‘Musiconomy’: A Framework for the Socio-Economic Development of a Rural South African Context

Published ArticleLocal or regional socio-economic development is a buzzword that has gained prominence in recent times. The primary aim of adoption of the concept is to stimulate economic activity in a region or locality by creating new jobs and improving living standards. There are several theoretical lenses through which the concept can be viewed. The thesis statement for the current study is that in accordance with endogenous theory of development, effective economic growth hence socio economic development of a region or locality is possible through the use of its local resource. In this study, the focus is on musiconomy, where music is seen as the local resource (fulcrum) of local or regional socio-economic development. The study was aimed at developing an integrated framework that makes music a tool for socio-economic development in the South African rural context, focussing specifically on the Northern Cape Province. The study was exploratory descriptive, using qualitative methods for data collection and analysis. The major finding was that although literature supports the notion that local music talent can enhance the socio-economic emancipation of regions and musical talent abounds in the study area, this potential is not optimally exploited to the economic benefit of the area. It is, therefore, possible to enhance the musiconomy of the region through the proposed framework. The paper provides a novel framework that makes local musical talent a tool for the socio-economic development in the rural South African context. Critics can point to the apparent shortcomings inherent in case studies and qualitative studies. However, the study lays a solid foundation for wider scale studies that incorporate quantitative approaches as well

Comparison of discrete dynamic pipeline models for operational optimization of District Heating Networks

Optimal operation of District Heating Networks (DHNs) is a very challenging task. One of the main challenges for DHNs optimization tool designers is the choice of an adequate dynamic thermal pipeline model which gives a good tradeoff between accurately modeling the physics of the thermodynamic processes and simultaneously yielding a numerically efficient model. To address this, the paper states the main Partial Differential Equation (PDE) which is used to describe the convection of hot water throughout the literature, together with reasonable assumptions that lead to minor deviations from measurements. Then, different approaches are described which can be used to solve the respective PDE. More specifically, the very common Node Method (NM), approximations of the NM, the lagrangian approach and different Finite Difference (FD) approaches are presented. The main aim of this work is to provide a qualitative and quantitative comparison of these modeling approaches in the context of optimal DHN operation. Our quantitative results show, that by comparing the different approaches to measurement data, the NM yields the smallest modeling errors for most of the temporal discretization sizes. The qualitative comparison identifies that the lagrangian method lacks the differentiability necessary for the implementation in optimization tools. The advantages of the FD approaches include guaranteeing a fixed number of variables, a constant information depth of the temperature distribution along the pipeline and the simplicity of implementation into optimization tools. The approximations of the NM bring benefits when varying mass flow directions need to be considered, which is a crucial aspect in 4t h generation DHNs

‘Musiconomy’: a framework for the socio-economic development of a rural South African context.

Local or regional socio-economic development is a buzzword that has gained prominence in recent times. The primary aim of adoption of the concept is to stimulate economic activity in a region or locality by creating new jobs and improving living standards. There are several theoretical lenses through which the concept can be viewed. The thesis statement for the current study is that in accordance with endogenous theory of development, effective economic growth hence socio economic development of a region or locality is possible through the use of its local resource. In this study, the focus is on musiconomy, where music is seen as the local resource (fulcrum) of local or regional socio-economic development. The study was aimed at developing an integrated framework that makes music a tool for socio-economic development in the South African rural context, focussing specifically on the Northern Cape Province. The study was exploratory descriptive, using qualitative methods for data collection and analysis. The major finding was that although literature supports the notion that local music talent can enhance the socio-economic emancipation of regions and musical talent abounds in the study area, this potential is not optimally exploited to the economic benefit of the area. It is, therefore, possible to enhance the musiconomy of the region through the proposed framework. The paper provides a novel framework that makes local musical talent a tool for the socio-economic development in the rural South African context. Critics can point to the apparent shortcomings inherent in case studies and qualitative studies. However, the study lays a solid foundation for wider scale studies that incorporate quantitative approaches as well

Port-Hamiltonian Modeling of Hydraulics in 4th Generation District Heating Networks

In this paper, we use elements of graph theory and port-Hamiltonian systems to develop a modular dynamic model describing the hydraulic behavior of 4th generation district heating networks. In contrast with earlier generation networks with a single or few heat sources and pumps, newer installations will prominently feature distributed heat generation units, bringing about a number of challenges for the control and stable operation of these systems, e.g., flow reversals and interactions among pumps controllers, which may lead to severe oscillations. We focus thus on flexible system setups with an arbitrary number of distributed heat sources and end-users interconnected through a meshed, multi-layer distribution network of pipes. Moreover, differently from related works on the topic, we incorporate dynamic models for the pumps in the system and explicitly account for the presence of pressure holding units. By inferring suitable (power-preserving) interconnection ports, we provide a number of claims about the passivity properties of the overall, interconnected system, which proves to be highly beneficial in the design of decentralized control schemes and stability analyses

COVID-19 severity and in-hospital mortality in an area with high HIV prevalence

DATA AVAILABILITY : Complete individual patient data and the analysis code in R are available to researchers on reasonable request from the corresponding author, M.T.B.BACKGROUND : HIV infection causes immune dysregulation affecting T-cell and monocyte function, which may alter coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pathophysiology. OBJECTIVES : We investigated the associations among clinical phenotypes, laboratory biomarkers, and hospitalisation outcomes in a cohort of people hospitalised with COVID-19 in a high HIV prevalence area. METHOD : We conducted a prospective observational cohort study in Tshwane, South Africa. Respiratory disease severity was quantified using the respiratory oxygenation score. Analysed biomarkers included inflammatory and coagulation biomarkers, CD4 T-cell counts, and HIV-1 viral loads (HIVVL). RESULTS : The analysis included 558 patients, of whom 21.7% died during admission. The mean age was 54 years. A total of 82 participants were HIV-positive. People living with HIV (PLWH) were younger (mean age 46 years) than HIV-negative people; most were on antiretroviral treatment with a suppressed HIVVL (72%) and the median CD4 count was 159 (interquartile range: 66–397) cells/μL. After adjusting for age, HIV was not associated with increased risk of mortality during hospitalisation (age-adjusted hazard ratio = 1.1, 95% confidence interval: 0.6–2.0). Inflammatory biomarker levels were similar in PLWH and HIV-negative patients. Detectable HIVVL was associated with less severe respiratory disease. In PLWH, mortality was associated with higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers. Opportunistic infections, and other risk factors for severe COVID-19, were common in PLWH who died. CONCLUSION : PLWH were not at increased risk of mortality and those with detectable HIVVL had less severe respiratory disease than those with suppressed HIVVL.http://www.sajhivmed.org.zaam2024ImmunologyInternal MedicineSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein

Concurrent low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet with/without physical activity does not improve glycaemic control in type 2 diabetics

Aim: This study aimed to determine if a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet (LCHFD) provides any benefits of glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, either alone or in conjunction with physical activity. Methods: Type 2 diabetics (n = 39) were assigned into either a concurrent physical activity and LCHFD group (DiExG), LCHFD only group (DietG) or control group (ConG). Results: No significant (p > 0.05) changes were observed in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), glucose and insulin in either the DiExG (HbA1c: p = 0.592; 8.3% decrease, glucose: p = 0.477; 11.1% decrease and insulin: p = 0.367; 44.1% increase) or DietG (HbA1c: p = 0.822; 0% change, glucose: p = 0.108; 11.0% decrease and insulin: p = 0.976; 4.2% decrease) group. Conclusions: In this study, neither an LCHFD alone nor in combination with a physical activity programme succeeded in eliciting improvements in insulin sensitivity in the type 2 diabetics. As such, adoption of a LCHFD, either alone or in combination with physical activity, should not unequivocally be part of the treatment approach for type 2 diabetics. Furthermore, it should carefully be weighed against the benefits of more balanced dietary and/or physical activity interventions