The need for recognition and regulation of paralegals: An analysis of the roles, training, remuneration and impact of community-based paralegals in South Africa

This article seeks to critically analyse the role of community-based paralegals (CBPs), mainly within a South African context. Having defined CBPs, it focuses on the roles, functions and qualifications required of CBPs in South Africa. The current lack of statutory recognition and regulation of CBPs in the country and proposals for future recognition and regulation are considered. This article briefly refers to examples of paralegal work and regulation in other countries. Arguments for and against the statutory recognition and regulation of CBPs within the legal profession are discussed. The article warns against over-regulation of the paralegal profession, but nonetheless calls for legislative recognition and regulation to provide the impetus for further expansion and development of existing paralegal programmes. CBPs are found to play a pivotal role in improving access to justice, particularly within the poor and rural commun ities in which they operate

Workers with Occupational Contact Dermatitis: Work Outcomes and Return to Work Process in the First Six Months following Diagnosis

Workers with occupational contact dermatitis may have poor outcomes that impact their health, work, and quality of life. While there is information available on overall return to work, little is known about the actual return to work process. The objectives of the study were to describe the return to work experience and work outcome in workers with contact dermatitis following diagnosis. 78 workers with occupational contact dermatitis were followed for 6 months after assessment. Information collected included clinical presentation and status, the return to work process and work outcomes. Six months after assessment, 38% were not working, almost all because of their skin problem. Of the 62% working 32% had changed job, most because of their skin problem. Limited advice to enable return to work and communication were reported. These findings suggest that there are gaps in return to work programs for occupational contact dermatitis and further research is needed

Dimensions of Community Change: How the Community of Sudbury Responded to Industrial Exposures and Cleaned up its Environment

A city in northern Ontario, which has suffered more than a century of pollution from mining, went from being internationally notorious for its pollution to winning awards for its environmental restoration. The inquiry was into the levers of change that led from an awareness of environmental destruction to taking action. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 60 people from the community, politicians, industry, miners, and academics. The theory-based analysis led to a community-change model that has helped identify the multiple layers of change required for the re-greening of the environment. With reference to the collective impact literature, this city-level case study found that the city has embraced change based upon agreement on an emerging vision, taking advantage of a confluence of timing and events, adopting evidence-based knowledge, building a sense of pride and place, and having a diffuse yet linked leadership. The Sudbury story is helpful for other industrial communities looking to achieve change

Modeling of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopic data analysis by an automatic classifier

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a multi-elemental and real-time analytical technique with simultaneous detection of all the elements in any type of sample matrix including solid, liquid, gas, and aerosol. LIBS produces vast amount of data which contains information on elemental composition of the material among others. Classification and discrimination of spectra produced during the LIBS process are crucial to analyze the elements for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. This work reports the design and modeling of optimal classifier for LIBS data classification and discrimination using the apparatus of statistical theory of detection. We analyzed the noise sources associated during the LIBS process and created a linear model of an echelle spectrograph system. We validated our model based on assumptions through statistical analysis of “dark signal” and laser-induced breakdown spectra from the database of National Institute of Science and Technology. The results obtained from our model suggested that the quadratic classifier provides optimal performance if the spectroscopy signal and noise can be considered Gaussian

Successive episodes of reactive liquid flow through a layered intrusion (Unit 9, Rum Eastern Layered Intrusion, Scotland)

We present a detailed microstructural and geochemical study of reactive liquid flow in Unit 9 of the Rum Eastern Layered Intrusion, Scotland. Unit 9 comprises an underlying lens-like body of peridotite overlain by a sequence of troctolite and gabbro (termed allivalite), with some local and minor anorthosite. The troctolite is separated from the overlying gabbro by a distinct, sub-horizontal, undulose horizon (the ‘major wavy horizon’). Higher in the stratigraphy is another, similar, horizon (the ‘minor wavy horizon’) that separates relatively clinopyroxene-poor gabbro from an overlying gabbro. To the north of the peridotite lens, both troctolite and gabbro grade into poikilitic gabbro. Clinopyroxene habit in the allivalite varies from thin rims around olivine in troctolite to equigranular crystals in gabbro and to oikocrysts in poikilitic gabbro. The poikilitic gabbros contain multiple generations of clinopyroxene, with Cr-rich (~1.1 wt% Cr2O3) anhedral cores with moderate REE concentrations (core1) overgrown by an anhedral REE-depleted second generation with moderate Cr (~0.7 wt% Cr2O3) (core2). These composite cores are rimmed by Cr-poor (~0.2 wt% Cr2O3) and REE-poor to -moderate clinopyroxene. We interpret these microstructures as a consequence of two separate episodes of partial melting triggered by the intrusion of hot olivine-phyric picrite to form the discontinuous lenses that comprise the Unit 9 peridotite. Loss of clinopyroxene-saturated partial melt from the lower part of the allivalite immediately following the early stages of sill intrusion resulted in the formation of clinopyroxene-poor gabbro. The spatial extent of clinopyroxene loss is marked by the minor wavy horizon. A second partial melting event stripped out almost all clinopyroxene from the lowest allivalite to form a troctolite, with the major wavy horizon marking the extent of melting during this episode. The poikilitic gabbro formed from clinopyroxene-saturated melt moving upwards and laterally through the remobilized cumulate pile and precipitating clinopyroxene en route. This process, called reactive liquid flow, is potentially important in open magma chambers

A whole-rock data set for the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland

We report a compilation of new and published whole-rock major and trace element analyses for 646 samples of the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland. The samples were collected in 14 stratigraphic profiles either from accessible and well-exposed surface areas or from drill core, and they cover most regions of the intrusion. This includes the Layered Series, the Upper Border Series, the Marginal Border Series and the Sandwich Horizon. The geochemical data were obtained by a combination of X-ray fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. This data set can, for example, be used to constrain processes of igneous differentiation and ore formation.

POPULATION AND BREEDING OF THE GENTOO PENGUIN PYGOSCELIS PAPUA AT MARION ISLAND, 1994/95–2002/03

The numbers of gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua breeding at subantarctic Marion Island fell by 40&#37 from 1994/95 to 2002/03, from 1 352 pairs to 806 pairs. Apart from a slight increase in 1998/99, there was a steady decrease in numbers breeding between 1995/96 and 2000/01, when the population stabilized. There is indication that in some years not all breeders nested and that some birds relocated to another colony after disturbance. From first clutches, pairs on average fledged between 0.01 chicks in 1997/98 and 0.58 chicks in 2002/03 (mean 0.38 &#177 0.21). In 1994/95, replacement clutches increased the overall production of fledged chicks by 11&#37. Based on demographic parameters measured at other localities, the production of chicks at Marion Island was inadequate to maintain the population during the period 1995/96–2000/01. Consistency in trends in breeding success at five colonies suggests that factors operating at a mesoscale, rather than those specific to particular colonies, often influenced breeding success. Laying was later than normal in 1997/98, when there was almost total breeding failure with large losses of eggs and small chicks to returning Subantarctic skuas Catharacta antarctica. Future research on this Near Threatened species at Marion Island must take full account of its susceptibility to human disturbance.Afr. J. mar. Sci. 25: 463–47

POPULATION, BREEDING, DIET AND CONSERVATION OF THE CROZET SHAG PHALACROCORAX [ATRICEPS] MELANOGENIS AT MARION ISLAND, 1994/95–2002/03

The number of Crozet shags or cormorants Phalacrocorax [atriceps] melanogenis breeding at subantarctic Marion Island decreased by 68&#37 from 841 pairs in 1994/95 to 272 pairs in 2002/03. The mean number of pairs at colonies also decreased and was significantly related to the overall number of birds breeding in any given season. The decreases coincided with a period of warming and reduced precipitation at Marion Island and with a decrease in the number of gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua breeding there. Both these seabird species forage inshore and there is considerable overlap in their diets. Nototheniid fish and the decapod Nauticaris marionis continued to be important in the diet of Crozet shags, but a change in dominance among nototheniid prey suggests availability of prey to shags changed after the mid 1980s. Crozet shags breed for the first time when aged three years. It is probable that about 25&#37 of the mature population did not breed in 1997/98, coincident with a strong El Niño Southern Oscillation event. In four seasons, breeding pairs on average fledged 0.30 chicks from first clutches, an amount thought inadequate to sustain the population. Crozet shags at the Prince Edward Islands should now be regarded as Endangered. Placing breeding colonies in the most highly protected zone on Marion Island, considering the establishment of an ex situ population and undertaking a genetic study of the specific status of the Crozet shag are recommended conservation measures.Afr. J. mar. Sci. 25: 537–54