Identifying Hearing Loss By Means Of Iridology

Isolated reports of hearing loss presenting as markings on the iris exist, but to date the effectiveness of iridology to identify hearing loss has not been investigated. This study therefore aimed to determine the efficacy of iridological analysis in the identification of moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss in adolescents. A controlled trial was conducted with an iridologist, blind to the actual hearing status of participants, analyzing the irises of participants with and without hearing loss. Fifty hearing impaired and fifty normal hearing subjects, between the ages of 15 and 19 years, controlled for gender, participated in the study. An experienced iridologist analyzed the randomised set of participants' irises. A 70% correct identification of hearing status was obtained by iridological analyses with a false negative rate of 41% compared to a 19% false positive rate. The respective sensitivity and specificity rates therefore came to 59% and 81%. Iridological analysis of hearing status indicated a statistically significant relationship to actual hearing status (P < 0.05). Although statistically significant sensitivity and specificity rates for identifying hearing loss by iridology were not comparable to those of traditional audiological screening procedures. Keywords: Audiology; Hearing loss, Iridology, Screening African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines Vol. 4 (2) 2007: pp. 205-21

Feminist spiritualities, gender equality and sustainable development: The possibilities of a countermovement

Feminist historiography indicates that spirituality has historically been one of the instruments whereby women could “speak”. This “voice” implied recognition and authority, to a certain degree, in a patriarchal-oriented reality. In this regard, feminist spirituality became a vehicle for women to authorise their own religious and spiritual contributions and insights. Feminist spirituality became a countermovement – countering perceptions and ingrained convictions that a woman could not be a mediator between God and humanity. Feminist spirituality contributed to the creation of spaces for women to study and participate in the creation of religious-spiritual texts. Women’s contexts are diverse and intersectional, and so is feminist spirituality, to the extent that it is more appropriate to speak of feminist spiritualities in the plural. This article explores the possibilities of feminist spirituality as countermovement that contributes to the realisation of gender equality, in the way that gender equality finds expression in the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. It is situatedwithin a growing field of work that explores how faith communities’ religion and spirituality contribute to their being agents of sustainable development, and within the contextual urgency of the sustainable development agenda

Superficial brachial artery: a possible cause for idiopathic median nerve entrapment neuropathy

Nerve entrapment syndromes occur because of anatomic constraints at specific locations in both upper and lower limbs. Anatomical locations prone to nerve entrapment syndromes include sites where a nerve courses through fibro-osseous or fibromuscular tunnels or penetrates a muscle. The median nerve (MN) can be entrapped by the ligament of Struthers; thickened biceps aponeurosis; between the superficial and deep heads of the pronator teres muscle and by a thickened proximal edge of flexor digitorum superficialis muscle. A few cases of MN neuropathies encountered are reported to be idiopathic. The superficial branchial artery (SBA) is defined as the artery running superficial to MN or its roots. This divergence from normal anatomy may be the possible explanation for idiopathic MN entrapment neuropathy. This study presents three cases with unilateral presence of the SBA encountered during routine undergraduate dissection at the University of Johannesburg. Case 1 — SBA divided into radial and ulnar arteries. Brachial artery (BA) terminated as deep brachial artery. Case 2 — SBA continued as radial artery (RA). BA terminated as ulnar artery (UA), anterior and posterior interosseous arteries. Case 3 — SBA continued as UA. BA divided into radial and common interosseous arteries. Arteries that take an unusual course are more vulnerable to iatrogenic injury du­ring surgical procedures and may disturb the evaluation of angiographic images during diagnosis. In particular, the presence of SBA may be acourse of idiopathic neuropathies

The occurrence and removal of algae (including cyanobacteria) and their related organic compounds from source water in Vaalkop Dam with conventional and advanced drinking water treatment processes

Cyanobacterial bloom formation in freshwaters, such as rivers, lakes and dams, is known to occur throughout the world. The Vaalkop Dam, which serves as source to the Vaalkop drinking water treatment works (DWTW), is no exception. Blooms of cyanobacteria occur annually in Vaalkop Dam as well as in dams from which Vaalkop is replenished during low-rainfall periods. These blooms during the summer months are associated with the production of cyanotoxins and taste and odour compounds such as geosmin and MIB. The Vaalkop DWTW uses a combination of conventional and advanced water treatment processes to deal with the cyanobacteria and their related organic compounds in the source water. The overall objectives of this study were to: (i) investigate the occurrence of algae (including cyanobacteria) and cyanotoxins in the Vaalkop Dam; (ii) establish which environmental variables are responsible for the development and onset of algae, and (iii) determine whether the Vaalkop DWTW is able to eliminate the influence that algae (including cyanobacteria) may have on the drinking water. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed seasonal variation in algal assemblages in the raw water. The risk of cyanobacteria bloom formation proved to be especially high during the summer months as the nutrients needed for cyanobacterial growth are available and the temperature range is optimal, causing the production of geosmin, MIB and microcystin. The presence of Ceratium hirundinella (O.F. Müller) Dujardin, in the source water appears to exacerbate the negative effect that cyanobacteria have on the drinking water treatment process. When Ceratium hirundinella is present, floc formation is inhibited, causing more of the problematic algae to penetrate into the drinking water. Even though advanced treatment options such as ozone and granular activated carbon filters are used at Vaalkop DWTW, the effects of the organic compounds produced by cyanobacteria are not entirely eliminated during the treatment process.Keywords: potable water treatment, geosmin, MIB (2-methylisoborneol), microcystin, granular activated carbon (GAC), ozon

Living conditions and respiratory health in Walmer Township and Wells Estate, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Background. Many impoverished communities in South Africa (SA) simultaneously face multiple preventable socioenvironmental hazards associated with elevated burdens of ill health. One such hazard is failure to institute effective buffer zones between human settlements and point sources of pollution such as airports and industrial zones.Objectives. To gather information on living conditions, housing quality and health status in two poor communities in the SA coastal industrial city of Port Elizabeth.Methods. The study was undertaken in Walmer Township, situated in close proximity to Port Elizabeth International Airport, and Wells Estate, which borders two industrial sites. Approximately 120 households were randomly selected from each study site. Following written informed consent, information on the neighbourhood environment and housing conditions was collected through administration of a structured questionnaire.Results. The two study sites were similar in respect of household language, income, education, high levels of debt servicing and high reliance on social grants. Relative to Walmer Township, higher levels of indoor dust and bad odours in the neighbourhood were reported in Wells Estate, as were higher rates of selected respiratory ill-health symptoms. Upper respiratory tract symptoms were significantly associated with reports of high levels of indoor dust, while lower respiratory tract symptoms were significantly associated with low income, overcrowding, and having a young child in the household.Conclusions. The study highlights a scenario of a triple environmental hazard to health in the study communities: (i) poverty; (ii) poor-quality housing; and (iii) lack of an effective buffer zone between the study communities and local point sources of pollution. Respiratory ill-health conditions were significantly associated with poverty, household composition and living conditions

High seroconversion rate to Rift Valley fever virus in cattle and goats in far northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in the absence of reported outbreaks

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-transmitted viral disease that may cause large epidemics in domestic livestock and in humans. Although currently largely confined to Africa, it is of international concern due to its ability to spread and become established in areas where suitable mosquito vectors occur. Outbreaks occur sporadically, associated with conditions favourable for proliferation of mosquito populations, such as high rainfall and flooding, yet their location and timing remain difficult to predict. In other areas there is evidence that RVF virus is endemic and may circulate without causing outbreaks. However,the location and extent of such areas is poorly known, as is the transmission dynamics of the virus in those areas. In this paper, we report the existence of such an area of endemic RVF virus transmission on the tropical coastal plain of South Africa bordering Mozambique, where we found a high rate of exposure of domestic cattle and goats to the naturally circulating virus over a two-year period, with no outbreaks being reported.Research in such areas will help us to assess the potential for spread of the virus to other areas and also to better understand the behaviour of the virus during periods between epidemics

Bounding Helly numbers via Betti numbers

We show that very weak topological assumptions are enough to ensure the existence of a Helly-type theorem. More precisely, we show that for any non-negative integers $b$ and $d$ there exists an integer $h(b,d)$ such that the following holds. If $\mathcal F$ is a finite family of subsets of $\mathbb R^d$ such that $\tilde\beta_i\left(\bigcap\mathcal G\right) \le b$ for any $\mathcal G \subsetneq \mathcal F$ and every $0 \le i \le \lceil d/2 \rceil-1$ then $\mathcal F$ has Helly number at most $h(b,d)$. Here $\tilde\beta_i$ denotes the reduced $\mathbb Z_2$-Betti numbers (with singular homology). These topological conditions are sharp: not controlling any of these $\lceil d/2 \rceil$ first Betti numbers allow for families with unbounded Helly number. Our proofs combine homological non-embeddability results with a Ramsey-based approach to build, given an arbitrary simplicial complex $K$, some well-behaved chain map $C_*(K) \to C_*(\mathbb R^d)$.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figure

Ethical and practical issues to consider in the governance of genomic and human research data and data sharing in South Africa: a meeting report

Genomic research and biobanking has undergone exponential growth in Africa and at the heart of this research is the sharing of biospecimens and associated clinical data amongst researchers in Africa and across the world. While this move towards open science is progressing, there has been a strengthening internationally of data protection regulations that seek to safeguard the rights of data subjects while promoting the movement of data for the benefit of research. In line with this global shift, many jurisdictions in Africa are introducing data protection regulations, but there has been limited consideration of the regulation of data sharing for genomic research and biobanking in Africa. South Africa (SA) is one country that has sought to regulate the international sharing of data and has enacted the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) 2013 that will change the governance and regulation of data in SA, including health research data, once it is in force. To identify and discuss challenges and opportunities in the governance of data sharing for genomic and health research data in SA, a two-day meeting was convened in February 2019 in Cape Town, SA with over 30 participants with expertise in law, ethics, genomics and biobanking science, drawn from academia, industry, and government. This report sets out some of the key challenges identified during the workshop and the opportunities and limitations of the current regulatory framework in SA

A prospectus for sustainability of rainfed maize production systems in South Africa

CITATION: Haarhoff, S. J., Kotze, T. N. & Swanepoel, P. A. 2020. A prospectus for sustainability of rainfed maize production systems in South Africa. Crop Science, 60(1):14-28, doi:10.1002/csc2.20103.The original publication is available at https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.comThe rainfed maize (Zea mays L.) production systems of South Africa require an integrated approach to use the limited soil available water more efficiently, and to increase system productivity and sustainability. The soils across the major maize production regions are highly susceptible to wind and water erosion. Rigorous soil tillage, maize monoculture, and fallow periods are common, which depletes the soil from organic matter and nutrients. Despite the pressing need for transforming the highly degraded rainfed maize production systems, adoption of more sustainable management approaches has been limited, likely due to a shortage of local scientific field trials to evaluate current and alternative maize agronomic management practices. Erratic interseasonal rainfall patterns cause high variability in maize grain yields. Major challenges associated with no‐tillage are poor crop establishment, subsoil compaction, and high maize grain yield variability. The use of fallow in the maize–fallow production system leads to excessive runoff and soil erosion losses despite increased maize grain yields. Crop intensification and alternative crops are needed to increase rainfall water use efficiency and lower fallow frequency. The use of cover and forage crops may provide the opportunity to diversify and intensify maize production systems. Cover crop biomass could be beneficial in livestock‐integrated production systems providing livestock feed in either winter or summer. Research is drastically required to improve the understanding of current South African rainfed maize production systems and to facilitate the development of fitting sustainable agronomic management practices.https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/csc2.20103Publisher's versio

Changes in neutrophil count, creatine kinases and muscle soreness after repeated bouts of downhill running

Objective. A primary objective was to examine circulating neutrophil count after repeated bouts of downhill running. An additional aim was to determine creatine kinase (CK) levels during the initial 12 hours, after repeated DHRs. Design. Eleven healthy, untrained Caucasian males performed 2 x 60 min bouts of DHR (-13.5%), spaced 14 days apart, at a speed equal to 75% VO2max on a level grade. Blood was collected before, after, and every hour for 12 hours, and every 24 hours for 6 days. Absolute neutrophil count, CK, and delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) were assessed. Results were analysed using repeated measures ANOVA (