,,Es gibt nicht zwei, wie der ist”.

Om ’n mens se indrukke van prof. Schulze saam te vat, is geen makliketaak nie. Sy invloed op 'n student seliterêre smaak, wetenskaplike vormingen lewensbeskouing is so omvangryk, datek maar net ’n paar daarvan sal aanroer

Evaluation of Diagnostic PCR for the Detection of Listeria monocytogenes in Food Products

Conventional methods for the detection of Listeria in foodstuffs are generally cumbersome and time consuming. The use of primary enrichment in ½ strength Fraser broth and the use of Oxford and RAPID’L. mono agars were assessed in comparison with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for their ability to accurately detect and confirm the presence of L. monocytogenes in food products. Of the 27 food samples tested, 74 % were presumptively positive for Listeria on Oxford agar, while 44 % were presumptively positive for L. monocytogenes on RAPID’L. mono. Only 37 % of samples were confirmed to be positive for L. monocytogenes by PCR amplification of the hly gene (732 bp). PCR was able to eliminate the false positives and detect all L. monocytogenes in the food products, unlike the conventional methods used in the industry. In addition to the fact that the incidence of Listeria species was higher than L. monocytogenes on selective media, there was also the presence of Listeria-like organisms. These organisms had the typical appearance of Listeria on selective media, but were non-Listeria species, as confirmed by the PCR and API Listeria (bio- Mérieux). PCR proves to be a sensitive and rapid technique to be included in the procedure of detection of L. monocytogenes in food products

Evaluation of Diagnostic PCR for the Detection of Listeria monocytogenes in Food Products

Conventional methods for the detection of Listeria in foodstuffs are generally cumbersome and time consuming. The use of primary enrichment in ½ strength Fraser broth and the use of Oxford and RAPID’L. mono agars were assessed in comparison with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for their ability to accurately detect and confirm the presence of L. monocytogenes in food products. Of the 27 food samples tested, 74 % were presumptively positive for Listeria on Oxford agar, while 44 % were presumptively positive for L. monocytogenes on RAPID’L. mono. Only 37 % of samples were confirmed to be positive for L. monocytogenes by PCR amplification of the hly gene (732 bp). PCR was able to eliminate the false positives and detect all L. monocytogenes in the food products, unlike the conventional methods used in the industry. In addition to the fact that the incidence of Listeria species was higher than L. monocytogenes on selective media, there was also the presence of Listeria-like organisms. These organisms had the typical appearance of Listeria on selective media, but were non-Listeria species, as confirmed by the PCR and API Listeria (bio- Mérieux). PCR proves to be a sensitive and rapid technique to be included in the procedure of detection of L. monocytogenes in food products

The contribution of energy efficiency towards the success of industrial organisations in South Africa

The original publication is available at http://sajie.journals.ac.zaENGLISH ABSTRACT: Internationally, governments and lobby groups increasingly put pressure on organisations to reduce their impact on the environment. To this end, various studies show the drivers, barriers, and contributions of energy efficiency towards a more sustainable environment, particularly through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and other by-products. In the study summarised in this paper, the factors that drive organisational success were compared with the effects that energy efficiency projects have on organisations. Methods, policies, and strategies on the application of energy efficiency were also studied. The findings are that, in general, most organisations have energy efficiency policies and strategies in place, and they include internal and external stakeholders in their energy efficiency efforts. These efforts also show a positive correlation with the factors that contribute to the perceived success of organisations in the South African industrial sector. These strategies must be maintained in the longer term, as energy efficiency will play a more important role in the future.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Organisasies, wêreldwyd, word toenemend onder druk geplaas deur regerings- en aksiegroepe om hul impak op die omgewing te verminder. Na aanleiding hiervan toon verskeie studies die drywers, struikelblokke en bydraes van energie-doeltreffendheid na ʼn meer volhoubare omgewing, veral ten opsigte van groenhuisgas-emissies en ander neweprodukte. In hierdie studie is die faktore wat die sukses van organisasies dryf vergelyk met die effek van die toepassing van energiedoeltreffendheidsprojekte op organisasies. Metodes, beleid en strategieë in terme van die toepassing van energiedoeltreffendheid is ook bestudeer. Die bevindinge is dat die meeste organisasies, oor die algemeen, beleid en strategieë in plek het in terme van energiedoeltreffendheid; dié organisasies sluit interne en eksterne belanghebbendes in waar hulle strewe na energiedoeltreffendheid. Hierdie aktiwiteite toon ʼn positiewe korrelasie met die faktore wat waarde bydra ten opsigte van die oënskynlike sukses van organisasies in die Suid-Afrikaanse industriële sektor. Dus moet hierdie strategieë in plek gehou word in die langtermyn, aangesien energiedoeltreffendheid ʼn belangriker rol sal speel in die toekoms

Leadless cardiac pacing in resource limited settings: A Groote Schuur hospital experience with the Micra leadless pacemaker

Background: Cardiac pacemakers improve survival and quality of life in patients with atrioventricular (AV) block. However, conventional pacemakers carry a small risk of both acute and chronic lead and pacemaker generator complications. Leadless pacemakers negate these risks by not having a pacing lead and a subcutaneous generator. We report our Groote Schuur Hospital experience with the Medtronic Micra transcatheter pacing system (TPS).Methods: We report a consecutive case series of patients that received the Micra leadless pacemaker. The Micra transcatheter pacemaker, a single chamber ventricular pacemaker, is inserted using a TPS via the femoral vein into the right ventricle. Implantation data were obtained, and medical records were reviewed for the 6 weeks and 1-year follow-up visits.Results: A total of 5 patients were implanted with a Micra leadless pacemaker from 11 March 2015 - 2 November 2016. Four patients were male and 1 female, with an average age of 64 years. Four patients received the pacemaker for a second- or third-degree AV block and 1 patient received the pacemaker for unexplained syncope and right bundle branch block. The Micra leadless pacemaker was successfully implanted in all patients with no acute implantationrelated complications. One-year follow-up was available for 4 patients with good pacing thresholds, sensitivity and impedance. One patient demised after 9 months post Micra implantation due to unrelated causes (acute myeloid leukaemia).Conclusion: The Micra leadless pacing system is safe and effective and shows good short-term results in a real-world, resource-limited setting. This form of pacing offers a viable option for patients who require pacing for AV block, especially in patients with vascular access problems or who are at high risk of lead or pacemaker generator complications

Learning from Samples of Variable Quality

Training labels are expensive to obtain and may be of varying quality, as some may be from trusted expert labelers while others might be from heuristics or other sources of weak supervision such as crowd-sourcing. This creates a fundamental quality-versus-quantity trade-off in the learning process. Do we learn from the small amount of high-quality data or the potentially large amount of weakly-labeled data? We argue that if the learner could somehow know and take the label-quality into account, we could get the best of both worlds. To this end, we introduce “fidelity-weighted learning” (FWL), a semi-supervised student-teacher approach for training deep neural networks using weakly-labeled data. FWL modulates the parameter updates to a student network, trained on the task we care about on a per-sample basis according to the posterior confidence of its label-quality estimated by a teacher, who has access to limited samples with high-quality labels

Die interfererende kontoere van Nijhoff en Cloete se poëtika

The interferential contours of Nijhoff and Cloete’s poetics In the poetry of T.T. Cloete the recycling or idiolectical transformation of texts from the Dutch literary tradition can clearly be demonstrated. The aim of this article is to explore the manner in which Cloete’s poetics manifests itself verse-extemally and verseinternally, and to indicate the interactional views of the poetry of Cloete and the Dutch poet Nijhoff. In the article it is demonstrated that those views which Cloete shares with Nijhoff manifest themselves in his poetry. The contours of these theories are views of the origins of poetry, a world view and a theory of objectivity. The nub of the shared views centres in the concept of the wilfulness of language which is linked synchronically to the so-called autonomistic poetics of the Utrecht model

Learning from Samples of Variable Quality

Training labels are expensive to obtain and may be of varying quality, as some may be from trusted expert labelers while others might be from heuristics or other sources of weak supervision such as crowd-sourcing. This creates a fundamental quality-versus-quantity trade-off in the learning process. Do we learn from the small amount of high-quality data or the potentially large amount of weakly-labeled data? We argue that if the learner could somehow know and take the label-quality into account, we could get the best of both worlds. To this end, we introduce “fidelity-weighted learning” (FWL), a semi-supervised student-teacher approach for training deep neural networks using weakly-labeled data. FWL modulates the parameter updates to a student network, trained on the task we care about on a per-sample basis according to the posterior confidence of its label-quality estimated by a teacher, who has access to limited samples with high-quality labels

Ipratropium bromide delivered by metered-dose aerosol to infant wheezers

Two methods of administration of ipratropium bromide (Atrovent; Boehringer Ingelheim) to wheezing children'< 25 months of age were compared: (i) the conventional nebulisation (15 children); and (ii) a metered-dose aerosol plus spacer and mask (MDA group, 17 children). The drug induced a significant and similar fall in respiratory rate in both groups. Transcutaneous carbon dioxide pressure was also reduced significantly but was more marked in the MDA group. This increase in alveolar ventilation was 'similar in those < 12 months as in older children; in those with recurrent or with first time wheezing; and in those with radiological evidence of pneumonia. Clinical assessment of bronchospasm and recession was recorded as improved' in over 80% of both groups. The MDA delivery of ipratropium bromide was as effective as nebulisation and was more convenient, since it required less time and equipment. It was also well accepted by the small patients

Antimicrobial-resistant Klebsiella species isolated from free-range chicken samples in an informal settlement

Sub-therapeutic doses of antimicrobial agents are administered routinely to poultry to aid growth and to prevent disease, with prolonged exposure often resulting in bacterial resistance. Crossover of antibiotic resistant bacteria from poultry to humans poses a risk to human health. In this study, 17 chicken samples collected from a vendor operating in an informal settlement in the Cape Town Metropolitan area, South Africa were screened for antimicrobial-resistant Gram-negative bacilli using the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion assay. In total, six antibiotics were screened: ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, nalidixic acid, tetracycline and trimethoprim. Surprisingly, Klebsiella ozaenae was identified in 96 and K. rhinoscleromatis in 6 (n = 102) of the samples tested. Interestingly, ~40% of the isolated Klebsiella spp. showed multiple resistance to at least three of the six antibiotics tested. Klebsiella ozaenae and K. rhinoscleromatis cause clinical chronic rhinitis and are almost exclusively associated with people living in areas of poor hygiene.Web of Scienc