Robust Estimates of Okun's Coefficient for South Africa

Persistently high unemployment in South Africa, especially in the face of improved economic conditions since 1994, begs the question: Does unemployment in South Africa respond to changes in output? When considering the linkages between output and unemployment, it is useful to decompose unemployment into its three components: structural, frictional and cyclical unemployment. Deficient aggregate demand gives rise to cyclical unemployment. Okun's law (1962) refers to the inverse relationship that exists between cyclical output and cyclical unemployment This paper estimates the relationship between economic activity (cyclical GDP) and changes in the unemployment rate (cyclical unemployment) for South Africa. A variety of detrending methods is used to decompose output and unemployment series into their trend and cyclical components. The paper also addresses the question of asymmetries in Okun's coefficient. The results indicate the presence of an Okun's law relationship in South Africa over the period 1970-2005 with more evidence in favour of asymmetries during recessions.

Youth envisioning safe schools: a participatory video approach

Gender-based violence is pervasive in South African society and is often seen as the driver of HIV, particularly affecting youth. Rural KwaZulu-Natal, where we have been working in a district in an on-going university-school partnership, is noted as the epicentre of the epidemic. The two secondary schools in this study were therefore conveniently chosen while the 30 Grade 9 learners, 7 boys and 23 girls between the ages of 13–16, were purposively selected. The use of participatory visual methodologies,which is the focus of this special issue, taps into the notion of ‘research asintervention’ and speaks to the potential of educational research contributing to social change. In this qualitative study we used participatory video to explore youths’ understanding of gender-based violence, as well as how they envision making schools safe. Power theory is used as theoretic lens to frame the study and to make meaning of the findings, namely, that girls’ bodies are sites for gender-based violence at unsafeschools; that the ‘keepers of safety’ are perpetuating gender-based violence at school; and that learners have a sound understanding of what can be done to address gender-based violence. This study, with its ‘research as intervention’ approach, enabled learners to make their voices heard and to reflect on what it is that they as youth can do to contribute to safe schooling

A structural investigation of the short stories of Katherine Mansfield with special reference to the idea of the true and false self

A survey of the available literature on Katherine Mansfield has shown that, in the five decades which have elapsed since the author's death, critical interest has gradually, but significantly, altered its direction. Despite the workmanlike assessments of such critics as David Daiches in Britain and Andre Maurois in France, and the recognition of her mastery of the short story form by such fellow practitioners of the art as H.E. Bates and Elizabeth Bowen, the mainstream of criticism tended, in the first decades after the author's death, to centre less upon the characteristics of the work itself than upon a cult- like fascination, initiated, perhaps, by the perceptive but over-interested pen of Middleton Murry. Only more recently has this tendency been superseded by a more rigorous scrutiny of the stories themselves; thus the excellence of the author 's technique has now become a major concern. Recent recognition has been accorded, too, to the fact that the stories were in the vanguard of their time with regard to the choice of, as well as the treatment of, theme. Intro. p. 1-2

How standard (and valid) are South African parking standards?

Papers presented virtually at the 41st International Southern African Transport Conference on 10-13 July 2032Parking standards ensure that the correct parking allocation is provided for at land uses. Historically, minimum parking standards were applied worldwide, indicating the minimum number of parking bays that must be provided per land use. Many industrialised countries now regulate parking allowances by applying a maximum parking rate, limiting the number of parking bays per land use, which can assist to reduce travel demand and promote sustainable transport options. South Africa still adheres to minimum parking standards. Parking standards in South Africa are curated and published by individual local and metropolitan municipalities. The first objective of this paper is to compare South African parking standards in various municipalities for numerous land uses. Parking standards were observed to vary widely between municipal areas, resulting in vastly different parking requirements for the same land uses. The second objective of this research was to develop a methodology to conduct representative parking studies to evaluate if there is regularly an oversupply in parking bays at new developments as a result of minimum parking requirements. The findings of this paper indicate that South African parking standards should be reviewed to allow an equitable approach to parking provision between municipalities. Research into a move to maximum parking standards is also required to prevent an oversupply of parking and encourage sustainable transport usage where public transport options are available

Analysis of time to regulatory and ethical approval of SATVI TB vaccine trials in South Africa

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) vaccine trials in South Africa must be approved by the Medicines Control Council (MCC) and by a human research ethics committee (HREC). Delays in regulatory and ethical approval may affect operational and budget planning and clinical development of the product. Aim. Our aim was to analyse the time to regulatory and ethical approval for TB vaccine trials conducted by the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) and to evaluate factors that influence time to final approval. Method. Sixteen new TB vaccine clinical trials conducted by SATVI between 2004 and 2012 on infants, children, and adults were included. The period between submission and final approval was determined for protocols submitted to the MCC and the University of Cape Town HREC. Results. Median approval time following first submission to the MCC was 122 days (IQR 112 - 168; range 71 - 350), and for protocol amendments 103 days (interquartile range (IQR) 76 - 141; range 23 - 191; n=30). Median time following first submission for HREC approval was 60 days (IQR 33 - 81; range 18 - 125), and for amendments 6 days (IQR 4 - 13; range 1 - 37; n=30). There was no significant difference in approval time by trial phase, year of submission, revisions required, study population, sample size, or whether a clinical research organisation (CRO) was used. Conclusion. The time needed for regulatory and ethics approval was highly variable, but MCC approval for first submissions took twice as long as HREC approval and was the primary determinant of time to final approval. National regulatory capacity should be strengthened to facilitate the conduct of new TB vaccine trials in this country with its high burden of TB

Impact of Xpert MTB/RIF rollout on management of tuberculosis in a South African community

Background. The Xpert MTB/RIF test shortens the time to microbiological confirmation of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) under research conditions.Objective. To evaluate the field impact of Xpert MTB/RIF rollout on TB diagnostic yield and time to treatment in a South African (SA) community.Methods. We compared TB investigation outcomes for 6-month calendar periods before and after Xpert MTB/RIF rollout in a semi-rural area of SA. The proportion of adult patients who tested positive by sputum smear microscopy, liquid culture or Xpert MTB/RIF and the proportion of positive sputum smear, liquid culture or Xpert MTB/RIF tests were compared. Secondary outcomes included time to laboratory diagnosis and treatment initiation. Data were collected from the National Health Laboratory Service database and from the Western Cape Provincial Department of Health TB register.Results. Regional rollout of Xpert MTB/RIF testing occurred in 2013. Of the 15 629 patients investigated in the post-rollout period, 7.9% tested positive on GeneXpert, compared with 6.4% of the 10 741 investigated in the pre-rollout period who tested positive by sputum smear microscopy (p<0.001). Median laboratory processing time was <1 day for Xpert MTB/RIF (interquartile range (IQR) 0 - 1) compared with 1 day (IQR 0 - 16) for sputum smear microscopy (p=0.001). The median time to TB treatment initiation was 4 days (IQR 2 - 8) after rollout compared with 5 days (IQR 2 - 14) before (p=0.001).Conclusions. Patients investigated for suspected pulmonary TB were more likely to be diagnosed after rollout of Xpert MTB/RIF testing, although the benefit to diagnostic yield was modest, and Xpert MTB/RIF testing was associated with a marginal improvement in time to treatment initiation

Adventure tourists in Pretoria, South Africa: A demographic profile

Adventure activities and experiences constantly evolve because individuals, motives, behaviours, and experiences differ and change over time. In order to assist adventure tourism companies to promote and sell specific activities and experiences that will meet the specific needs and wants of their identified target markets, this paper focuses on the demographic profile of adventure tourists who used the products/services of adventure tourism companies within Pretoria, South Africa. The realised sample was 234, providing a 93.6% response rate. The research instrument used was a self-completing questionnaire. Based on the results, these adventure tourists were Afrikaans speaking individuals between the ages of twenty-eight and forty-nine years. Their households consisted of two to four people and there were generally two income earners per household. This study established that there is a need for further researching of comprehensive adventure tourist profiles

Risky behaviour and psychosocial correlates in adolescents – is there a link with tuberculosis?

Objective: Reasons for the increase in incidence of Tuberculosis (TB) in late adolescence are poorly understood. One hypothesis is that psychological and behavioural variables associated with adolescence may increase risk of developing TB. The study aimed to determine whether psychosocial and behavioural variables affect incidence of TB disease in adolescents. Methods: A casecontrol study design was used in adolescents who were participants in a TB epidemiological study. Cases were adolescents diagnosed with TB disease. Approximately half of the controls had no TB disease but a positive TST indicative of latent TB. Half had neither TB disease nor latent TB. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by participants. The questionnaire consisted of a combination of standardised psychosocial instruments. Results: Of 292 participants, 62 were cases, 112 had latent TB and 118 neither TB disease nor latent TB. There were no significant differences in instrument scores between cases and controls. There was a trend for certain adverse life events to be more common in the TB-disease group. Conclusion: In adolescents, a trend for association between TB incidence and psychosocial and behavioural variables was not statistically significant. Given the trend, research with larger samples, and more comprehensive assessment of the relationship between stressors and TB, is warranted.Keywords: Tuberculosis; Adolescents; Self-injurious behaviour; Psychosocial factor

Kleinvoet: a Spatially-Distributed Temporally-Synchronised Infrasonic Recorder

We present the hardware design of a high-fidelity, low-cost infrasonic-capable (6 Hz) passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) prototype instrument. The device allows temporal synchronisation using a variety of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) constellations. This allows the recordings made by independent spatially-distributed nodes to be synchronised in time for acoustic monitoring and localisation using, for example, time difference of arrival (TDOA). Each node is capable of sampling at 24-bit resolution with a sampling frequency that is adjustable between 8 kHz and 192 kHz. Audio samples are stored locally on a microSD card, along with timestamp and location metadata

Sensory profiling of Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus) meat

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o No sensory profile information is available for Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus) meat. The aim of this study was to conduct descriptive analysis in order to establish the sensory attributes of the breast portion of this species. Meat from guineafowl, Pekin duck, ostrich and broiler chicken were used as reference species. Egyptian goose meat had a very intense game aroma, game flavour and metallic aftertaste, mainly attributable to the muscle's high percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids and Fe. Egyptian goose meat was also low in tenderness and high residue; this may be due to the high level of physical exercise endured by the breast muscle. Egyptian goose meat proved to be similar to ostrich meat regarding appearance (dark, red colour) and low tenderness, but differed from guineafowl and broiler chicken, the latter two meat types illustrated a higher degree of juiciness and tenderness. These results of Egyptian goose meat can now be used for further sensory studies as it is important to also establish the influence of extrinsic factors such as season and gender on the meat quality of this waterfowl species