Clinical Epidemiological Studies on Methicillin Resistant and Suscepti ble Staphylococci

__Abstract__ Staphylococcus aureus was discovered for the fi rst ti me in the 1880s [1]. Since then, S. aureus has been shown to be a major pathogenic Gram-positi ve bacterium, causing relati vely mild superfi cial infecti ons (e.g., furuncles or boils, post-operati ve wound infecti ons) to lifethreatening invasive infecti ons (e.g., sepsis, endocarditi s) [2]. In the early 1940s, prior to the introducti on of penicillin, the mortality rate of individuals with a severe S. aureus infecti on was about 80% [3]. The emerge of strains with penicillin resistance was reported for the fi rst ti me in 1948 [4]. Since 1960, approximately 80% of all S. aureus strains became resistant to penicillin. Therefore, methicillin was introduced in 1959 to treat infecti ons caused by this penicillin-resistant S. aureus [5]. In 1961, two years aft er the introducti on of methicillin, there were reports from the United Kingdom of S. aureus isolates that had acquired resistance to methicillin (methicillin-resistant S. aureus, MRSA) [6]. The cause of the development of methicillin resistance was the acquisiti on of the mecA gene [7]. During the last decades, MRSA has become the most prevalent anti bioti c-resistant pathogen in hospitals in many parts of the world and a growing number of reports describe the increasing prevalence in various populati ons in the community [8-10]. In additi on, various healthcareassociated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (HA-MRSA) clones disseminated worldwide [11]. Furthermore, since the 1990s, virulent community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) clones, characterized by the presence of the toxin Panton-Valenti ne Leukocidin (PVL), have spread worldwide, fi rst in the community, but now they are also emerging in healthcare faciliti es [11, 12]. The CA-MRSA prevalence worldwide remains low, but an increasing prevalence has been reported [10, 13] and, some people tend to believe that the disti ncti on between CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA is beginning to fade [2, 14]. A CA-MRSA clone which is frequently isolated is the socalled USA-300 strain. This strain has proved to be able to transmit between individuals and causes outbreaks of skin infecti ons and boils

The role of the military in combating human trafficking: a South African perspective

Human trafficking is a complex and diverse crime affecting both individuals and countries across the world. As a significant facet of transnational organised crime and one of the most lucrative criminal enterprises globally, human trafficking was ranked as the second most profitable crime around the world in 2015, making it the fastest-growing source of revenue for organised criminal operations internationally. In 2015, South Africa implemented comprehensive antitrafficking legislation. Before such legislation was enacted, the South African government also ratified several international and regional human rights instruments in terms of which specific duties are imposed upon the state to combat and punish the crime effectively, including the protection of the rights of victims. The focus of the study on which this article reports, is the desired role of the military in combating human trafficking in South Africa. In 2004, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) adopted a policy on combating trafficking in human beings. The policy sets out various strategies for ensuring regional cooperation in combating human trafficking. It is suggested that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) take the initiative in formulating a similar policy in order to effect better co-operation amongst nation states in Africa, especially in the southern region of Africa, to combat human trafficking. In order to address the role of the SANDF in the fight against human trafficking meaningfully and to develop evidence-based strategies and policies, regional coordination in combating trafficking is paramount. The article examines current legislation, instruments and strategies as regards human trafficking in order to make recommendations for countertrafficking policy standards and best practices for the SANDF

Incorporating Africanness into the legal curricula: The case for criminal and procedural law

Criminal and procedural law has recently come under scrutiny and been criticised as being the ‘white-man’s law’. The claim is that this academic discipline of law, as conceptualised and studied thus far, has remained too Eurocentric and lego-centric, incorporating only Western legal concepts and not embodying African values and cultures. Criminal and procedural law studies are described as Western concepts created from the viewpoint of a dominant Western culture which does not take sufficient cognisance of other cultural traditions and therefore lacks certain elements of legitimacy. There has been increasing pressure on these subjects to Africanise the law and to make it relevant to the greater South African population. Combining indigenous legal concepts and general legal theory, this article examines the current situation and endeavours to develop methods to account for the effect of African law on criminal and procedural law. The article concludes that recognition should be given to the Africanisation (or South Africanisation) of law. Law students need to be better equipped to understand the manifold pluralities within and between legal systems in order to produce lawyers and judges who are “thoroughly grounded in the cultural milieu of the society in which the courts are based”

Latest developments of the spin-valve transistor

The magnetic hysteresis associated with the magnetization reversal of the free layer in a spin valve is analysed. A model is proposed which assumes a single-domain behavior of the free layer, and a fixed magnetization of the pinned layer. The model is then developed in the framework of the Stoner¿Wohlfarth coherent rotation model, where geometrical solutions are obtained by the astroid method. According to the strength of the interlayer exchange coupling, the applied field direction and the anisotropy arrangement of the magnetic layers, a general classification of the hysteresis loops is proposed. Quantitative comparisons with experiments on spin valves (e.g. NiFe/Cu/NiFe/FeMn) are shown

Developing Legal Terminology in African Languages as Aid to the Court Interpreter: A South African Perspective*

The need for unambiguous communication in the theoretical and applied fields of human activity, such as the legal profession, is constantly increasing. Terminologists and subject specialists are focused on the provision of unambiguous source- and target-language terms for well-defined concepts. In order to achieve this aim, it is necessary to determine the precise meanings of terms which enable users to comprehend and use them in a universally accepted manner. Legal language is one of the most difficult languages for special purposes since only legal experts versed in the special vocabulary can communicate successfully — laypeople tend to struggle comprehending the language of law, sometimes called legalese. This study deals with legal language, the bridging of communication problems in a legal setting by especially court interpreters, and difficulties these legal linguists may experience in this endeavour. Some word-forming principles are discussed and examples are given of typical multilingual coinages in the legal profession. Various matters relating to terminology usage in a multilingual society receive attention. Some of the principles of the standardisation, harmonisation and the internationalisation of the terminology of the legal profession are discussed. The research also addresses the work of the Centre for Legal Terminology in African Languages (CLTAL) and of other relevant terminology projects, e.g. that of the Centre for Political and Related Terminology in Southern Africa (CEPTSA).Keywords: criminal law, criminal procedural law, conceptualisation, court interpreter, court interpreting, harmonisation, internationalisation, harvesting processes, law of evidence, standardisation, terminography, terminolog

A Call to Revise Section 8(2)(e) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act to Include Crisis Risk Communication

This article gauges s 8 of South Africa’s Occupational Health and Safety Act and highlights its lack of clarity and prescriptive guidelines on crisis risk communication. Paragraph 8(2)(e) specifically obliges employers to provide information and training to ensure a safe and healthy working environment. However, the Act neither defines the words ‘communication’ and ‘information’ nor does it clearly provide for the dissemination of information during a crisis, like industrial action, which affects many employees simultaneously. The #FeesMustFall and insourcing protests that occurred at universities across the country during 2015-2016 are a good example of this. The protests compelled universities to send out text messages as a means of communicating with their staff and students. Though crisis risk communication theory expects messages to provide clear and straightforward directives, some messages were vague. This begs the question whether an institution must simply provide information to comply with the law, or whether clear directives should be the only legal standard. Subsection 8(2)(e) of the Act provides little insight. With the above in mind, this article suggests best practice criteria for crisis risk communication and a proposed reformulation of s 8(2)(e).Afrikaans and Theory of Literatur

VEX-U Robotics

Every year, the ONU Robotics Team participates in the VEX U competition. The VEX U college and university competition has more than 300 teams competing annually. Based on the VEX Robotics Competition, VEX U teams are allowed more customization and greater flexibility than other grade levels while providing the effective costs and real-world limitations of a restricted development environment. The competition changes every school year (also referred as season) to provide new challenges for the teams. In the 2021-2022 season, the name of the competition is Tipping Point. Tipping Point is played on a 12’x12’ square field. Two Alliances – one (1) “red” and one (1) “blue” – composed of two Teams each, compete in matches consisting of a fifteen-second Autonomous Period, followed by a Driver Controlled Period of one minute and forty-five seconds. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing Alliance by Scoring Rings, moving Mobile Goals to Alliance Zones, and by Elevating on Platforms at the end of a Match. The project for the ONU Robotics Team will be to build the robots and participate in the regional qualifiers of the VEX U competition, which is held in the Spring of 2022

Het beperkte recht: een analyse van zijn theoretische constructie, zijn plaats in het systeem van het vermogensrecht en zijn mogelijke inhoud

Het beperkte recht moet niet worden voorgesteld als een afsplitsing van een deel van de eigendom. Het beperkte recht moet veeleer als een last worden beschouwd die de eigenaar op de eigendom legt en voor de beperkte gerechtigde een nieuw, eigensoortig recht schept dat daarvoor nog niet bestond. Deze conclusie wordt getrokken op grond van een zoektocht in de rechtsgeschiedenis en een (nieuwe) analyse van het systeem van het vermogensrecht. Deze opvatting van het beperkte recht zorgt ervoor dat de mogelijke inhoud van dat recht veel minder dogmatische beperkingen kent dan veelal wordt aangenomen. Verplichtingen tot een doen zijn niet langer uit den boze.LEI Universiteit LeidenCoherent privaatrech