The reliability of mortality data in Johannesburg

Infonnation on deaths in Johannesburg is collected on a voluntary basis by the Johannesburg City Health Department from the Department of Home Affairs regional offices as well as state mortuaries in the area. The reliability of these routinely collected data was assessed. Records of deaths of Asians, coloureds and whites from 1 July 1989 to 31 December 1989 were included in the study. Burial orders obtained from the different cemeteries and crematoria in the area were compared with the routinely collected mortality data. Two thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven deaths were included in the study. One hundred and ninety (6%) deaths in the department's records could not be found among the corresponding burial orders while 1 019 (36%) burial order records were not found among the department's routinely collected mortality data. Underreporting of deaths was greatest among the aged (43%) and infants (39%). When this underreporting was taken into account, the corrected infant mortality rate was 19,111 000 live births as opposed to 14,1. Recommendations are made for the improvement ofthe quality of routinely collected mortality data

Learning to belong: Navigating liminal spaces between disciplinary and teaching identities

The continuous professional learning of academics as university teachers is a national imperative in South Africa. At our university, a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Higher Education) was introduced in 2015 with the aim to professionalise university teaching through a formal qualification. Students (i.e., candidates) must transition in two ways: firstly, from being disciplinary specialists to being students again; and secondly, into the community of scholarly teaching in higher education. This article examines the liminality experienced by candidates as they navigate the programme and learn to belong to a new scholarly teaching community. Drawing on empirical data collected from graduates and programme coordinators, the authors track candidates’ shifting identities and showcase how, though initially turbulent and unsettling, the process of learning to belong to a new teaching identity can be rewarding and enriching. The authors conclude by discussing the conditions required to enable candidates to acquire a strong university-teacher identity

From pandemic disruption to post-pandemic transformation: New possibilities for teaching in South African higher education

The COVID-19 pandemic has had previously unimaginable and far-reaching effects on higher education globally (Baker et al. 2022; Cranfield et al. 2021; Kara 2021; Le Grange 2020). On top of the widespread loss felt by students and teachers across the world, we have had to make rapid changes to previously taken-for-granted ways of doing, being, learning and teaching (Baker et al. 2022; Cranfield et al. 2021). Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL) brought constraints and opportunities, challenges and innovations. This article gives form to the statement: “there is an opportunity in the moment for genuine equity-focused innovation in policy-making, provision and pedagogy” (Czerniewicz et al. 2020). We use a theoretical framework of structure, culture and agency through which to view possibilities for transformation of pedagogy, and a form of semi-autoethnography as methodology. Two lecturers, one in the Humanities (Education) and one in the Life Sciences, wrote extended narratives of their experiences of ERTL and the other authors then posed a series of questions to the story authors, which elicited a set of analytic descriptions and explanations. Through iterations of this analysis, we identified two important themes: attending to students’ socio-emotional needs and developing students’ engagement, self-regulation and reflexivity. The analysis identifies key opportunities and challenges that these required and how they were addressed by the lecturers concerned. Based on the analysis and drawing on Case’s (2015b) argument for an expanded sense of agency for students, we argue that the lecture is a key structural and cultural element of the university space that was disrupted during the pandemic and can be transformed going forward. We thus argue for decentering the lecture. Furthermore, we argue that care and concern for students has not been a primary cultural element of teaching and learning in higher education, for structural reasons, and that it should be an integral part of pedagogies going forward

'Birth to Ten' - pilot studies to test the feasibility of a birth cohort study investigating the effects of urbanisation in South Africa

Birth to Ten' is a birth cohort study currently being conducted in the Johannesburg-Soweto area. This paper describes the various pilot studies that were undertaken to investigate the feasibility of a cohort study in an urban area. These studies were designed to determine the monthly birth rate, the timing, frequency and duration of maternal antenatal visits, the timing and frequency of visits to well-baby clinics and the accuracy and reliability of routinely collected growth data. In addition, a birth data collection form was tested to ascertain the . appropriateness of its use in clinics within the study area

Books

Medical audit Audit in Action. Ed. by Richard Smith. Pp. xiv + 245. Illustrated. £10,95. London: British Medical Journal. 1992. Available from Libriger Book Distributors, Bloemfontein.Rheumatology Bailliere's Clinical Rheumatology: Giant Cell Arteritis and Polymyalgia RheuIDatica. Guest eds B. L. Hazleman and B.-A. Bengtsson. Pp. xi + 507. illustrated. £27,50. London: Bailliere Tindall. 1991.AIDS, drugs and sexual risk AIDS, Drugs and Sexual Risk. By N. McKeganey and M. Bamard. Johannesburg: Random Century. 1992.Radiation When is a Dose Not a Dose? By Victor P. Bond. Pp. 39. Illustrated. Bethesda: National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. 1992.Autoimmune disease Clinical and Molecular Aspects of Autoimmune Diseases. Vol. 8. Ed. by J. M. Cruse and R. E. Lewis. Pp. x + 258. Illustrated. SFr. 248. Basel: Karger. 1992.Biochemical toxicology Principles of Biochemical Toxicology. 2nd ed. By J. A. Timbrel!. Illustrated. Pp. 415. RI53,73. London: Taylor & Frands. 1991.Advances in pineal research Advances in Pineal Research. Vol. 6. Ed. by Andrew Foldes and R. J. Reiter. pp. viii + 286. illustrated. £32,50. London: John Libbey. 1991.Health care for the future The Future of Health Care. Pp. 83. Illustrated. London: British Medical Journal. 1992.STDs and AIDS School Health Education to Prevent AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Disease. Pp. 79. SFr. 18. Geneva: World Health Organisation. 1992

Unemployment, Education and Skills Constraints in Post-Apartheid South Africa

This paper investigates the relationship between education and unemployment in post-apartheid South Africa, and probes the argument that employment growth has been inhibited particularly by skills constraints. We use probit regression analysis to show that higher education protected against unemployment in both 1995 and 2003, and that overall, the relative benefits to tertiary education rose over the period

Drug interaction potential of high-dose rifampicin in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Accumulating evidence supports the use of higher doses of rifampicin for tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Rifampicin is a potent inducer of metabolic enzymes and drug transporters, resulting in clinically relevant drug interactions. To assess the drug interaction potential of higher doses of rifampicin, we compared the effect of high-dose rifampicin (40 mg/kg daily, RIF40) and standard-dose rifampicin (10 mg/kg daily, RIF10) on the activities of major cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes and P-glycoprotein (P-gp). In this open-label, single-arm, two-period, fixed-order phenotyping cocktail study, adult participants with pulmonary TB received RIF10 (days 1-15), followed by RIF40 (days 16-30). A single dose of selective substrates (probe drugs) was administered orally on days 15 and 30: caffeine (CYP1A2), tolbutamide (CYP2C9), omeprazole (CYP2C19), dextromethorphan (CYP2D6), midazolam (CYP3A), and digoxin (P-gp). Intensive pharmacokinetic blood sampling was performed over 24 hours after probe drug intake. In all, 25 participants completed the study. Geometric mean ratios (90% confidence interval) of the total exposure (area under the concentration versus time curve, RIF40 versus RIF10) for each of the probe drugs were as follows: caffeine, 105% (96%-115%); tolbutamide, 80% (74%-86%); omeprazole, 55% (47%-65%); dextromethorphan, 77% (68%-86%); midazolam, 62% (49%-78%), and 117% (105%-130%) for digoxin. In summary, high-dose rifampicin resulted in no additional effect on CYP1A2, mild additional induction of CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP3A, and marginal inhibition of P-gp. Existing recommendations on managing drug interactions with rifampicin can remain unchanged for the majority of co-administered drugs when using high-dose rifampicin. Clinical Trials registration number NCT04525235.</p

Is There Such a Thing as a Post-apartheid City?

In an introductory section, this paper considers briefly the achievements and problems of urban governance in post-apartheid South Africa through an assessment of three categories: administrative reform, developmental issues and conflicts over service delivery issues. It then goes on to assess continuity and change in South African cities. Continuity is the norm in understanding urban history with change understood as a series of accretions and as a layering of features, unless major economic shifts or revolutionary political shifts are in place. Using the example of Durban, a series of changes is highlighted, which fit into what the deracialized growth path allows and encourages. The paper argues that thus far, the ANC government has shown little capacity or desire to discipline capital along the lines suggested, for instance, by the reconstruction and development programme's section on public transport. Larger changes are thus limited by the predilections and established discourses of the business world and the absence of more dynamic and structured public intervention

Revival of the magnetar PSR J1622-4950: observations with MeerKAT, Parkes, XMM-Newton, Swift, Chandra, and NuSTAR

New radio (MeerKAT and Parkes) and X-ray (XMM-Newton, Swift, Chandra, and NuSTAR) observations of PSR J1622-4950 indicate that the magnetar, in a quiescent state since at least early 2015, reactivated between 2017 March 19 and April 5. The radio flux density, while variable, is approximately 100x larger than during its dormant state. The X-ray flux one month after reactivation was at least 800x larger than during quiescence, and has been decaying exponentially on a 111+/-19 day timescale. This high-flux state, together with a radio-derived rotational ephemeris, enabled for the first time the detection of X-ray pulsations for this magnetar. At 5%, the 0.3-6 keV pulsed fraction is comparable to the smallest observed for magnetars. The overall pulsar geometry inferred from polarized radio emission appears to be broadly consistent with that determined 6-8 years earlier. However, rotating vector model fits suggest that we are now seeing radio emission from a different location in the magnetosphere than previously. This indicates a novel way in which radio emission from magnetars can differ from that of ordinary pulsars. The torque on the neutron star is varying rapidly and unsteadily, as is common for magnetars following outburst, having changed by a factor of 7 within six months of reactivation.Comment: Published in ApJ (2018 April 5); 13 pages, 4 figure