Sialendoscopic treatment of recurrent juvenile parotitis: A South African case series

Background. Recurrent juvenile parotitis (RJP) is a well-recognised cause of  parotitis in childhood. Sialendoscopy has been extensively used for the investigation and treatment of many benign salivary disorders, and now offers a minimally invasive approach to RJP.Objectives. To investigate the epidemiology and disease profile of RJP, and review the efficacy of sialendoscopy for its investigation and treatment.Methods. The relevant literature on RJP was reviewed, and a retrospective folder review was performed for all patients who had undergone sialendoscopy for RJP at two South African (SA) hospitals between April 2013 and September 2015. Patients’ epidemiological and clinical data were recorded, as well as the findings and outcomes of ultrasonography and sialendoscopy. In particular, the time following treatment without any further recurrences was recorded as a measure of success.Results. Five children underwent sialendoscopic investigation and treatment for RJP. Their demographic and disease profiles and the results of investigations and  treatments were in keeping with published literature. No surgical complications  occurred, and no patients reported any further symptoms postoperatively, with an average follow-up of 22 months.Conclusion. Although small in sample size, this is the first reported case series in the SA literature on the use of sialendoscopy for RJP, and the results are consistent with internationally published data. Sialendoscopy is regarded as safe and effective for the diagnosis and management of RJP, and should be considered for patients who remain symptomatic after conservative management

Dairying and Employment in the Amuri: 1983 to 2002

The dairy industry is currently experiencing a staff shortage, as are many other industries. It has experienced rapid expansion, and the situation is made worse by the poor image of the industry. This expansion has often occurred in areas with little prior dairying. The Amuri region, North Canterbury, is one such area. The conversion of farms to dairying began in I983, following the commissioning of the 17000-hectare Waiau Plains Irrigation Scheme in 1980. There are now 49 herds in the area. Some of the initial dairy farming experiences were very bad, giving all dairying in the region a poor reputation. The Amuri region is 'geographically isolated basin', and situated approximately 90 minutes from Christchurch, with limited social opportunities for the farm staff This resulted in extreme difficulties attracting and retaining good staff in the area. In response to this situation, the dairy farmers in the area formed the Amuri Dairy Employers Group, in March 2000. This group established a constitution including: Mandatory member employer training; Agreeing to an independent annual audit of member employment practices; and Agreeing to a Code of Practice for employment standards. I have undertaken a two-year investigation of the effects of the Amuri Dairy Employers Group, on dairy farming employment and the wider social effects in the Amuri area. A case-study approach has been used to gather the information. This research was conducted as part of a Masters of Commerce (Agriculture)

Future Dairy Farm Employment - An Application of the Human Capability Framework

Dairy InSight research project, no. 10015/2003 sought to establish the future employment needs of the industry from a study of the future dairy farm labour market; to estimate future labour required and available; and to provide a full discussion of factors affecting those estimates. The report on which this paper is based was intended to provide a foundation document for any future studies of work and employment in dairy farming. The research strategy adopted was to use the Human Capability Framework (HCF) to analyse the future dairy farm labour market. The use of the HCF to analyse the future dairy farm employment situation was implemented by a systematic consideration of each of the elements influencing the supply side (Capacity) of the dairy farm labour market, the demand side (Opportunity), and the bringing of those both together (Matching), comprising the three main components of the HCF. Statistical resources were reviewed and found distinctly wanting. Other documentary sources were considered, expert opinions canvassed, and key sites and parties visited, to facilitate the industry wide analysis. All components of the analysis, together with practical recommendations, were put together in a single report, which ·was submitted to Dairy InSight, the industry good funder for the dairy industry. They are summarised in this paper

Commensurate 4a04a_0 period Charge Density Modulations throughout the Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+xBi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+x} Pseudogap Regime

Theories based upon strong real space (r-space) electron electron interactions have long predicted that unidirectional charge density modulations (CDM) with four unit cell (4$a_0$) periodicity should occur in the hole doped cuprate Mott insulator (MI). Experimentally, however, increasing the hole density p is reported to cause the conventionally defined wavevector $Q_A$ of the CDM to evolve continuously as if driven primarily by momentum space (k-space) effects. Here we introduce phase resolved electronic structure visualization for determination of the cuprate CDM wavevector. Remarkably, this new technique reveals a virtually doping independent locking of the local CDM wavevector at $|Q_0|=2\pi/4a_0$ throughout the underdoped phase diagram of the canonical cuprate $Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_8$. These observations have significant fundamental consequences because they are orthogonal to a k-space (Fermi surface) based picture of the cuprate CDM but are consistent with strong coupling r-space based theories. Our findings imply that it is the latter that provide the intrinsic organizational principle for the cuprate CDM state

Machine Learning in Electronic Quantum Matter Imaging Experiments

Essentials of the scientific discovery process have remained largely unchanged for centuries: systematic human observation of natural phenomena is used to form hypotheses that, when validated through experimentation, are generalized into established scientific theory. Today, however, we face major challenges because automated instrumentation and large-scale data acquisition are generating data sets of such volume and complexity as to defy human analysis. Radically different scientific approaches are needed, with machine learning (ML) showing great promise, not least for materials science research. Hence, given recent advances in ML analysis of synthetic data representing electronic quantum matter (EQM), the next challenge is for ML to engage equivalently with experimental data. For example, atomic-scale visualization of EQM yields arrays of complex electronic structure images, that frequently elude effective analyses. Here we report development and training of an array of artificial neural networks (ANN) designed to recognize different types of hypothesized order hidden in EQM image-arrays. These ANNs are used to analyze an experimentally-derived EQM image archive from carrier-doped cuprate Mott insulators. Throughout these noisy and complex data, the ANNs discover the existence of a lattice-commensurate, four-unit-cell periodic, translational-symmetry-breaking EQM state. Further, the ANNs find these phenomena to be unidirectional, revealing a coincident nematic EQM state. Strong-coupling theories of electronic liquid crystals are congruent with all these observations.Comment: 44 pages, 15 figure

Revisiting Jon McKenzie?s Perform or else: Performance, labour and pedagogy

Tim Edkins and Stevphen Shukaitis interviewed Jon McKenzie on 24 March 2013 about his book Perform or else: From discipline to performance (2001a), its current resonance and his recent research. We begin by asking about Perform or else?s playful tone and composition. Then we ask about contemporary labour struggles, including in the state of Wisconsin where he is based as a Professor of English and Director of DesignLab at University of Wisconsin. We end by discussing how he sees the current role of the university. We focus on how DesignLab forms part of his applied research program, based on the multifaceted conception of performance theorised in Perform or else and instantiated in higher education

Sweat gland recruitment following thermal and psychological stimuli

Eccrine sweat glands are present across almost the entire body surface. The distinction between glabrous (hairless) and non-glabrous skin has frequently been used to describe differences in human sudomotor function and, in particular, to help differentiate between the thermal and nonthermal mechanisms that modulate sweat secretion. Indeed, the widely accepted consensus is that psychological (psychogenic) sweating is limited to the glabrous regions, while thermally induced secretion occurs only from non-glabrous surfaces (Iwase et al., 1997). Furthermore, it is frequently assumed that independent central controllers, efferent pathways and different neurotransmitters activate the sweat glands within each of these regions. A recent research focus of the current laboratory has been to evaluate the veracity of these assumptions

Dairying and Employment in the Amuri: 1983 to 2002

The dairy industry is currently experiencing a staff shortage, as are many other industries. It has experienced rapid expansion, and the situation is made worse by the poor image of the industry. This expansion has often occurred in areas with little prior dairying. The Amuri region, North Canterbury, is one such area. The conversion of farms to dairying began in I983, following the commissioning of the 17000-hectare Waiau Plains Irrigation Scheme in 1980. There are now 49 herds in the area. Some of the initial dairy farming experiences were very bad, giving all dairying in the region a poor reputation. The Amuri region is 'geographically isolated basin', and situated approximately 90 minutes from Christchurch, with limited social opportunities for the farm staff This resulted in extreme difficulties attracting and retaining good staff in the area. In response to this situation, the dairy farmers in the area formed the Amuri Dairy Employers Group, in March 2000. This group established a constitution including: Mandatory member employer training; Agreeing to an independent annual audit of member employment practices; and Agreeing to a Code of Practice for employment standards. I have undertaken a two-year investigation of the effects of the Amuri Dairy Employers Group, on dairy farming employment and the wider social effects in the Amuri area. A case-study approach has been used to gather the information. This research was conducted as part of a Masters of Commerce (Agriculture)

Evidence-Based Interventions and Strategies for the Grand Challenges Approach: The Need for Judgement

What is the value of evidence-based interventions in addressing “Grand Challenges”? Building upon the EPOS Grand Challenges work (Sakhrani et al., 2017), this paper explores whether evidence-based approaches developed for management and policy are relevant to addressing Grand Challenges. It discusses the criticisms of the Evidence-based Management approach and argues that evidence is a necessary, but not sufficient input in the decisionmaking process of addressing Grand Challenges