Preliminary observations on the value of the guinea-pig in determining the innocuity and antigenicity of neurotropic attenuated horsesickness strains

Attention is directed to the lack of a readily available small laboratory animal to replace the horse in evaluating the innocuity and antigenicity of strains of horsesickness virus attenuated for equines by serial intracerebral passage in mice. In guinea-pigs the result of the intraperitoneal injection of vaccine virus strains may range from the absence of any clinical reaction to the production of 100 per cent mortality from specific aseptic viral encephalitis. Guinea-pigs are susceptible to infection and the production of encephalitis by the intraperitoneal, subcutaneous, intramuscular and rectal routes of infection, but not per os or by supraconjunctival instillation. The intranasal route appears to be the most constant one for the invasion of the central nervous system by virus. Recovery from infection is followed by the appearance of serum virus neutralising antibodies in the serum, the titre varying with the antigenic potency of the particular attenuated virus strain. The value of the guinea-pig in future research into horsesickness is discussed.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP scanjet 5590; 300dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to final presentation PDF-Format

The views of HR practitioners on ethical issues within organisations.

This article reports on the results of a survey conducted among human resource practitioners in South Africa regarding their involvement in and experience of business ethics and unethical behaviour in their organisations. The results of the study concur with the theoretical perception that human resource managers have an important role to play in the institutionalisation of good ethical behaviour in the organisation, with the majority of respondents reporting that the human resource department is a primary resource for ethical initiatives and that human resource professionals are involved in the formulation of ethics policies. The article provides some insights in terms of the role of the human resource managers in the management of ethics. In so doing, an attempt is made to address the question of whether human resource managers should be the drivers of ethics initiatives in the organisation.Business Managemen

Conflict: A reality on gold mines.

Human Resource Managemen

Identification of the serotype-specific and group-specific antigens of bluetongue virus

The bluetongue virus (BTV) core particle contains 2 major polypeptides, P3 and P7, and is surrounded by an outer capsid layer that is composed of the 2 major polypeptides, P2 and P5. Analysis of the immune precipitates from soluble ¹⁴C-labelled BTV polypeptides and hyper-immune rabbit and guinea-pig sera indicated that polypeptide P2 precipitates only with homologous BTV sera. This would indicate that P2 is the main determinant of serotype specificity. It was also found that in sheep infected with BTV the P2-precipitating antibodies in the serum correlate with the neutralizing antibody titres, whereas the appearance and subsequent decline of P7-precipitating antibodies correspond well with those of the complement fixing antibodies. This suggests that BTV group specificity, as measured by a complement fixation test, is determined by the core protein P7. This result was supported by the observation that mouse ascitic fluid, which contains a high titre of BTV specific complement fixing antibodies and a very low titre of neutralizing antibodies, contains almost exclusively antibodies that precipitate P7.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

Competencies for human resource development practitioners

This paper reports on research into the required competencies of human resource development practitioners (HRD) in selected South African organizations. The research identified the level of importance and of satisfaction with the main competencies amongst HRD practitioners. Data was gathered from a random sample of business establishments. Data analysis indicated, firstly the importance of various competencies and the present satisfaction level, and secondly the differences between groups of some biographical variables in terms of the average level of importance and satisfaction of competencies. The results obtained have definite implications in the field of HRD and for education and training programmes offered by tertiary education institutions.Business Managemen

Electron microscopic studies on corriparta virus

The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 300dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

Electron microscopic studies on equine encephalosis virus

Electron microscopic studies carried out on thin sections of BHK 21 cells infected with equine encephalosis virus (EEV) have revealed a fine cytopathology closely resembling that shown by bluetongue and African horsesickness viruses. The characteristics include the presence of granular inclusion bodies from which mature virus particles appear to arise, swelling of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and the presence of inclusion bodies in the mitochondrial matrix. The diameter of the sectioned virus particle is approximately 73 nm, and 60 nm when negatively stained. The experimental observations suggest that the capsid is composed of 32 morphological subunits.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 300dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

A model for the management of sexual harassment in South African companies

Sexual harassment is an issue shrouded in both controversy and ambiguity. As the literature indicates, its presence manifests itself negatively on both the well-being of the employees and the organisation. Consequently, management need to view sexual harassment as an area of concern because it ultimately affects the overall efficiency of organisations. The existing theoretical principles relating to the management of sexual harassment in the workplace have been analysed in depth, and a model is proposed which introduces, describes and integrates the various processes, steps and actions required for the efficient and effective management of sexual harassment in the workplace.Human Resource Managemen

Teratogenicity of a mutagenised Rift Valley fever virus (MVP 12) in sheep

A 5-fluorouracil mutagenised Rift Valley fever virus strain, which was shown to be attenuated and immunogenic in cattle and sheep, was evaluated for its ability to cause teratogenic effects in pregnant sheep. A group of 50 sheep at various stages of pregnancy was inoculated with the virus and the pregnancies followed to term. There were two abortions and 14% of the lambs produced by vaccinated ewes showed teratogenic effects, the most prevalent being spinal hypoplasia, hydranencephaly, brachygnathia inferior and arthrygryposis. The foetal malformations of the central nervous and musculo-skeletal systems were mostly consistent with those observed in sheep vaccinated with the attenuated Smithburn RVF strain. The teratogenic effects of MVP12 were not seen in previous experiments by other authors as immunisation of sheep took place in the second to third trimester of pregnancy, when the fetal brain tissue has completed most of its cell division.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat v.9 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

Herpes nodules in the lung of the African elephant, Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach, 1797)

Lymphoid nodules associated with Cowdry Type A intranuclear inclusions in epithelial and syncytial cells were found in the lungs of 74% of 50 African elephants in the Kruger National Park. Subsequent studies proved these were caused by a herpes virus (Erasmus, McCully, Pienaar, Young, Pieterse & Els, 1971). The disease appears to be subclinical or latent. This virus, in common with other herpes viruses, might be more pathogenic in some other host. The pathogenesis of the lymphoid nodules and the various stages of their formation are given and the detailed characteristics are illustrated.The journals have been scanned in colour with a HP 5590 scanner; 600 dpi. Adobe Acrobat v.11 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format