Towards sustainable tourism development : the Volksblad Tourism Town of the Year Competition

Published ArticleSustainability is a global concern for any organisation seeking to remain relevant and in business. In a developing country like South Africa, tourism has the potential to stimulate the economy and create jobs. The Free State and Northern Cape provinces are generally not at the top of the list for national and international tourists, although they are regions of great natural beauty and splendour. These provinces have many small towns and farming communities and thus extensive areas of rural land. This paper interrogates the sustainability issues related to tourism and reflect on the Volksblad Tourism Town of the Year Competition as a means of stimulating sustainable tourism in Free State and Northern Cape provinces

Influence of laser heat input on weld zone width and fatigue performance of Ti-6Al-4V sheet

Abstract:During this study, the fatigue life of laser welded Ti6Al4V sheet was evaluated as a function of process heat input. Heat input was varied by manipulating laser power and welding travel speed and was categorised into three heat input ranges (Low = 40 to 60 J/mm; Medium = 65 to 120 J/mm and High = 160 to 230 J/mm)). Fatigue data was acquired from as-welded and polished specimens in order to study the effect of weld geometry resulting from a change in process parameters. Results showed that there was an increase in fatigue life for low heat input welds, mainly derived from the associated higher traverse speeds, demonstrating that laser power variation was not the sole determinant in fatigue life. A higher fatigue life and lower heat input relationship is related to the occurrence of a narrower fusion zone and increased weld zone hardness that corresponds with a lower heat input obtained from higher traverse speeds. Two predominant crack initiation mechanisms were observed; internal initiation from discontinuities that is related to inadequate optimisation of welding process parameters for the polished samples, while surface initiation occurred in the welded specimens, due to the stress concentration effect of the weld bead geometry. An increase in welding speed or decrease in laser power both led to a reduction in weld undercut or a lower stress concentration at the weld toe. As expected the fatigue data for the polished samples showed a marked improvement in life and a reduction in scatter compared to the as-welded data

Responses of pharmacy students to hypothetical refusal of emergency hormonal contraception

Objectives: To explore pharmacy students' ethical behaviour and care towards patients in relation to the provision of emergency hormonal contraception (EHC). Methods: Three hundred and forty-seven pharmacy students were presented a hypothetical scenario involving refusal of EHC, based on religious or moral grounds, and asked to write responses as to how the patient should be managed; 270 (77.8%) responded. Key findings: Of all respondents, 90.4% referred the patient to another health professional to facilitate continuity of care, with referrals increasing as students progressed through the programme. Religion had no influence on referral, while female gender was related to increased referral. Conclusions: Gender difference, if continued into practice, has the potential to negatively impact on patient care

Corrosion fatigue of Ti-6Al-4V coupons manufactured by directed energy deposition

Titanium is a versatile biocompatible metal that is desirable in additively manufactured medical implant devices. However, additively manufactured parts have particular microstructures, porosity, residual stress, and surface conditions which can have a strong impact on fatigue performance. Implants have an added complexity from the saline operating environment and the associated impact on the safe design life. Equally, direct energy deposition induces a complex thermal history which, if not carefully controlled, can significantly alter the mechanical/material properties of the component. This study investigates the decrease in fatigue life, in an in vitro body fluid simulation using Ringer's solution, observed in Ti-6Al-4V specimens extracted from coupons manufactured by directed energy deposition. An interrupted deposition strategy was employed to control build regularity, which appeared to influence certain mechanical properties, including corrosion fatigue life. An ≈50% decrease in fatigue life was observed in Ringer's solution at 6 Hz loading frequency, clearly important in designing implants

Microstructure evolution and mechanical characterization of friction stir welded titanium alloy Ti–6Al–4V using lanthanated tungsten tool

Abstract: Friction stir welding (FSW) exhibits significant advantages to join titanium and its alloys compared to other welding methods. FSW of 3 mm thick titanium alloy Ti–6Al–4V sheets was carried out using a lanthanated tungsten alloy tool. The traverse speed was varied from 40 mm/min to 200 mm/min in steps of 80 mm/min by keeping other parameters constant. The microstructure evolution was observed using conventional and advanced characterization techniques. The micrographs revealed a fully developed lamellar structure at 40 mm/min and a recrystallized structure in rest of the joints. An increase in β phase was observed at HAZ while TMAZ showed a distorted structure. The average grain size was observed to reduce with an increase in traverse speed. No tool wear debris was observed in the stir zone while a worm hole defect was noticed at 200 mm/min. Ti–6Al–4V hardened..

Partial cold treatment of citrus fruit for export risk mitigation for Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) as part of a systems approach

Some of South Africa’s citrus export markets require mandatory postharvest cold treatment of citrus fruit as a phytosanitary risk mitigation treatment for Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). An alternative to this may be partial cold treatment as one of the final steps in a systems approach to mitigate phytosanitary risk. Consequently, the efficacy of such partial cold treatments was evaluated. It was first determined that a 2C cold treatment was significantly more effective against fourth and fifth instars (the most cold-tolerant instars) than treatments at 3C and 4C for a duration of 18 d. Secondly, it was determined that 2C for 18 d and 1C for 16 d were similarly effective, but both treatments were significantly more effective than 1C for 14 d. Mean mortality of fourth and fifth instars treated with 2C for 18 d in seven replicates from four trials was 99.94%. Finally, it was determined that the inability of the majority of surviving larvae to develop to adulthood would further increase the efficacy of a 2C for 18 d treatment to 99.96%. Inclusion of reproductive nonviability of survivors increased mortality to 99.99%

Evaluation of pseudoephedrine pharmacy sales before and after mandatory recording requirements in Western Australia: a case study

Background: A community pharmacy real-time electronic recording program, ProjectSTOP, enables Australian community pharmacists to verify pseudoephedrine requests. In Western Australia the program was available for voluntary use from April 2007 and became mandatory November 2010. This case study explores the effectiveness of the program by reviewing the total requests for pseudoephedrine products, and the proportion of requests which were classified as ‘denied sales’ before and after mandatory implementation. Seasonal and annual trends in these measures are also evaluated. Methods: ProjectSTOP data recordings for Western Australia pharmacies between 1 December 2007 and 28 February 2014 were analysed. Data included a de-identified pharmacy number and date of each pseudoephedrine product request. The total number of requests and sale classification (allowed, denied, safety, or not recorded) were calculated for each month/pharmacy. The potential influence of mandatory reporting using ProjectSTOP was investigated using a Regression Discontinuity Design. Correlations between sales from the same pharmacy were taken into account by classifying the pharmacy number as a random effect. The main effects of year (continuous variable), and season (categorical variable) were also included in the model. Results: There was a small but steady decline in the total requests for pseudoephedrine per month per 100,000 population (per pharmacy) from the time of mandatory reporting. The number of denied sales showed a steady increase up until mandatory reporting, after which it showed a significant decline over time. Total sales were heavily influenced by season, as expected (highest in winter, least in summer). The seasonal pattern was less pronounced for denied sales, which were highest in winter and similar across other seasons. The pattern over time for safety sales was similar to that for denied sales, with a clear change occurring around the time of mandatory reporting. Conclusion: Results indicate a decrease in pseudoephedrine product requests in Western Australia community pharmacies. Findings suggest ProjectSTOP has been successful in addressing suspicious sales and potential diversion however ongoing data review is recommended