Paediatric trauma care

Paediatric trauma care varies in different countries. In South Africa injury is the leading cause of death in the 5 - 14-yearold age group - 1,5 - 3,8 times higher than in the USA. In 1978 the Child Safety Centre was established and prospectively collected data on paediatric injuries. The various types of injuries are discussed. Trauma is responsible for the highest percentage of years of life lost but the least amount of money is being spent on research and prevention of injuries. The Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Southern Africa has been constituted to research, prevent and reduce the risk factors of the injuries and to improve facilities for the injured child

Similarities in Sectional Delimitation in Tripsacum and Zea (Gramineae)

Subtribe Tripsacinae of the tribe Andropogoneae comprises two New World genera, Tripsacum and Zea (Clayton, 1973). These “sister” genera (terminology of Hennig, 1966) are distinct morphologically and also karyotypically, with base chromosome numbers of n = 18 in Tripsacum and n = 10 in Zea. Doebley and litis (1980; see also litis and Doebley, 1980) radically revised sectional circumscription in Zea, and provided the first workable taxonomy for that genus

Training South African clinician-scientists: Lessons from the University of Cape Town’s intercalated programme

In 2011, the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (SA), established the Clinician-Scientist Training Programme (UCTCSTP), consisting of intercalated BMedSci Hons/MB ChB and integrated MB ChB/MSc/PhD tracks. We report and reflect on the programme’s performance and challenges. The UCTCSTP has so far enrolled 71 students: 51 have received BMedSci Hons degrees and 4 have received Master’s degrees, while there are 14 BMedSci Hons, 4 MSc and 4 PhD candidates. Graduates have produced significant research outputs, and many remain actively engaged in research. The UCTCSTP has been successful in encouraging a cohort of future clinician-scientists, but should aim to broaden and improve its appeal to address the need to transform and grow the SA clinical academic workforce. As graduates progress with their postgraduate clinical training, they require institutional support and guidance, which may necessitate policy reform

Infraspecific variation and systematics of cultivatedSetaria italica, foxtail millet (Poaceae)

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica,) is grown as a cereal in southern Europe and in temperate, subtropical, and tropical Asia. Its closest wild relative isS. italica ssp.viridis (green foxtail). Green foxtail is native to temperate Eurasia, but was introduced and became widely established as a weed in temperate and warmer parts of the Americas. Spontaneous and cultivatedS. italica cross to produce fertile hybrids. Derivatives of such crosses, resembling foxtail millet in some inflorescence traits but with efficient natural seed dispersal, accompany the cereal across its range of cultivation. Giant green foxtail of Europe and the American corn belt is a weed of hybrid origin. Foxtail millet was domesticated in the highlands of central China; remains of cultivated foxtail millet are known from the Yang-shao culture period dating back some 5,000 yrs. Comparative morphology suggests that foxtail millet spread to Europe and India as a cereal soon after its domestication. Three cultivated races are recognized. Moharia, from Europe and southwestern Asia, includes cultivars with 5–52 culms, each bearing several, small, more or less erect inflorescences. Cultivars in race maxima are characterized by plants with 1–8 usually unbranched culms that bear large inflorescences; they occur in Transcaucasian Russia and the Far East. Race indica is intermediate in culm number (ave. 6.6) and inflorescence size between races moharia and maxima, and is cultivated in southern Asia

Diversity in Kodo millet,Paspalum scrobiculatum

Paspalum scrobiculatum is widely distributed in damp habitats across the Old World tropics. It is harvested as a wild cereal in west Africa and in India.The species was domesticated in India some 3,000 yr ago. It is grown in India from Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south, to Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal in the north. Kodo millet is variable but lacks racial differentiation. The species was apparently domesticated across its range of present-day cultivation. HybridizationwithwildP. scrobiculatum , which commonly invades fields of kodo millet, obscures racial differentiation. Weedy kodo is harvested with the crop, making it difficult to distinguish wild and cultivated complexes ofP. scrobiculatum. Wild, weed and cultivated kinds merge in all characters studied

Systematics and evolution of Eleusine coracana (Gramineae)

About 1400 accessions from India, Sri Lanka and Africa, and some of uncertain origin, were grown near Patancheru, India, and studied for 12 quantitative and nine qualitative characters. The systematics of E. coracana subsp. coracana, which is cultivated in eastern and southern Africa and in southern Asia, and E. coracana subsp. africana, which grows wild in Africa and as a weed in Asia and America, are given in detail. Derivatives of hybrids between the two subspecies are companion weeds of the crop in Africa. Cultivated subsp. coracana is divided into five races on the basis of inflorescence morphology. Race Coracana is widely distributed across the range of cultivation and may have been cultivated in Africa 5000 years ago. Racial evolution took place in Africa and races Vulgaris, Elongata, Plana and Compacta evolved from race Coracana, and were introduced into India some 3000 years ago. Little independent racial evolution took place in India

Domestication of Sawa millet (Echinochloa colona)

Two species of Echinochloa are grown as cereals. Echinochloa crusgalli is native to temperate Eurasia and was domesticated in Japan some 4,000 yr ago. Echinochloa colona is widely distributed in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World. It was domesticated in India. Echinochloa colona is morphologically allied to E. crusgalli, but hybrids between them are sterile. Echinochloa colona differs consistently from E. crusgalli in having smaller spikelets with membran-aceous rather than chartaceous glumes. Hybrids between wild and cultivated taxa of E. colona and between those of E. crusgalli are fertile. Cultivated E. colona is variable. It is grown as a cereal across India, Kashmir and Sikkim. Four morphological races are recognized, although these do not have geographical, ecological or ethnological unity. Race laxa is confined to Sikkim where races robusta, intermedia and stolonifera are also grown. In India, races robusta, intermedia and stolonifera are often grown as mixtures, and Echinochloa is sometimes grown as a mixture with other cereals, particularly Setaria italica (foxtail millet) or Eleusine coracana (finger millet). The species is planted on poor soil, and some cultivars mature in less than 2 mo. They hold considerable promise as cereals for the semiarid tropics

International organisations and anti-terrorist sanctions: no accountability for human rights violations?

The targeted sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council against individuals and entities suspected of association with terrorism are managed through procedures that infringe fundamental human rights, and there are no mechanisms for actual accountability. With the exception of the ECJ in Kadi, municipal and regional courts tend to consider the UN Security Council's resolutions and domestic measures implementing them outside the scope of judicial review. This article argues that the Security Council is bound to observe human rights even in the context of international security action, and that States are not exonerated from international responsibility for violations committed under the umbrella of Chapter VII resolutions

General practice performance in referral for suspected cancer: influence of number of cases and case-mix on publicly reported data

Background:Publicly available data show variation in GPs’ use of urgent suspected cancer (USC) referral pathways. We investigated whether this could be due to small numbers of cancer cases and random case-mix, rather than due to true variation in performance. Methods:We analysed individual GP practice USC referral detection rates (proportion of the practice's cancer cases that are detected via USC) and conversion rates (proportion of the practice's USC referrals that prove to be cancer) in routinely collected data from GP practices in all of England (over 4 years) and northeast Scotland (over 7 years). We explored the effect of pooling data. We then modelled the effects of adding random case-mix to practice variation. Results:Correlations between practice detection rate and conversion rate became less positive when data were aggregated over several years. Adding random case-mix to between-practice variation indicated that the median proportion of poorly performing practices correctly identified after 25 cancer cases were examined was 20% (IQR 17 to 24) and after 100 cases was 44% (IQR 40 to 47). Conclusions:Much apparent variation in GPs’ use of suspected cancer referral pathways can be attributed to random case-mix. The methods currently used to assess the quality of GP-suspected cancer referral performance, and to compare individual practices, are misleading. These should no longer be used, and more appropriate and robust methods should be develope

GW190814 follow-up with the optical telescope MeerLICHT

The Advanced LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories detected a signal on 2019 August 14 during their third observing run, named GW190814. A large number of electromagnetic facilities conducted follow-up campaigns in the search for a possible counterpart to the gravitational wave event, which was made especially promising given the early source classification of a neutron star-black hole merger.We present the results of the GW follow-up campaign taken with the wide-field optical telescope MeerLICHT, located at the South African Astronomical Observatory Sutherland site. We use our results to constrain possible kilonova models. MeerLICHT observed more than 95% of the probability localisation each night for over a week in three optical bands (u,q,i) with our initial observations beginning almost 2 hours after the GW detection. We describe the search for new transients in MeerLICHT data and investigate how our limiting magnitudes can be used to constrain an AT2017gfo-like kilonova. A single new transient was found in our analysis of MeerLICHT data, which we exclude from being the electromagnetic counterpart to GW190814 due to the existence of a spatially unresolved source at the transient's coordinates in archival data. Using our limiting magnitudes, the confidence with which we can exclude the presence of an AT2017gfo-like kilonova at the distance of GW190814 was low ($<10^{-4}$).Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, accepted by A&