A constitutional critique on the regulations relating to artificial fertilisation of persons

It is constitutionally impermissible for legislation to over-medicalise, that is, to legally enforce medical influence and supervision over certain actions, without good reason why such medical influence and supervision are required. Various parts of the regulations relating to artificial fertilisation of persons made in terms of the National Health Act over-medicalise aspects of artificial fertilisation and gamete donation. These offending parts of the regulations are accordingly unconstitutional and invalid. The article calls for a thorough review of the regulations from a constitutional perspective

Factors affecting the retention of knowledge workers.

One of the characteristics of knowledge workers is their high level of mobility. The cost of labour turnover of these key resources is high in both financial and non financial terms. There is thus a need to understand what the factors are that underpin the retention cognitions of knowledge workers. Data was collected from 306 knowledge workers in full time employment representing a wide range of demographic groupings. The results showed that job satisfaction and organisational commitment do not predict knowledge workers’ proposed future length of service. Factor analysis revealed seven underlying dimensions of retention cognitions. Cluster analysis revealed nine distinct clusters of knowledge workers with regard to their retention cognitions. High levels of individualism, need for challenge and focus on personal development were demonstrated. The implications of these findings are discussed

An Investigation of Private Equity Buyout Performance During the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis

This paper investigates the net-of-fees performance of North American and European Private Equity Buyout Funds (vintages 2002 – 2007) that invested in the 2007-2009 financial crisis. To evaluate performance this study looks at both absolute return metrics such as Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Total Value to Paid-In (TVPI) and the relative public market equivalent (PME) method conceived by Kaplan and Schoar (2005). This research builds on a 2015 Gianfrate and Loewenthal study by utilizing an updated March 31st, 2018 Preqin Private Equity Cash Flow database to gather date-specific fund-level cash flow data on 249 buyout funds as well as Bloomberg historical return data on ten public equity indices. The present study found a mean buyout IRR of 12% and a TVPI of 1.68, slightly lower than that observed in prior research. However, overall 2002-2007 buyout funds did substantially and consistently outperform their respective public market benchmarks with an average PME, calculated using relevant public benchmarks, of 1.11 for North American buyout funds and 1.10 for European buyout funds. The study also observed a significant downward PME trend on the vintage level between 2002 and 2007 as well as a positive relationship between fund size and performance

Electric bus technology : how will electric bus technology change the way in which public transport networks are operated, managed and subsidised? Or is this just a far-off dream?

The Electric evolution is moving faster that anyone anticipated. This will change all aspects of transport and in particular public transport. This talk will cover some of the topics core to this evolution, including charging technology, grid impact, renewable energy, efficiencies, pax cost and the basic technology in the vehicles.No paper, Abstract onlyPaper presented at the 35th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 4-7 July 2016 "Transport ? a catalyst for socio-economic growth and development opportunities to improve quality of life", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.The Minister of Transport, South AfricaTransportation Research Board of the US

Social justice and research using human biological material: A response to Mahomed, Nöthling-Slabbert and Pepper

Social justice in the context of research using human biological material is an important contemporary legal-ethical issue. A question at the heart of this issue is the following: Is it fair to expect a research participant (a person who participates in such research by, among others, making available biological material from his or her body) to participate on an altruistic basis, while the researchers and the investors in the research can gain commercially from the research? In a recent article, Mahomed, Nöthling-Slabbert and Pepper proposed that research participants should be entitled to share in the profits emanating from such research via a proposed new statutory right to the intellectual property emanating from such research. In order to stimulate debate on this important issue of social justice, this article responds to the position of Mahomed et al. by focusing on two main points: Firstly, I contend that Mahomed et al. fail to make a convincing argument in favour of shifting away from altruism; secondly, I caution against framing the debate in terms of the binary poles of altruism v. profitsharing, and suggest that should healthcare public policy ever move away from altruism, various non-monetary forms of benefit-sharing by research participants should be considered

Medical biotechnology law in South Africa : a human rights analysis of selected topics

Includes bibliographical references.In this thesis I analyse the human rights dimensions of the South African law on four topical medical biotechnology subjects, namely human embryo research, the use of human gametes, autologous tem cell therapy, and private stem cell banking. In all four cases, my analyses give specific prominence to two research themes: first, human dignity as touchstone of the South African human rights regime, and secondly legal certainly. The analyses show that the legal rules governing three of the four selected medical biotechnology subjects are not aligned with the country's human rights regime

Human dignity and the future of the voluntary active euthanasia debate in South Africa

The issue of voluntary active euthanasia was thrust into the public policy arena by the Stransham-Ford lawsuit. The High Court legalised voluntary active euthanasia – however, ostensibly only in the specific case of Mr Stransham-Ford. The Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the High Court judgment on technical grounds, not on the merits. This means that in future the courts can be approached again to consider the legalisation of voluntary active euthanasia. As such, Stransham-Ford presents a learning opportunity for both sides of the legalisation divide. In particular, conceptual errors pertaining to human dignity were made in Stransham-Ford, and can be avoided in future. In this article, I identify these errors and propose the following three corrective principles to inform future debate on the subject: (i) human dignity is violable; (ii) human suffering violates human dignity; and (iii) the ‘natural’ causes of suffering due to terminal illness do not exclude the application of human dignity

Surrogacy commissioning fathers and HIV

Surrogacy is not regulated by a single legal instrument only, nor is confirmation of a surrogacy agreement by the High Court an unqualified green light for the surrogacy process to proceed. In the context of the HIV status of the commissioning father, whose gametes are to be used for the conception of the child in pursuance of a surrogacy agreement, the intended in vitro fertilisation of the surrogate mother may only take place on condition that the commissioning father, and his semen, have been tested for HIV; that he has consented to his HIV status being made available to the surrogate mother, and if he is HIV-positive, that sperm washing will be used to minimise the risk of infection and that the surrogate mother has been informed of his HIV status, and given her informed consent.

Evolution of the chemical composition of Sn thin films heated during x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

High-vacuum XPS have been used to analyse the surface modification of a 3 nm-thick Sn thin film on Si (100) before and after annealing up to 450 °C. Increasing the XPS stage temperature led to a reduction in the amount of surface Sn and increasing amounts of O and Si. High-resolution XPS scans revealed the presence of mostly pure Sn and SnO2 for the as-deposited Sn thin film. Increasing the XPS stage temperature to > 232 °C led to the conversion of SnO2 to SnO and an enhancing pure Sn signal. The Si2p and SiO2 peaks become prominent at temperatures > 350 °C, which in combination with scanning electron microscope images, signals the dewetting of the Sn film and subsequent exposure of the underlying Si (100) substrate. XPS depth profiles revealed the presence of a pure Sn metallic core encapsulated by a Sn-oxide shell. Electron microscope images shows a densely packed particulate surface features for the as-deposited Sn thin film. However, these particulate regions increase in size and are more isolated at XPS stage temperatures > 350 °C.National Metrology Institute of South Africa and the National Research Foundation (GUN: 93212, 92520, 103621)