An appraisal of housing satisfaction in South Africa low income housing scheme

Abstract: Post-occupancy evaluation techniques have been developed to provide a means for evaluating occupant responses to changes in an environment and linking this response to physical measures of that environment. POE has been used to evaluate the performance of buildings after they have been built and occupied for some time. This paper presents findings on the social and physical factors which influence residential satisfaction in four different government Housing Subsidy locations in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Data obtained from the occupant survey were analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics. Findings arising from the survey revealed that the respondents were satisfied with their overall housing situation, but had complaints about certain aspects of the housing unit. However, the respondents informed that most of their housing needs were not being met. Also, a comparison is also made of the perceived factors of dissatisfaction amongst the housing subsidy occupants. It is recommended that a wider systematic coverage of the subject through investigation and diagnostic POE and occupants’ need assessment should be carried out in housing subsidy schemes in South Africa

modCHIMERA: A novel murine closed-head model of moderate traumatic brain injury

AbstractTraumatic brain injury is a major source of global disability and mortality. Preclinical TBI models are a crucial component of therapeutic investigation. We report a tunable, monitored model of murine non-surgical, diffuse closed-head injury—modCHIMERA—characterized by impact as well as linear and rotational acceleration. modCHIMERA is based on the Closed-Head Impact Model of Engineered Rotational Acceleration (CHIMERA) platform. We tested this model at 2 energy levels: 1.7 and 2.1 Joules—substantially higher than previously reported for this system. Kinematic analysis demonstrated linear acceleration exceeding injury thresholds in humans, although outcome metrics tracked impact energy more closely than kinematic parameters. Acute severity metrics were consistent with a complicated-mild or moderate TBI, a clinical population characterized by high morbidity but potentially reversible pathology. Axonal injury was multifocal and bilateral, neuronal death was detected in the hippocampus, and microglial neuroinflammation was prominent. Acute functional analysis revealed prolonged post-injury unconsciousness, and decreased spontaneous behavior and stimulated neurological scores. Neurobehavioral deficits were demonstrated in spatial learning/memory and socialization at 1-month. The overall injury profile of modCHIMERA corresponds with the range responsible for a substantial portion of TBI-related disability in humans. modCHIMERA should provide a reliable platform for efficient analysis of TBI pathophysiology and testing of treatment modalities.</jats:p

Human Resource Needs and Demand for Post-Secondary Education in the Canadian Secondary Wood Products Industry

Skilled labor shortages in manufacturing industries are being reported in a number of countries. The extent to which such shortages are affecting Canadian wood manufacturing industries is not known. The aim of this study was to survey the skills and educational needs of Canadian wood manufacturing industries, the status, capacity, and challenges that post-secondary education institutes face in meeting industries' human resource needs, and finally the attractiveness of the industry to high school job-seekers. The majority (83%) of wood manufacturing companies in Canada are experiencing problems in hiring skilled tradespeople, and 54.5% of the companies face difficulties in hiring and retaining professionals and supervisory personnel. Skilled staff shortages and competitive pressures were nominated by companies as the two most important factors restricting their growth. The skills needs of companies have changed over the last 10 years, and companies now place a much higher premium on leadership and communication skills from management, and attitude and advanced technical skills from tradespeople. Most companies offered some kind of in-house training to redress skills gaps, but less than half were likely to use the Internet to deliver in-house training. The majority of high school students were not interested in pursuing a career in the wood manufacturing industry because of its association with unsustainable forestry practices and manual labor, and the availability of more attractive career options. Lack of student interest in wood manufacturing is affecting the institutions offering relevant vocational and professional training, and nine of the thirteen institutes suffer from under-enrollment in their wood manufacturing programs. Comprehensive strategies are required to address the labor market imbalances currently affecting Canada's wood manufacturing industries

Water relations of obligate riparian plants as a function of streamflow diversion on the Bishop Creek watershed

We investigated the water relations of obli-gate riparian plants on paired diverted and undiverted reaches on Bishop Creek, Eastern Sierra Nevada. Ri-parian plants on diverted reaches had reduced stomatal conductance and water potential compared to plants on undiverted reaches in a dry year, but not in a high runoff year. Juvenile plants on diverted reaches had reduced stomatal conductance and lower midday water potentials relative to surrounding mature trees, a trend that was not observed on undiverted reaches. Plants on diverted reaches possessed significantly smaller, thicker leaves and a reduced total leaf area relative to trees on streamside reaches. Reduced community leaf area and effective stomatal control of water loss may allow ripar-ian corridors on diverted reaches to retain their canopies in low runoff years. However, a long term consequence of partial streamflow diversion may be selective mortal-ty of juvenile plants because of the elimination of floods and high flows

Expanding the Repertoire of Carbapenem-Hydrolyzing Metallo-ß-Lactamases by Functional Metagenomic Analysis of Soil Microbiota

Carbapenemases are bacterial enzymes that hydrolyze carbapenems, a group of last-resort β-lactam antibiotics used for treatment of severe bacterial infections. They belong to three β-lactamase classes based amino acid sequence (A, B, and D). The aim of this study was to elucidate occurrence, diversity and functionality of carbapenemase-encoding genes in soil microbiota by functional metagenomics. Ten plasmid libraries were generated by cloning metagenomic DNA from agricultural (n = 6) and grassland (n = 4) soil into Escherichia coli. The libraries were cultured on amoxicillin-containing agar and up to 100 colonies per library were screened for carbapenemase production by CarbaNP test. Presumptive carbapenemases were characterized with regard to DNA sequence, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of β-lactams, and imipenem hydrolysis. Nine distinct class B carbapenemases, also known as metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs), were identified in six soil samples, including two subclass B1 (GRD23-1 and SPN79-1) and seven subclass B3 (CRD3-1, PEDO-1, GRD33-1, ESP-2, ALG6-1, ALG11-1, and DHT2-1). Except PEDO-1 and ESP-2, these enzymes were distantly related to any previously described MBLs (33 to 59% identity). RAIphy analysis indicated that six enzymes (CRD3-1, GRD23-1, DHT2-1, SPN79-1, ALG6-1, and ALG11-1) originated from Proteobacteria, two (PEDO-1 and ESP-2) from Bacteroidetes and one (GRD33-1) from Gemmatimonadetes. All MBLs detected in soil microbiota were functional when expressed in E. coli, resulting in detectable imipenem-hydrolyzing activity and significantly increased MICs of clinically relevant β-lactams. Interestingly, the MBLs yielded by functional metagenomics generally differed from those detected in the same soil samples by antibiotic selective culture, showing that the two approaches targeted different subpopulations in soil microbiota. © 2016 Gudeta, Bortolaia, Pollini, Docquier, Rossolini, Amos, Wellington and Guardabassi.Grant HEALTH-F3-2011-282004(EvoTAR

Mineral Composition of \u3cem\u3eBrachiaria brizantha\u3c/em\u3e cv. MG5 Irrigated and Non-Irrigated Subjected to Grazing

Brachiaria brizantha cv. MG5 is an important component of pastures in Brazil. Past studies (Corsi and Marta Jr. (1998), Maya (2003)) have shown significant pasture and animal production increases can be obtained through irrigation and associated grazing management. Such systems can significantly increase economic viability of production systems based on these pastures (Cedeño 2003). However, past studies have not measured possible differences in mineral composition of such pastures throughout the year with and without irrigation. Such differences, if present, may have implication for animal productivity. This study had the objective of evaluating the mineral composition of Brachiaria brizantha cv. MG5 with and without irrigation in different times of the year

Attentional bias and treatment adherence in substitute-prescribed opiate users

BACKGROUND: Attentional bias (AB) is implicated in the development and maintenance of substance dependence and in treatment outcome. We assessed the effects of attentional bias modification (ABM), and the relationship between AB and treatment adherence in opiate dependent patients. METHOD: An independent groups design was used to compare 23 opiate dependent patients with 21 healthy controls. Participants completed an AB task before either a control or an ABM task designed to train attention away from substance-related stimuli. Pre- and post-ABM AB and craving were assessed to determine any changes. Relationships between treatment adherence (‘using on top’ of prescribed opiates or not) and AB, craving and psychopathology were also examined. RESULTS: There was no baseline difference in AB between patients and controls, and no significant effect of ABM on AB or substance craving. However, treatment adherent patients who did not use illicit opiates on top of their prescribed opiates had statistically significantly greater AB away from substance-related stimuli than both participants using on top and controls, and reported significantly lower levels of craving than non-treatment adherent patients. CONCLUSION: Whilst we did not find any significant effects of ABM on AB or craving, patients who were treatment adherent differed from both those who were not and from controls in their attentional functioning and substance craving. These findings are the first to suggest that AB may be a within-treatment factor predictive of adherence to pharmacological treatment and potentially of recovery in opiate users