Investigation of the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of Elephantorrhiza elephantina (Burch.) Skeels root extract in male rats

The anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities of the root extract of Elephantorrhiza elephantina (Burch.) Skeels (Fabaceae) were investigated using wistar rats. The extract was administered intraperitoneally (i.p) to rats at graded doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg BWt. Carrageenan andHistamine were injected into rat paws sub-plantar to induce paw oedema, while acetic acid and formalin were injected i.p to induce pain. Indomethacin (10 mg/kg) was used as reference drug, whereas thevehicle [0.9% normal saline in 3% tween 80 (2 ml/kg)] was used as negative control. Acute toxicity was tested in rats at doses of 200, 400, 800 and 1600 mg/kg BWt. Compared to control, the aqueous extractof E. elephantina at all doses investigated significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the formation of oedema induced by Carrageenan and Histamine. The extract also caused a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in writhings in the acetic acid test and licking time in the formalin test. The rats did not show any signs of acute toxicity. The study revealed the anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities of the aqueous extract of E. elephantina, which may be due to the presence of phytochemical constituents such astannins and flavonoids. The acute toxicity test showed that the plant is relatively safe to use

Anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the aqueous extract of Leonotis leonurus leaves in rats

Leonotis leonurus (L.) R. BR. Lamiaceae is extensively for the treatment of various ailments and in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, it is used for the treatment of effects of gastrointestinal parasites in animals. There is, however, scanty information on the pharmacological activities of this plant. The aqueous extract from the leaf of L. leonurus was investigated for its analgesic and antiinflammatory properties. Carrageenan and histamine-induced rat paw oedema were conducted to evaluate anti-inflammatory activity, while acetic acid-induced writhing test was conducted to assess the analgesic activity of the plant. The extract was administered intraperitoneally (i.p) to rats at graded doses of 50, 100, 200 mg/kg body weight (BWt). Indomethacin (10 mg/kg BWt) was used as reference drug, whereas the vehicle (2 mg/kg BWt of 0.9% normal saline in Tween-80) was used as negative control. Acute toxicity was tested in rats at doses of 200, 400, 800 and 1600 mg/kg BWt. Compared with the control, the plant extract at 100 and 200 mg/kg BWt significantly (P &lt; 0.05) reduced the formation of carrageenan - induced oedema, while with histamine-induced oedema the difference was insignificant (P &gt; 0.05). In the acetic acid-induced writhing model, the plant extract produced a significant (P &lt; 0.05) reduction in the number of writhes with all test doses and at 100 and 200 mg/kg BWt, the extract produced results that were similar to those of Indomethacin. This study revealed the potential of L. leonurus leaf aqueous extract in reducing pain and inflammation, suggesting that it has some antiinflammatory and analgesic activities, hence, justifying its ethno-veterinary uses. The acute toxicity test showed that the plant is relatively safe to use.Key words: Analgesic, anti-inflammation, indomethacin, Leonotis leonurus, rats

Innovation in conducting writing retreats for academic staff in higher education

How do researchers and administrators in higher education plan and carry out writing retreats for academic staff? This paper presents a distinctive approach to developing creative writing retreats for academic staff in higher education. We distill lessons from our June 2016 writing retreat, which drew participants from the University of Venda and the University of Limpopo. Responding to the South African Journal of Higher Education’s invitation to “re-imagine” writing retreats, we specify the shortcomings of linear writing retreats and discuss how to enhance collaboration, participation, and leadership capacity in planning and carrying out writing retreats. We also focus on an oft-neglected yet crucial feature of retreats, follow-up. As we show, our approach offers general insights for creative designing and implementing writing retreats.

Rape myth acceptance : gender and cross-national comparisons across the United States, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria

Many studies indicate that rape-supportive beliefs persist and influence sexually aggressive behaviors and hostility toward women. Despite the plethora of studies, cross-cultural knowledge remains sparse. The present study examined rape myth acceptance across gender and countries (i.e., United States, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria). An online questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 699 respondents in the four countries. Results suggested that respondents in Nigeria were the most likely and respondents in United States were the least likely to endorse rape myths. Respondents in South Africa were less likely than respondents in Ghana to endorse the myth that the female victim of rape “asked for it” and that the male perpetrator “didn’t mean to” rape the female victim. Although men were more likely than women to endorse rape myths, female respondents in Nigeria endorsed the myths “she asked for it” and “he didn’t mean to” more than did male respondents in Nigeria. In general, exposure to various patriarchal structures and ideologies; differences in preventive, protective, and punitive policy responses to gender-based violence; repressive cultural and religious practices; reinforcement of demeaning stereotypes against women; and psychological assimilation of oppressive policy, values and beliefs may be responsible for cross-national differences. Cross-country differences in rape myths suggest the need for formal and informal intervention in vulnerable countries. International transfer of effective policies and programs for combating gender-based violence in protective countries might lead to considerable changes in vulnerable countries and help to shift the focus from patriarchal to egalitarian views of women.http://link.springer.com/journal/12119hj2022Social Work and Criminolog

Combining field performance with controlled environment plant imaging to identify the genetic control of growth and transpiration underlying yield response to water-deficit stress in wheat

Crop yield in low-rainfall environments is a complex trait under multigenic control that shows significant genotype×environment (G×E) interaction. One way to understand and track this trait is to link physiological studies to genetics by using imaging platforms to phenotype large segregating populations. A wheat population developed from parental lines contrasting in their mechanisms of yield maintenance under water deficit was studied in both an imaging platform and in the field. We combined phenotyping methods in a common analysis pipeline to estimate biomass and leaf area from images and then inferred growth and relative growth rate, transpiration, and water-use efficiency, and applied these to genetic analysis. From the 20 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) found for several traits in the platform, some showed strong effects, accounting for between 26 and 43% of the variation on chromosomes 1A and 1B, indicating that the G×E interaction could be reduced in a controlled environment and by using dynamic variables. Co-location of QTLs identified in the platform and in the field showed a possible common genetic basis at some loci. Co-located QTLs were found for average growth rate, leaf expansion rate, transpiration rate, and water-use efficiency from the platform with yield, spike number, grain weight, grain number, and harvest index in the field. These results demonstrated that imaging platforms are a suitable alternative to field-based screening and may be used to phenotype recombinant lines for positional cloning.Boris Parent, Fahimeh Shahinnia, Lance Maphosa, Bettina Berger, Huwaida Rabie, Ken Chalmers, Alex Kovalchuk, Peter Langridge, and Delphine Fleur

Adapt or die : the views of Unisa student teachers on teaching practice at schools

This study focuses on the views of Unisa distance education (DE) students enrolled for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) who had completed their teaching practice. The research questions were: What are student teachers’ experiences of the way in which Unisa prepared them for teaching practice, the school context in which they practised teaching, the mentoring they received or did not receive and the way they were assessed? Socio-constructivist learning and situated learning theory were used as the theoretical framework. A maximum variation sampling technique was used to select 16 participants who had completed 10 weeks of teaching practice to participate in the study. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that, in preparing students for teaching practice, all role players need greater clarity on what is expected of students with regard to learning outcomes, assessment criteria and lesson plans. Students need to be placed at schools that will provide constructive learning environments, mentoring teachers should receive training and there should be greater clarity on the who, what and how of the assessment of students during teaching practice.Curriculum and Instructional Studie

Meta-omics approaches to understand and improve wastewater treatment systems

Biological treatment of wastewaters depends on microbial processes, usually carried out by mixed microbial communities. Environmental and operational factors can affect microorganisms and/or impact microbial community function, and this has repercussion in bioreactor performance. Novel high-throughput molecular methods (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics, metabolomics) are providing detailed knowledge on the microorganisms governing wastewater treatment systems and on their metabolic capabilities. The genomes of uncultured microbes with key roles in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), such as the polyphosphate-accumulating microorganism Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis, the nitrite oxidizer Candidatus Nitrospira defluvii or the anammox bacterium Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis are now available through metagenomic studies. Metagenomics allows to genetically characterize full-scale WWTP and provides information on the lifestyles and physiology of key microorganisms for wastewater treatment. Integrating metagenomic data of microorganisms with metatranscriptomic, metaproteomic and metabolomic information provides a better understanding of the microbial responses to perturbations or environmental variations. Data integration may allow the creation of predictive behavior models of wastewater ecosystems, which could help in an improved exploitation of microbial processes. This review discusses the impact of meta-omic approaches on the understanding of wastewater treatment processes, and the implications of these methods for the optimization and design of wastewater treatment bioreactors.Research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Contract Project CTQ2007-64324 and CONSOLIDER-CSD 2007-00055) and the Regional Government of Castilla y Leon (Ref. VA038A07). Research of AJMS is supported by the European Research Council (Grant 323009

Paleogene Radiation of a Plant Pathogenic Mushroom

Background: The global movement and speciation of fungal plant pathogens is important, especially because of the economic losses they cause and the ease with which they are able to spread across large areas. Understanding the biogeography and origin of these plant pathogens can provide insights regarding their dispersal and current day distribution. We tested the hypothesis of a Gondwanan origin of the plant pathogenic mushroom genus Armillaria and the currently accepted premise that vicariance accounts for the extant distribution of the species. Methods: The phylogeny of a selection of Armillaria species was reconstructed based on Maximum Parsimony (MP), Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI). A timeline was then placed on the divergence of lineages using a Bayesian relaxed molecular clock approach. Results: Phylogenetic analyses of sequenced data for three combined nuclear regions provided strong support for three major geographically defined clades: Holarctic, South American-Australasian and African. Molecular dating placed the initial radiation of the genus at 54 million years ago within the Early Paleogene, postdating the tectonic break-up of Gondwana. Conclusions: The distribution of extant Armillaria species is the result of ancient long-distance dispersal rather than vicariance due to continental drift. As these finding are contrary to most prior vicariance hypotheses for fungi, our result