Dancing the Tiekiedraai : a socio-historic approach to Bosman's bushveld narratives

Bibliography: 71-75.The name 'Herman Charles Bosman' is a familiar one to South Africans, and his narratives have been celebrated widely for their skilful construction, their humour and the unique way in which they capture a segment of South African rural life. While Bosman is regarded as a significant figure in South African literature, it is less commonly accepted that his narratives were more than cleverly devised pieces of social realism. In the past, critics have largely either regarded Bosman's work as existing 'outside' of politics - even commending him for his ability to disregard the 'obsession' with politics reflected in the texts of other South African writers - or they have criticised him for producing 'racist' narratives which vindicated white supremacy. There are a number of reasons why Bosman's work was not regarded as an important constituent in the literary struggle against racial discrimination in South Africa, not the least being that he was an Afrikaner. His ethnic identity, combined with the fact that his writing was difficult to categorise because it was so different from the other literature being produced at that time, meant that his narratives have often been misunderstood, and their social message largely ignored. My argument, in this thesis, is that the particular and very real forms of censorship placed on South African writers beg a closer look not only at what is being said, but the

Retinal redox stress and ultrastructural remodeling in metabolic syndrome and diabetic retinopathy [abstract]

Diabetic retinopathy is the major cause of blindness in the United States in the age group from 20-74. There are four traditional metabolic pathways involved in the development of diabetic retinopathy: increased polyol pathway flux, increased advanced glycation end-product formation, activation of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms, and increased hexosamine pathway flux. These pathways individually and synergistically contribute to redox stress resulting in retinal tissue injury culminating in microvascular retinal remodeling and diabetic retinopathy. We investigated the ultrastructural remodeling of the blood retinal barrier (BRB) in the choroid coat layer and plexiform layers in retinas of the young 9 week old Zucker rat model of obesity and insulin resistance and the 20 week old alloxan diabetic porcine model with JEM -1400 transmission electron microscopy. Previous studies indicated that pericyte loss and dysfunction are the earliest hallmarks of diabetic retinopathy

Sensory Interventions for Older Adults Living with Dementia

This tool maps out existing literature on sensory interventions for people living with dementia. It allows users to select a sensory intervention that might be feasible in their context, produce outcomes that are relevant to them. It is based on a scoping review of the literature. Our scoping review identified what interventions exist to produce particular outcomes, in particular contexts. It did not address effectiveness. As such, this tool will help you identify what others have done in a particular context, and to produce particular outcomes. It will not tell you which options are most effective

Managing Uncertainty in Chronic Illness From Patient Perspectives

Chronic illness is an increasing concern in the United States as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 50% of adults have at least one chronic illness. When individuals must adjust to chronic illness, they may experience uncertainty regarding the illness, prognosis, and symptoms. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the management strategies of uncertainty in chronic illness from patients’ perspectives. Merle Mishel’s uncertainty in illness theory was the framework used to explore the lives of individuals diagnosed and living with chronic illness. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight individuals who have chronic disease. Results revealed themes that individuals with chronic illness do experience uncertainty and that it impacts almost all aspects of their lives. Some of the themes identified were chronic illness, uncertainty, impact of uncertainty on daily living, coping or managing uncertainty, and communication from the healthcare team about uncertainty. The individuals expressed changes in daily activities and retraining their minds to accept their new normal. This study offers coping and management strategies that healthcare professionals can implement into treatment plans to improve the quality of life for individuals with uncertainty in chronic illness. The information produced from this study will aid healthcare providers in understanding the need to address the uncertainty at diagnoses and offer ways to assist patients in coping and managing uncertaint

Misunderstandings, misalignments, and motivation for changing systems: Professionals’ accounts of working with families experiencing domestic and family violence in the child protection system

The child protection and domestic violence sectors continue to struggle to effectively respond to the complex needs of survivors of domestic violence. This article reports the findings of a study investigating the perceptions and work practices of twenty-five Australian practitioners who work with families to attend to safety concerns of children who experience domestic violence. They reported dissatisfaction with the persistence of systems which hold mothers solely accountable for their children’s safety and render violent fathers invisible. Practitioners also expressed motivation to develop better system-wide and collaborative responses to families that are based upon feminist principles that promote gender equity, are person-centred, culturally respectful and violence informed. This however can only be achieved through wide-scale policy and legislative reform. &nbsp

Barriers to Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Transportation Part 3: The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Travel Patterns

Vehicle travel, measured as vehicle-miles traveled (VMT), dropped precipitously in California following “stay-in-place” orders issued by the state and counties as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although VMT rebounded relatively quickly, the state has an opportunity to leverage other changes in household travel behavior so as to achieve its VMT reduction goals while enhancing transportation equity. This report reviews the available evidence on changes in household travel behavior resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and provides an overview of potential state, regional, and local-level policies that could help to preserve changes that help to reduce VMT and reverse those that tend to increase VMT. The review focuses on alternatives to driving, specifically telecommuting, public transit, ride-hailing, e-shopping, and active travel and micro-mobility.View the NCST Project Webpag

Comprehensive Coach Education Reduces Head Impact Exposure in American Youth Football

BACKGROUND: Despite little evidence that defines a threshold of head impact exposure or that participation in youth sports leads to long-term cognitive impairments, it is prudent to identify methods of reducing the frequency of head impacts. PURPOSE: To compare the mean number of head impacts between youth football players in practice and games between leagues that implemented the Heads Up Football (HUF) educational program and those that did not (NHUF). STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. METHODS: During the 2014 season, head impact exposure was measured using xPatch accelerometers from 70 youth football players aged 8 to 15 years from 5 leagues. Data were collected during both games and practices. The NHUF group comprised 32 players from 8 teams within 3 leagues. The HUF group comprised 38 players from 7 teams within 2 leagues. Independent-sample t tests evaluated differences in head impact exposure across groups (ie, HUF and NHUF). RESULTS: Players (mean ± SD: age, 11.7 ± 1.4 years; height, 152.2 ± 10.5 cm; weight, 51.6 ± 9.6 kg) experienced a total of 7478 impacts over 10g, of which 4250 (56.8%) and 3228 (43.2%) occurred in practices and games, respectively. The majority of impacts occurred within the NHUF group (62.0%), followed by the HUF group (38.0%). With a 10g impact threshold, the mean number of impacts during practice per individual event was lower in the HUF group (mean ± SD, 5.6 ± 2.9) than in the NHUF group (mean ± SD, 8.9 ± 3.1; difference, 3.4; 95% CI, 2.9-3.9). This difference was attenuated when the threshold was changed to 20g but remained significant (difference, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.7-1.3). At both the 10g and 20g impact thresholds, no differences were found in games. CONCLUSION: Players who participated in HUF leagues accumulated fewer head impacts per practice at both the 10g and 20g thresholds. Youth football leagues should consider the HUF educational program, while exploring additional interventions, to help reduce the number of head impacts in players

Dental Hygienists\u27 Knowledge of HIV, Attitudes Towards People with HIV and Willingness to Conduct Rapid HIV Testing

This study was aimed to determine the dental hygienists\u27 knowledge of HIV, attitudes towards people living with HIV and willingness to conduct rapid HIV testing