Soil Management in the Breede River Valley Wine Grape Region, South Africa. 2. Soil Temperature

Five soil management practices (treatments) were applied in a micro-sprinkler irrigated Chardonnay/99 Richtervineyard on a sandy clay loam soil near Robertson, commencing in April 1993 (one year after planting). The effectof the treatments on the soil temperature at a depth of 200 mm was measured on an hourly basis from April 1995 toMarch 1999. Differences in soil temperature between the un-mulched and mulched treatments, as measured in thegrapevine rows, were negligible from late April to the end of August. From mid-September (grapevine bud break)to the end of March, the temperature of the mulched soil was, with the exception of the third week in October, lowerthan that of the un-mulched soil. Results indicated that soil temperatures during early spring had a slight effect onthe onset of grapevine bud break. Mulching minimised the diurnal variation in soil temperature. The annual covercrop did not cause any delay in bud break and kept the soil temperatures below 25°C, with the exception of a threeweek period just before harvest

Requirements of a coronary heart disease risk factor intervention programme for the coloured population of the Cape Peninsula

The coloured population of the Cape Peninsula has been identified as having a high prevalence of risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHO), notably hypertension, cigarette smoking and hypercholesterolaemia. The need for an appropriate and effective CHO intervention programme, directed at the population as a whole, has become urgent. Three central problem areas relating to hypertension control - diagnosis, management and compliance - will have to be addressed. Hypertension was underdiagnosed among men, particularly those aged 25 - 44 years. Apart from educating this group regarding the need to have their blood pressure measured, detection programmes are therefore needed at the workplace to improve hypertension diagnosis. Inadequate management of hypertension was commonest in women aged over 45 years. Compliance with hypertension treatment regimens was poor in all men as well as in both sexes belonging to the lower socio-economic strata. Establishing easily accessible blood pressure stations for monitoring blood pressure and educating hypertensives regarding their condition could lead to improved management and compliance. Coloureds were found to smoke heavily, and the women had the highest smoking prevalence of all South African women. Furthermore, the age of onset of smoking is decreasing among coloured children. A general anti-smoking campaign directed at all South Africans is necessary to control smoking. Anti-smoking education programmes at primary school level are of particular importance to prevent the onset of the habit. More than 70% of coloureds had a serum cholesterol level imparting CHO risk, few followed a prudent diet and their knowledge of the prudent diet was poor. Health education programmes to promote the prudent diet are required. The need for. appropriately trained health educators in schools, workplaces, health clinics and all hospitals has been identified. An extensive health education service should be expanded by including the use 'of mass media, particularly television, to promote health.S Afr Med J 1990; 78: 78-8

Detection and measurement of Hypercholesterolaemia in South Africans attending general practitioners in private practice - The cholesterol monitor

Background. 1bis paper reports data on the detection and management of hypercholesterolaemia in patients attending general practitioners in private practice in South Africa.Methods. The frequency of cholesterol testing and the level at which active therapeutic intervention occurred at medical practices were monitored over a 2-year period. A sample of 200 medical practitioners was selected from private practices in major citie;. Data on patients seen by the selected doctors during a 5-day monitoring period were recorded on a standardised form.Results. 12842 patients were seen by the 200 private practice· GPs. More men (18.7%) than women (10.4%) had coronary heart disease (CHD), and their mean total cholesterol (TC) levels were 5.9 mmol/l and 6.0 mmol/l, respectively. Only 3.1% of the patients were reported to have familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) and 12.8% were reported to have a family history of CHD. Reported smoking rates were exceptionally high (77.5% of women and 64.4% of men). The most commonly prescribed group of lipid-lowering agents was HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.Conclusions. Inadequate management of hypercholesterol-· aemia leaves many patients with a high risk of CHD mortality in South Africa. Appropriately investigated patients with hypercholesterolaemia should receive treatment to reduce cardiovascular disease using more effective TC control programmes than are currently used in South Africa

PROMOTING PROFITABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE BACKGROUNDING OF BEEF CALVES: THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION.

Published ArticleThere are indications that the backgrounding of beef calves will become more important in future as heavier beef carcasses are required. To increase the profitability of beef systems, backgrounding prepare weaned calves for finishing on high energy rations to promote rapid weight gain in a feedlot. Backgrounding operations may be pasture or dry-lot based or some combination thereof. The primary objective of this study was to investigate factors leading to poor average daily gain (ADG), high morbidity and mortality rate and the increased costs of gain. The secondary objective was to study the management practices followed in the backgrounding of beef calves concerning purchasing, adaptation, processing, raising, health management and marketing strategies. Forty questionnaires were administered to farmers, small and large feedlots doing backgrounding of beef calves. Data was generated by using the SUM equation and the means, minimum and maximum were generated by using PROC MEANS in SAS (2004). On-farm observations were employed in collecting data and discussions with other farmers and experts doing backgrounding of beef calves. According to this study, the ADG for summer differed significantly (P<0.05) from that of winter as the ADG during summer was 22.2% higher than that of winter. However, the study also showed that the feed intake in summer differed significantly (P<0.05) from that of winter with summer feed intake being 13% higher than winter feed intake. The production costs per calf in this study were R300.50±158.60 for feeding costs, R138.10±90.80 for remedies, R56.40±22.10 for processing and R37.50±24.30 for transport costs. It was also evident that parainflueza 3 known as flu was the infectious disease that mostly led to morbidity and mortality. With protozoal diseases, gall-sickness and red-water was the major cause of mortality. Mortality as a result of nutritional disorder including bloat and acidosis was reported by 37.5% of the respondents. The paper stresses the role of agricultural extension in the optimization of backgrounding systems

Health actions and disease patterns related to coronary heart disease in the coloured population of the Cape Peninsula

The health-related behaviour of the Cape Peninsula coloured population, which has been shown to have an adverse coronary heart disease (CHO) risk factor profile, is reported. Private medical services were used most often by participants: 54,1% and 51,6% of males and females respectively had made use of these services during the preceding year. Only 17,9% and 21,8% of males and females respectively had attended day hospitals during the year. Blood pressures were measured in 43,8% and 57,1% of male and female participants respectively during the year preceding the study. The results indicated the need for the measurement of blood pressure to determine the true prevalence of hypertension, since patient reporting of the condition was inaccurate. Attempts to give up smoking had been made by 44,4% of male and 47,1% of female smokers. About 75% of the participants were found to have hypercholesterolaemia, yet their knowledge of the prudent diet was poor and few reported appropriate dietary modifications to protect against CHO. Frequent reporting of hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension and constipation by the study population highlights the need for dietary education. Mortality rates (MRs) for CHO and cerebrovascular disease (CVO) for the coloured and the white populations were compared. In all age groups white males had higher MRs for CHO than coloured males, while coloured females older than 34 years had higher rates than their white counterparts. The coloured population had MRs for CVO that were higher than those of whites.S Afr Med J 1990; 78: 73-7

Effect of Cover Crops, and the Management Thereof, on the Weed Spectrum in a Drip-irrigated Vineyard: 2. Weeds Growing From Grapevine Berry Set to Post-harvest

A five-year trial (2009 to 2013) was executed in a drip-irrigated seven-year-old Shiraz/101-14 Mgt vineyard established on a sandy to sandy clay loam soil at Blaauwklippen Farm (33°58’S, 18°50’E) near Stellenbosch, South Africa. Fourteen treatments, consisting of two management practices applied to five cover crop species, as well as winter-growing weeds (no cover crop) and winter-growing weeds (no cover crop) with nematicide applied in the vine row, were applied. The weeds and cover crop species were eithercontrolled chemically (CC) or mechanically (MC) during grapevine bud break, followed by full-surface chemical control during berry set (for both CC and MC treatments). Rhynchelytrum repens (Natal redtop)dominated the post-harvest pre-treatment weed spectrum in all the treatments except Eruca sativa cv. Nemat (Nemat) (MC). This species lost its post-harvest dominance from 2010 onwards. It seems that the relatively low summer rainfall during the 2010/2011 season allowed Anagallis arvensis to appear in April 2011 and dominate some of the treatments, which coincided with the disappearance of Cynodon dactylon (common couch) and Polygonum aviculare (prostrate knotweed). Digitaria sanguinalis, common couch and prostrate knotweed seemed to establish better during late summer where MC was applied. The pre-treatment average post-harvest weed stand of 5.53 t/ha was reduced to 0.53 t/ha within one season, illustrating the benefit of full-surface chemical weed control applied during grapevine berry set

Medical students’ use of caffeine for ‘academic purposes’ and their knowledge of its benefits, side-effects and withdrawal symptoms

Background: Caffeine is often used for its benefits, which include increased vigilance. It does have side-effects, however, such as palpitations andwithdrawal symptoms that include headaches and drowsiness. Tertiary education often requires students to study for extended hours, especiallyduring periods of increased workload prior to tests and examinations. Medical students, who have to master a very large volume of academic work ina limited period of time, are no exception. This cross-sectional study investigated caffeine use for ‘academic purposes’ by first- to third-year medicalstudents at the University of the Free State in 2006, and their knowledge of its benefits, side-effects and withdrawal symptoms.Methods: Data were collected by means of an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire that was completed by students during formal classtime, arranged in advance with the relevant lecturers. Questionnaires were available in Afrikaans and English. A pilot study was conducted on20 physiotherapy students to test the questionnaire. Chi-squared and Kruskall-Wallis tests were used to compare categorical and numerical variables,respectively. Ethical approval to perform the investigation was granted by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of theFree State.Results: A 90.5% (360/389) response rate was obtained. Ninety-four per cent of participants used caffeine, with academic purposes (62.6%) amongthe three most frequent reasons given for its consumption. Other reasons included social consumption (70%) and preference for the taste (72.4%).Coffee (88.2%) was the most commonly consumed caffeinated product among these students, followed by energy mixtures and tablets (37.9%),and soft drinks (36%). Third-year students were the heaviest consumers of coffee for academic purposes. An increase in caffeine consumptionfor academic purpose was directly related to progression from first- to third- year of the medical course. The average scores for questions on thebenefits, side-effects and withdrawal symptoms were all below 1.5 out of 5. Misconceptions about caffeine were also identified. With regard to thebenefits of caffeine, the most commonly cited misconception was that it could be used as a substitute for sleep (26.7% of respondents). The mostcommon misconception regarding its side-effects was that it caused hot flushes (21.9%), while aggression (27.2%) was cited as the most commonmisconception regarding caffeine withdrawal.Conclusions: The high percentage of caffeine usage and low scores in the caffeine knowledge test indicated that most participants were usingcaffeine without having sufficient knowledge of its benefits, side-effects and withdrawal symptoms. It is recommended that awareness programmeson the side-effects and symptoms of caffeine withdrawal should be implemented by the student health and counselling facilities on campus. Thedisplay of posters in strategic venues and distribution of pamphlets could assist in the dissemination of information on this extensively consumedsubstance

Individual host variations in tick infestations of cattle in a resource-poor community

Relative resistance levels of cattle against tick infestations in the communal grazing area of Botshabelo in the south-eastern Free State were determined. The objective was to establish whether differences in resistance can be exploited to contribute to tick control methods used by small-scale farmers in resource-poor environments. Ten cows (Bos taurus crosses) between the ages of 18 months and four years were used and tick counts were conducted once a month over a period of 12 months to compare their total tick burdens. Tick burdens of the various animals were compared mutually as well as with the mean tick burden of the group as a whole. Tick numbers varied throughout the year on all individuals but some animals consistently tended to have either higher or lower numbers than the mean of the group. Tick burdens on cattle classified as having a relatively low resistance to tick infestations increased eleven-fold from January to June 1996 compared to a six-fold increase on cattle categorized as belonging to the high resistance group. Twenty-eight percent of the cattle in the total study group carried 50% of the ticks collected (60 079). It is recommended that farmers in the region visually assess B. decoloratus burdens, the most abundant tick species, and sell or cull the most susceptible animals first in their normal program of utilization of the animals. This should eventually result in the direct improvement of the overall tick resistance of their cattle herds.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat X Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.Foundation for Research Development. University of the Free State

Tick diversity, abundance and seasonal dynamics in a resource-poor urban environment in the Free State Province

The objectives of this study were to determine the diversity, seasonal dynamics and abundance of ticks infesting cattle in urban, small-scale farming communities in and around Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu in the eastern Free State Province, South Africa. A total of ten cattle, ear-tagged for individual identification, were investigated monthly at each of five localities. Adult ticks were removed from the right hand side of each animal and placed in containers filled with 70% ethanol. They were subsequently identified and their numbers quantified. Immature Otobius megnini were counted but not removed. A total of 244 538 adult ticks of ten different species were collected over the 12-month study period. The tick species, in decreasing order of relative abundance, were: Boophilus decoloratus (87,26%), Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi (6,86%), Hyalomma marginatum rufipes (2,42%), Otobius megnini (1,85%) Rhipicephalus follis (0,76%), Rhipicephalus gertrudae (0,54%), Rhipicephalus sp. (0,21 %), Ixodes rubicundus (0,08%), Hyalomma truncatum (0,01 %) and Margaropus winthemi (0,004 %). The three most abundant species, namely B. decoloratus, R. evertsi evertsi and H. marginatum rufipes, occurred at all localities but with significant differences in abundance. M. winthemi ticks occurred only in the Thaba Nchu area and were not found at any of the three localities in Botshabelo. Significant differences in tick burdens between the six warm months (September to February) and the six cooler months (March to August) were found for most of the species recorded. Boophilus decoloratus occurred in significantly higher numbers in autumn (March to May) and winter (June to August) compared to spring (September to November) and summer (December to February), with 76,8% of the total B. decoloratus burden occurring during the cooler months.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat X Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.Foundation for Research Development. University of the Free State