Managing risk : what should internal audit do?

Internal auditors, having the required knowledge of risk management, organisational processes and internal controls systems, could perform a number of activities for the organisation in order to assist in managing risks. The Institute of Internal Auditors provides guidance to internal auditors indicating their related roles. Previous studies (which do not include a South African perspective) suggest that internal auditors’ involvement in these roles tend to differ between countries and could change over time. Additionally, while a key role for internal auditors is to identify and evaluate risks within an organisation, little guidance is provided as to how internal auditors should achieve this. This article explores internal auditors’ involvement in consulting and assurance activities within South African private sector organisations, and secondly, how internal auditors identify and evaluate risks within organisations. Data was collected by means of an online survey instrument, directed at chief audit executives. Survey results indicated that internal auditors have a large degree of involvement in providing assurance on risk functions, a moderate degree of involvement in providing consulting activities and a limited degree of involvement in risk management roles. Internal auditors utilise previous experience and various external sources of information, when identifying risks, and consider risk impact in both a qualitative and quantitative manner. Statistical analysis reveals that the internal auditors’ degree of involvement in the various roles differs in the manufacturing and financial services sectors.http://reference.sabinet.co.za/sa_epublication/sajaarhb201

UNITY : a low-field magnetic resonance neuroimaging initiative to characterize neurodevelopment in low and middle-income settings

DATA AVAILABILITY : Data collected as part of the UNITY network will be made available to researchers from the academic communities at varying levels of granularity depending on site-specific IRB approvals. For some sites, full access to individual raw and processed data will be provided, whilst for others, owing to national policies (e.g., those located in India) may only be able to provide de-identified composite values (e.g., regional volumes, mean relaxometry measures, etc.). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to open access and broad data availability as permitted.Measures of physical growth, such as weight and height have long been the predominant outcomes for monitoring child health and evaluating interventional outcomes in public health studies, including those that may impact neurodevelopment. While physical growth generally reflects overall health and nutritional status, it lacks sensitivity and specificity to brain growth and developing cognitive skills and abilities. Psychometric tools, e.g., the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, may afford more direct assessment of cognitive development but they require language translation, cultural adaptation, and population norming. Further, they are not always reliable predictors of future outcomes when assessed within the first 12–18 months of a child’s life. Neuroimaging may provide more objective, sensitive, and predictive measures of neurodevelopment but tools such as magnetic resonance (MR) imaging are not readily available in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs). MRI systems that operate at lower magnetic fields (< 100mT) may offer increased accessibility, but their use for global health studies remains nascent. The UNITY project is envisaged as a global partnership to advance neuroimaging in global health studies. Here we describe the UNITY project, its goals, methods, operating procedures, and expected outcomes in characterizing neurodevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, and through a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award and a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award.https://www.elsevier.com/locate/dcnhj2024Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology (BGM)ImmunologyPaediatrics and Child HealthRadiologySDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingSDG-17:Partnerships for the goal

The use of the Global Positioning System for real-time data collecting during ecological aerial surveys in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

The use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) for real-time data collecting during ecological aerial surveys (EAS) in the Kruger National Park (KNP) was investigated as an alternative to post-survey manual data capture. Results obtained during an aerial census of large herbivores and surface water distribution in the northern part of the KNP using an onboard GPS connected to a palmtop computer are discussed. This relatively inexpensive system proved to be highly efficient for real-time data capture while additional information such as ground velocity and time can be recorded for every data point. Measures of distances between a ground marker and fix points measured during a flight (x = 60.0 m) are considered to be well within the requirements of the EAS