Eruption of primary teeth in South Africans from one year of age

PKErupted primary teeth were recorded in I 446 South African children from five communities. The data were grouped into 3-month age bands and subjected to Probit analysis. Eruption times were similar in boys and girls. Apart from children of Indian descent having significantly fewer incisor teeth erupted at one year compared to the four other groups, there were no significant differences in canine and molar eruption times among the children. This paper defines primary tooth eruption ages in South African children for anthropological, clinical and forensic use

Use of data envelopment analysis and regression for establishing manpower requirements in a bank

We describe an approach towards forecasting the manpower requirements in each of the branches of a bank, based on regression models fitted to the sets of efficient branches. DEA is employed to identify the efficient branches within a category, using the numbers of employees in the different grades at each branch as input variables, and the average volumes of different types of work performed by them during a month as output variables. Forecasts of future volumes of work are obtained by fitting a model which takes into account branch and seasonal effects, as well as separate trend effects for each of the branches. The models have been tested on data from a large bank, with very encouraging results. The approach holds great promise for use towards a decision support system for managing the bank's total branch manpower requirements

Wildlife management using the AHP

Two applications of Saaty's Analytic Hierarchy Process towards solving decision problems in Wildlife Management are discussed. The first involves structuring the management objectives of a National Park and establishing priorities for the implementation of various possible strategic management plans in the Park. The second deals with the problem faced by the various non-governmental organisations concerned with the conservation of the Rhino and Elephant populations in Southern Africa, of deciding how best to allocate their funds towards this purpose. General conclusions are drawn concerning the use of analytical techniques, particularly the AHP, in planning and decision making in Wildlife Management

Growth and age determination of African savanna elephants

Understanding the population dynamics of savanna elephants depends on estimating population parameters such as the age at first reproduction, calving interval and age-specific survival rates. The generation of these parameters, however, relies on the ability to determine accurately the age of individuals, but a reliable age estimation technique for free-ranging elephants is presently not available. Shoulder heights of elephants were measured in 10 populations in five countries across southern and eastern Africa. Data included shoulder height measurements from two populations where the age of each individual was known (i.e. Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa and Amboseli National Park, Kenya). From the known-age data, Von Bertalanffy growth functions were constructed for both male and female elephants. Savanna elephants were found to attain similar asymptotic shoulder heights in the 10 populations, while individuals in the two known-age populations grew at the same rate. The Von Bertalanffy growth curves allowed for the accurate age estimation of females up to 15 years of age and males up to 36 years of age. The results indicate that shoulder height can serve as an indicator of chronological age for elephants below 15 years of age for females and 36 years of age for males. Ages derived from these growth curves can then be used to generate age-specific population variables, which will help assess the demographic status of savanna elephant populations across Africa