Descent groups, chiefdoms, and South African historiography

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented July, 1984A number of impressive historical studies by a group of young South African scholars has recently appeared, seeking to apply new insights in tracing the effects of the imposition of colonial rule over the indigenous peoples of the sub-continent (e.g. Slater 1976; Hedges 1978; Peires 1981; Bonner 1980, 1983; Guy 1979, 1981; Delius 1982, Hamilton and Wright 1984). Some of these authors, notably Slater, Hedges, Guy, Bonner, Hamilton and Wright, seek, as a starting point of their analyses, to establish the nature of the ‘mutation’ to chieftainship that must have occurred from a previous period in which there were no chiefs. These works focus mainly on the Nguni, especially the incorporative states of Zulu and Swazi; others, like those of Peires on the Xhosa and Delius on the Pedi, tend to assume chieftainship as given and take their analyses from there

Six native churches: a preliminary survey of religion in an urban location

This report had its genesis in a proposed thesis, purporting to investigate the part that Religion (including both Christianity and the indigenous beliefs of the Bantu) is playing in the lives of the people at Langa, the Municipal Native location lying about eight miles from Cape Town. It was felt that, after some two hundred years of missionary endeavour in South Africa, the time was ripe for an assessment of the degree to which Christianity had become part of the Bantu scheme of things, to see how far it has changed the culture and outlook of the people, and how far it, in its turn, has been modified by the ever-menacing mass of Africa heathendom. It was hoped that the finished work would be of use, not only yo students of sociology, but also to the practical man on the mission-field who so often, working hard in his corner of the vineyard, has no opportunity to estimate what effects his labour is having on the bulk of the people

Chieftainship in Transkeian political development

In November 1963 the inhabitants of the Transkeian Territories, the largest block of Bantu reserve in the Republic of South Africa, went to the polls to elect representatives for a Legislative Assembly, upon whom the responsibility for the government of this, the first so-called ‘Bantustan’ to achieve a limited form of self-government, is to be laid. The election was the culminating point in a series of changes in the administrative structure of the area which have been characterized by an emphasis on the institution of chieftainship as the basis of local government. After approximately 60 years of rule through magistrates (later supplemented by a system of district councils) the Bantu Authorities Act of 1955 was introduced, giving greatly enhanced powers to the Chiefs, who now became the heads of the tribally-structured Bantu Authorities

Oscillatory oblique stagnation-point flow toward a plane wall

Two-dimensional oscillatory oblique stagnation-point flow toward a plane wall is investigated. The problem is a eneralisation of the steady oblique stagnation-point flow examined by previous workers. Far from the wall, the flow is composed of an irrotational orthogonal stagnation-point flow with a time-periodic strength, a simple shear flow of constant vorticity, and a time-periodic uniform stream. An exact solution of the Navier-Stokes equations is sought for which the flow streamfunction depends linearly on the coordinate parallel to the wall. The problem formulation reduces to a coupled pair of partial differential equations in time and one spatial variable. The first equation describes the oscillatory orthogonal stagnation-point flow discussed by previous workers. The second equation, which couples to the first, describes the oblique component of the flow. A description of the flow velocity field, the instantaneous streamlines, and the particle paths is sought through numerical solutions of the governing equations and via asymptotic analysis

Alterations in Retinal Microvascular Geometry in Young Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE - To describe retinal microvascular geometric parameters in young patients with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - Patients with type 1 diabetes (aged 12-20 years) had clinical assessments and retinal photography following standardized protocol at a tertiary-care hospital in Sydney. Retinal microvascular geometry, including arteriolar and venular tortuosity, branching angles, optimality deviation, and length-to-diameter ratio (LDR), were measured from digitized photographs. Associations of these geometric characteristics with diabetes duration, A1C level, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and other risk factors were assessed. RESULTS - Of 1,159 patients enrolled, 944 (81.4%) had gradable photographs and 170 (14.7%) had retinopathy. Older age was associated with decreased arteriolar (P = 0.024) and venular (P = 0.002) tortuosity, and female subjects had larger arteriolar branching angle than male subjects (P = 0.03). After adjusting for age and sex, longer diabetes duration was associated with larger arteriolar branching angle (P ≤ 0.001) and increased arteriolar optimality deviation (P = 0.018), higher A1C was associated with increased arteriolar tortuosity (>8.5 vs. ≤8.5%, P = 0.008), higher SBP was associated with decreased arteriolar LDR (P = 0.002), and higher total cholesterol levels were associated with increased arteriolar LDR (P = 0.044) and decreased venular optimality deviation (P = 0.044). These associations remained after controlling for A1C, retinal vessel caliber, and retinopathy status and were seen in subjects without retinopathy. CONCLUSIONS - Key diabetes-related factors affect retinal microvascular geometry in young type 1 diabetes, even in those without evidence of retinopathy. These early retinal alterations may be markers of diabetes microvascular complications. © 2010 by the American Diabetes Association.link_to_OA_fulltex

Role of vasopressin in the treatment of anaphylactic shock in a child undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The incidence of anaphylactic reactions during anesthesia is between 1:5000 and 1:25000 and it is one of the few causes of mortality directly related to general anesthesia. The most important requirements in the treatment of this clinical condition are early diagnosis and maintenance of vital organ perfusion. Epinephrine administration is generally considered as the first line treatment of anaphylactic reactions. However, recently, new pharmacological approaches have been described in the treatment of different forms of vasoplegic shock.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We describe the case of a child who was undergoing surgery for ventricular septal defect, with an anaphylactic reaction to heparin that was refractory to epinephrine infusion and was effectively treated by low dose vasopressin infusion.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In case of anaphylactic shock, continuous infusion of low-dose vasopressin might be considered after inadequate response to epinephrine, fluid resuscitation and corticosteroid administration.</p

Does dissemination extend beyond publication: a survey of a cross section of public funded research in the UK

Background: In the UK, most funding bodies now expect a commitment or effort on the part of grant holders to disseminate the findings of their research. The emphasis is on ensuring that publicly funded research is made available, can be used to support decision making, and ultimately improve the quality and delivery of healthcare provided. In this study, we aimed to describe the dissemination practices and impacts of applied and public health researchers working across the UK.Methods: We conducted a survey of 485 UK-based principal investigators of publicly funded applied and public health research. Participants were contacted by email and invited to complete an online questionnaire via an embedded URL. Gift vouchers were given to all participants who completed the questionnaire. Four reminder emails were sent out to non-respondents at one, two, three, and four weeks; a fifth postal reminder was also undertaken.Results: A total of 243/485 (50%) questionnaires were returned (232 completed, 11 declining to participate). Most researchers recognise the importance of and appear committed to research dissemination. However, most dissemination activity beyond the publishing of academic papers appears to be undertaken an ad hoc fashion. There is some evidence that access to dissemination advice and support may facilitate more policy interactions; though access to such resources is lacking at an institutional level, and advice from funders can be variable. Although a minority of respondents routinely record details about the impact of their research, when asked about impact in relation to specific research projects most were able to provide simple narrative descriptions.Conclusions: Researchers recognise the importance of and appear committed to disseminating the findings of their work. Although researchers are focussed on academic publication, a range of dissemination activities are being applied albeit in an ad hoc fashion. However, what constitutes effective dissemination (in terms of impact and return on investment) remains unclear. Researchers need greater and clearer guidance on how best to plan, resource, and facilitate their dissemination activities

Translating research into practice in Leeds and Bradford (TRiPLaB): a protocol for a programme of research

Background The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has funded nine Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs). Each CLAHRC is a partnership between higher education institutions (HEIs) and the NHS in nine UK regional health economies. The CLAHRC for Leeds, York, and Bradford comprises two 'research themes' and three 'implementation themes.' One of these implementation themes is Translating Research into Practice in Leeds and Bradford (TRiPLaB). TRiPLaB aims to develop, implement, and evaluate methods for inducing and sustaining the uptake of research knowledge into practice in order to improve the quality of health services for the people of Leeds and Bradford. Methods TRiPLaB is built around a three-stage, sequential, approach using separate, longitudinal case studies conducted with collaborating NHS organisations, TRiPLaB will select robust innovations to implement, conduct a theory-informed exploration of the local context using a variety of data collection and analytic methods, and synthesise the information collected to identify the key factors influencing the uptake and adoption of targeted innovations. This synthesis will inform the development of tailored, multifaceted, interventions designed to increase the translation of research findings into practice. Mixed research methods, including time series analysis, quasi-experimental comparison, and qualitative process evaluation, will be used to evaluate the impact of the implementation strategies deployed. Conclusion TRiPLaB is a theory-informed, systematic, mixed methods approach to developing and evaluating tailored implementation strategies aimed at increasing the translation of research-based findings into practice in one UK health economy. Through active collaboration with its local NHS, TRiPLaB aims to improve the quality of health services for the people of Leeds and Bradford and to contribute to research knowledge regarding the interaction between context and adoption behaviour in health services