Die kultuurkrisis en die verbondsjeug

Elke dag van die week, van die maand, van die jaar wend in Johannesburg gemiddeld twee persone ’n poging aan om selfmoord te pleeg 1)— om in die dood hierdie lewe te ontvlug, skynbaar sonder gedagte aan die „weeropstanding van dievlees, en ’n lewe in eewge duurte, as diedood nie meer sal wees.

Towards the discrimination of milk (origin) applied in cheddar cheese manufacturing through the application of an artificial neural network approach on Lactococcus lactis profiles

Published ArticleAn artificial neural network (ANN) that is able to distinguish between Cheddar cheese produced with milk from mixed and single breed sources was designed. Samples of each batch (4 pure Ayrshire/4 mixed with no Ayrshire milk) were ripened for 92 days and analysed every 14 days. A novel ANN was designed and applied which, based only on Lactococcus lactis counts, provided an acceptable classification of the cheeses. The ANN consisted of a multi-layered network with supervised training arranged in an ordered hierarchy of layers, in which connections were allowed only between nodes in immediately adjacent layers

One size doesn't fit all: Tailoring adult antiretroviral treatment

Advances in antiretroviral treatment mean that patients in the public health system can be given more options in the management of their treatment. Although public health programmes tend to offer one-size-fits-all approaches, patients might benefit from a more flexible approach. In particular, we propose that people with HIV should be given more choice with regard to when to start treatment, and patients who experience efavirenz side-effects should be encouraged to switch to other medications, which will be facilitated by faster registration and lower prices of newer antiretrovirals

Profile of children diagnosed with cerebral palsy at Universitas Hospital, Bloemfontein, 1991-2001

Cerebral palsy is a term used for a group of non-progressive but often changing motor deficits, which are a result of a lesion of the brain occurring at an early developmental stage. Cerebral palsy may be classified physiologically or topographically. Physiologically, there are five types of cerebral palsy1: spastic, dyskinetic, ataxic, hypotonic, and mixed. Topographically, there are six types1: hemiplegia (one arm and leg on the same side of the body are affected), monoplegia (one limb is affected), diplegia (both legs more affected than arms), quadriplegia (all limbs, body and face symmetrically affected), triplegia (three limbs are affected, usually both legs and one arm), and double hemiplegia (both sides of the body are affected asymmetrically, arms usually more than the legs).For full text, click here:SA Fam Pract 2006;48(3):15-1

Enhanced Accessibility for People with Disabilities Living in Urban Areas

[Excerpt] People with disabilities constitute a significant proportion of the poor in developing countries. If internationally agreed targets on reducing poverty are to be reached, it is critical that specific measures be taken to reduce the societal discrimination and isolation that people with disabilities continue to face. Transport is an important enabler of strategies to fight poverty through enhancing access to education, employment, and social services. This project aims to further the understanding of the mobility and access issues experienced by people with disabilities in developing countries, and to identify specific steps that can be taken to start addressing problems. A major objective of the project is to compile a compendium of guidelines that can be used by government authorities, advocacy groups, and donor/loan agencies to improve the access of people with disabilities to transport and other services in urban areas

Compliance in black patients with non-insulindependent diabetes mellitus receiving oral hypoglycaemic therapy

Poor compliance with drug therapy is an important cause of therapeutic failure. Sixty-eight black patients with non-insulin- dependent diabetes mellitus receiving oral hypoglycaemic agents were interviewed and various factors, such as age, sex, degree of control and type of therapy, were recorded by means of a questionnaire. Compliance was determined by qualitatively assessing urine for the presence of the drugs. An alarmingly high incidence of non-compliance of 65% was found, which could still be an under-estimation because of the long half-life of one of the drugs involved - chlorpropamide. Although interesting trends were noted, no statistically significant differences between compliant and non-compliant patients were found. In the light of the high incidence of non-compliance, a larger and more detailed study seems to be warranted to identify problem areas and to plan appropriate interventions

Parameter Optimization in Groundwater using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition as a Reduced Modeling Technique

http://www.epsmso.gr/all_conf_index/abstracts/ic-scce_2012_abs054.pdfInternational audienceThis paper deals with different approaches of applying Proper Orthogonal Decomposition in the field of groundwater flow, specifically the Richards equation, which is a convection-diffusion partial differential equation governing the behaviour of unsaturated fluid flow through a porous medium. The motivation for this research is the need to reduce computational complexity in inverse modelling studies, where a significant number of simulations are needed to determine suitable model parameters. Three different methods of implementing Proper Orthogonal Decomposition are explored. The first method is the Petrov-Galerkin method, a method well suited to speeding up linear problems. The second method is a "Hybrid" method, and proposes a linearization of all non-linear functions, building upon the Petrov-Galerkin approach. As such, it is suitable for use in the non-saturated groundwater zone. The third method combines the use of kriging and Proper Orthogonal to create a non-intrusive model for comparison purposes. With these three methods, the suitability of Proper Orthogonal as a reduced modelling method for unsaturated groundwater flow is shown

A new strategic framework for water-related health research

The aim of this study was to compile a new strategic framework to guide the funding and management of research in waterrelated human health in South Africa. This framework had to identify the research areas of highest need in the country and provide an effective, yet simple, tool for the management of research projects. A review of current water-related human health research was first undertaken. Using this review as background document, input was solicited from key people in Government, water boards, metro councils, science councils and universities. As part of the study, the country’s research support infrastructure for water-related health research was investigated. The framework was finalised at a stakeholder workshop. A structure of Thrust Areas, with Programmes under each Thrust Area, was suggested for research management and funding. A matrix system of research thrusts versus impacts/risks, interventions and governance was further constructed to assist in the identification of research gaps, rendering the framework a very useful tool in the funding and management of water-related human health research.Keywords: water, public health, research needs, research managemen

The genetic relatedness of E. coli associated with post- collection drinking water contamination in rural households

Rural households are often dependent on rivers, springs, boreholes or standpipes some distance from their homes for their daily water requirements. Water for drinking and domestic use is consequently stored in containers in-house which are prone to post-collection contamination. The objective of the study was to determine the most likely origin or place of introduction of E. coli associated with post-collection contamination in rural households, by assessing the degree of genetic relatedness of E. coli present in the stored water and other environmental samples. E. coli isolates were obtained using either mFC agar with confirmation of indole production (44 isolates) or Colilert®-18 (52 isolates). Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting was applied to determine the genetic relatedness of E. coli isolated from in-house storage containers, drinking cups, hand-swab samples, cattle dung and from the source water (spring water). DNA fingerprints of E. coli produced a number of clusters (>85% similarity scores calculated with the cosine coefficient). Identical E. coli genetic patterns were observed at closely linked points within the domestic pathway of water handling, such as between hand-swab and drinking-cup samples, between storage container and source isolates, and between drinking cups, source water and storage containers. The results indicated that AFLP fingerprinting could be applied to determine the genetic relatedness of E. coli isolated from closely linked points within the domestic pathway of water use within a household. However, the high genetic diversity observed for E. coli bacteria isolated from the difffferent water and environmental samples tested in this study, hampered the identification of post collection points of contamination.Keywords: typing, fingerprinting, amplified fragment length polymorphism, E. coli, water quality, genetic relatedness, AFL