Four concepts of Africa

What makes the words ‘Africa’ and ‘African’ possible and useful? In this article it is argued that at least four internally coherent concepts of Africa exist, and that none of these concepts are ethically neutral. The article is presented as a contribution to attempts at using the term ‘Africa’ in self-critical, reflexive and constructive ways. It could therefore be of interest to all researchers, particularly those in the humanities and theology, who locate their research within the context of ‘Africa’. It is argued that Africa can be conceived of as a place, a commodity, a condition and an ideal. By drawing on mostly primary sources it is shown that the term ‘Africa’ only relatively recently came to refer to a continent, that Africa as a place and Africa as a condition in need of betterment formed the foundation for its commodification, and that Africa only very recently became a self-description of the people who live on the continent of Africa. Each of these concepts of Africa is shown to be based on a particular logic with both strengths and weaknesses

A Model To Determine Capital Needs For Efficient Boer Goat Farming

The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal capital needs to establish a Boer goat farm. A study was performed to simulate the financial performance of 55 scenarios, with varying farm sizes and varying levels of capital employed. These results formed the basis to create a data envelopment analysis model, where farm sizes and capital employed are used as input variables versus eight financial performance indicators as output variables. The study found that the scenarios are technically efficient, but only 23 of the 55 scenarios are fully scale efficient, with six scenarios operating on a scale that is too small and 26 operating on a scale that is too large, which implies that 32 of the scenarios did not achieve economies of scale. Furthermore, nine of the ten farm sizes used are not scale efficient when using 100% of their capital needs. The study therefore concludes that the financial success of starting a South African (SA) Boer goat farm is locked up in the natural growth of the herd, with the practical implication that aspirating SA Boer goat farmers will be most efficient when using a limited amount of capital and not immediately stock the farm at the maximum level of animals, but to stock it only partly and wait for the gain in the growth of the herd

'These Discussions Aren't Happening': Experiences of People Living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Talking About Sexual Well-being with Health Care Professionals.

Background Inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] affects all aspects of life, yet little is known about the impact of the condition on intimacy and sexuality and if such concerns should be discussed with health care professionals. This hermeneutical phenomenological study aimed to explore the experiences of people living with inflammatory bowel disease and discussing their sexuality concerns with health care professionals. Methods Participants [n = 43] aged 17–64 years were recruited. Data were collected via in depth interviews and anonymous narrative accounts [Google Forms]. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results An overarching theme ‘These discussions aren’t happening’ with four main themes were generated. The main themes were: ‘I can’t image talking about sex’; ‘I am a person, not my IBD’; ‘We need to talk about sex’; and ‘Those who talked about sex, talked badly’. Participants described the lack of conversations with their health care professionals on sexual well-being issues, in spite of the importance they gave to the topic, and identified barriers to having such conversations. They made suggestions for future clinical practice that would better meet their needs. The few who had discussed sexual well-being issues with health care professionals reported negative experiences. Conclusions Patients’ needs and preferences, about addressing during clinical appointments concerns related to their sexual well-being, should be addressed routinely and competently by health care professionals. Understanding the implications of inflammatory bowel disease for intimate aspects of the lives of those living with the condition could improve the quality of the care provided

Phyllosticta citricarpa and sister species of global importance to Citrus.

Several Phyllosticta species are known as pathogens of Citrus spp., and are responsible for various disease symptoms including leaf and fruit spots. One of the most important species is P. citricarpa, which causes a foliar and fruit disease called citrus black spot. The Phyllosticta species occurring on citrus can most effectively be distinguished from P. citricarpa by means of multilocus DNA sequence data. Recent studies also demonstrated P. citricarpa to be heterothallic, and reported successful mating in the laboratory. Since the domestication of citrus, different clones of P. citricarpa have escaped Asia to other continents via trade routes, with obvious disease management consequences. This pathogen profile represents a comprehensive literature review of this pathogen and allied taxa associated with citrus, focusing on identification, distribution, genomics, epidemiology and disease management. This review also considers the knowledge emerging from seven genomes of Phyllosticta spp., demonstrating unknown aspects of these species, including their mating behaviour.TaxonomyPhyllosticta citricarpa (McAlpine) Aa, 1973. Kingdom Fungi, Phylum Ascomycota, Class Dothideomycetes, Order Botryosphaeriales, Family Phyllostictaceae, Genus Phyllosticta, Species citricarpa.Host rangeConfirmed on more than 12 Citrus species, Phyllosticta citricarpa has only been found on plant species in the Rutaceae.Disease symptomsP. citricarpa causes diverse symptoms such as hard spot, virulent spot, false melanose and freckle spot on fruit, and necrotic lesions on leaves and twigs.Useful websitesDOE Joint Genome Institute MycoCosm portals for the Phyllosticta capitalensis (https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/Phycap1), P. citriasiana (https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/Phycit1), P. citribraziliensis (https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/Phcit1), P. citrichinaensis (https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/Phcitr1), P. citricarpa (https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/Phycitr1, https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/Phycpc1), P. paracitricarpa (https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/Phy27169) genomes. All available Phyllosticta genomes on MycoCosm can be viewed at https://genome.jgi.doe.gov/Phyllosticta

Hosts, seasonal occurrence and life cycle of Rhipicentor nuttalli (Acari: Ixodidae)

There are only two species worldwide within the genus Rhipicentor, namely Rhipicentor bicornis and Rhipicentor nuttalli, and both occur only in Africa. Rhipicentor nuttalli has a widespread distribution in South Africa and the present investigation was initiated to elucidate its host preference, seasonality and life cycle. Rock elephant shrews, Elephantulus myurus, were examined for ticks at four localities in the Free State Province, one in Gauteng Province and two in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Cape elephant shrews, Elephantulus edwardii, were examined at two places in the Western Cape Province, and a single specimen of the bushveld elephant shrew, Elephantulus intufi, was examined in central Namibia. Small mammals of other species were also examined at two of these localities. The majority of E. myurus at two sites in the Free State, at the locality in Gauteng and both sites in Limpopo Province were infested with larvae and/or nymphs of R. nuttalli, while the single E. edwardii examined at one site in the Western Cape Province and the single E. intufi examined in Namibia were infested with nymphs of this tick. Not one of the other small animals was infested. Although larvae and nymphs of R. nuttalli were present on E. myurus throughout the year, the former were generally most numerous during the period March to September, and the latter during May to October. The preferred hosts of the adults are domestic dogs, leopards, Panthera pardus and South African hedgehogs, Atelerix frontalis. Adult females engorged on Atelerix frontalis in 16-32 days and, after a preoviposition period of 2-4 days, produced approximately 17 000 eggs during the following 60-70 days. The average incubation period of the eggs was 59 days. Larvae engorged on E. myurus in 4-10 days and moulted to nymphs 12-20 days later. Nymphs required 11-15 days to engorge on E. myurus and moulted to adults 32-47 days later. Allowing 14 days for the exoskeletons and mouthparts of each of the three parasitic stages to harden before they can attach to a host, the life cycle took approximately 214 days to complete in the laboratory. The length of this period, considered in conjunction with the times of maximum seasonal occurrence of the immature stages, indicates that the life cycle probably takes a year to complete in the field.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.University of the Free State. Foundation for Research Development (now National Research Foundation).mn201

Taxonomy and pathology of Togninia (Diaporthales) and its Phaeoacremonium anamorphs.

The genus Togninia (Diaporthales, Togniniaceae) is here monographed along with its Phaeoacremonium (Pm.) anamorphs. Ten species of Togninia and 22 species of Phaeoacremonium are treated. Several new species of Togninia (T.) are described, namely T. argentinensis (anamorph Pm. argentinense), T. austroafricana (anamorph Pm. austroafricanum), T. krajdenii, T. parasitica, T. rubrigena and T. viticola. New species of Phaeoacremonium include Pm. novae-zealandiae (teleomorph T. novae-zealandiae), Pm. iranianum, Pm. sphinctrophorum and Pm. theobromatis. Species can be identified based on their cultural and morphological characters, supported by DNA data derived from partial sequences of the actin and ß-tubulin genes. Phylogenies of the SSU and LSU rRNA genes were used to determine whether Togninia has more affinity with the Calosphaeriales or the Diaporthales. The results confirmed that Togninia had a higher affinity to the Diaporthales than the Calosphaeriales. Examination of type specimens revealed that T. cornicola, T. vasculosa, T. rhododendri, T. minima var. timidula and T. villosa, were not members of Togninia. The new combinations Calosphaeria cornicola, Calosphaeria rhododendri, Calosphaeria transversa, Calosphaeria tumidula, Calosphaeria vasculosa and Jattaea villosa are proposed. Species of Phaeoacremonium are known vascular plant pathogens causing wilting and dieback of woody plants. The most prominent diseases in which they are involved are Petri disease and esca, which occur on grapevines and are caused by a complex of fungi, often including multiple species of Phaeoacremonium. Various Phaeoacremonium species are opportunistic fungi on humans and cause phaeohyphomycosis. The correct and rapid identification of Phaeoacremonium species is important to facilitate the understanding of their involvement in plant as well as human disease. A rapid identification method was developed for the 22 species of Phaeacremonium. It involved the use of 23 species-specific primers, including 20 primers targeting the ß-tubulin gene and three targeting the actin gene. These primers can be used in 14 multiplex reactions. Additionally, a multiple-entry electronic key based on morphological, cultural and ß-tubulin sequence data was developed to facilitate phenotypic and sequence-based species identification of the different Phaeoacremonium species. Separate dichotomous keys are provided for the identification of the Togninia and Phaeoacremonium species. Keys for the identification of Phaeoacremonium-like fungi and the genera related to Togninia are also provided. The mating strategy of several Togninia species was investigated with ascospores obtained from fertile perithecia produced in vitro. Togninia argentinensis and T. novae-zealandiae have homothallic mating systems, whereas T. austroafricana, T. krajdenii, T. minima, T. parasitica, T. rubrigena and T. viticola were heterothallic.

Principals’ involvement in the career development of female teachers: a case study in South Africa

Career planning is an important aspect of Human Resource Development and Management. This research is centered on the question as to whether school principals in South Africa fulfill their management role with respect to the career development of female teachers. The results indicate that principals rated their involvement in the career development of female educators relatively high, whereas female educators do not experience the principals to be supportive in terms of the identification of career weaknesses and strengths, the availability of career development programs and opportunities or support in terms of discussions and planning on career development. Principals nevertheless are of the opinion that adequate career development programs for female teachers are lacking at their schools and that they themselves do not adequately accommodate the fact that career paths for women differ from those of men. It is recommended that Departments of Education should place more emphasis on the professional development of school principals in order for them to be able to focus on the career development of female teachers at their schools. It should focus on all aspects of female educators’ career development.http://businessperspectives.org/component/option,com_journals/task,journal/id,3/Itemid,74/http://businessperspectives.org/component/option,com_journals/task,journal/id,3/Itemid,74

The Development and Validation of a Mental Toughness Scale for Adolescents

The present study examined the validity of a newly developed instrument, the Mental Toughness Scale for Adolescents (MTS-A), which examines the attributes of challenge, commitment, confidence (abilities and interpersonal) and control (life and emotion). The six factor model was supporting using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA, n = 373) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA, n = 372). In addition, the mental toughness attributes correlated with adolescents’ academic motivation and engagement (n = 439), well-being (depression and anxiety) (n = 279) and test anxiety (n = 279), indicating relations with a number of affective, cognitive and behavioural dispositions, and demonstrating relevance in education and potentially mental health contexts