities: The Sekulula spaza express experiment in South Africa

This article is a description of Sekulula Spaza Express, a business model to deliver goods to informal traders piloted in Khayelitsha and Nyanga in Cape Town, South Africa by Reciprocity, a consultancy based in South Africa. The Sekulula Spaza Express model was established by Reciprocity, with funding from PepsiCo, and tested and tracked over a period of 3 months from January to March 2010. The results allowed to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of last mile delivery in low income communities in the South African context, and identify the bottlenecks that need to be addressed in order to create a financially viable business model. It also demonstrated the value of “learning by doing”, and the valuable learnings that can be gathered at little cost to understand the dynamics of last mile delivery and trading in very low income communities. In this regard, Cape Town and its immediate surroundings present unique features, making the area an ideal testing ground for inclusive business models