The need for legislative reform regarding the authorisation of trustees in the South African law of trusts

According to section 6(1) of the Trust Property Control Act 57 of 1988, all trustees to whom the Act applies “shall act in that capacity only if authorized thereto in writing by the Master” of the High Court. The requirement of written authorisation has, however, not been interpreted and applied by the South African judiciary in a consistent fashion, leading to uncertainty regarding the precise ambit of the section and the consequences of non-compliance therewith. This contribution analyses these inconsistencies and concludes that legislative intervention along the lines of pre-formation contracts as provided for in both company law and the law of close corporations may provide an adequate solution to the problems faced by both the parties to the trust and the outsiders who deal with them

Studies on bovine ephemeral fever. I. Isolation and preliminary characterization of a virus from natural and experimentally produced cases of bovine ephemeral fever

Five immunologically identical strains of virus have been isolated from naturally and experimentally produced cases of ephemeral fever, by the intracerebral inoculation of suckling mice with infective buffy coat suspension. The prototype strain was found to be DCA and ether sensitive. Specific neutralizing antibodies could be demonstrated in the convalescent sera of both naturally and experimentally infected cattle. Serial passage of the virus in suckling mice resulted in a very rapid loss of pathogenicity for cattle with a corresponding loss of immunogenicity.The journals have been scanned in colour with a HP 5590 scanner; 600 dpi. Adobe Acrobat v.11 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

Induced gene expression in wheat seedlings treated with a crude extract of Agapanthus africanus L. prior to leaf rust infection

It was previously shown that a crude extract of Agapanthus africanus L. (Hoffman), applied as a foliar spray to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings, significantly increased the in vitro activities of three pathogenesis related (PR) proteins (β-1,3-glucanase, chitinase and peroxidase). This was the case in both susceptible and resistant wheat lines whether the plants were uninfected or infected with leaf rust (Puccinia triticina). The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the A. africanus extract on both the intercellular PR-protein profile and PR gene expression in leaf rust infected wheat lines. Pretreatment of infected resistant and susceptible wheat with the extract led to increased β-1,3-glucanase levels that were higher as compared to the untreated controls. Similarly, treatment with the extract led to greater expression of both the PR3 and PR9 genes in infected resistant and susceptible seedlings as compared to the controls. This is also applied to a retrotransposon protein encoding gene whose expression was strongly induced following extract treatment. The induced expression of all these defence-related genes suggests that the crude A. africanus extract has the ability to prime the resistance response of wheat prior to leaf rust infection.Keywords: Wheat leaf rust, induced resistance, priming, gene expression, immunoblotting, crude Agapanthus africanus extractAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(20), pp. 2876-288

Dissemination and survival of commercial wine yeast in the vineyard: a large-scale, three years study

The use of commercial wine yeast strains as starters has been extensively generalised over the past two decades. In this study, a large-scale sampling plan was devised over a period of three years in six different vineyards to evaluate the dynamics and survival of industrial yeast strains in the vineyard. A total of 198 grape samples were collected at various distances from the wineries, before and after harvest, and yeast strains isolated after spontaneous fermentation were subsequently identified by molecular methods. Among 3780 yeast strains identified, 296 isolates had a genetic profile identical to that of commercial yeast strains. For a large majority (94%), these strains were recovered at very close proximity to the winery (10-200m). Commercial strains were mostly found in the post harvest samples, reflecting immediate dissemination. Analysis of population variations from year to year indicated that permanent implantation of commercial strains in the vineyard did not occur, but instead that these strains were subject to natural fluctuations of periodical appearance/disappearance like autochthonous strains. Our data show that dissemination of commercial yeast in the vineyard is restricted to short distances and limited periods of times and is largely favoured by the presence of water runoff.ENOSAFE (Nº 762, Programa AGRO, medida 8.1) and the grant nº 657 C2 from the cooperation agreement between the Portuguese Institute for International Scientific and Technological Cooperation (ICCTI) and the French Embassy in Lisbon and the Marie Curie Fellowship of the European Community programme of Quality of Life under Contract QLK4-CT-2001-51873

A new find of Megalotragus priscus (Alcelaphini, Bovidae) from the central Karoo, South Africa

Main articleWe document the occurrence of the Florisian, or late Quaternary, form of the giant alcelaphine, Megalotragus priscus, from dongas on the Ongers River, near Britstown in the central Karoo. This is significant as it confirms the occurrence of the species in the Karoo and it suggests significantly wetter environments and productive grasslands in the central Karoo in pre-Holocene times. The present-day Karoo environment did not maintain populations of large ruminant grazers similar to M. priscus, and other specialized Florisian grazers, prior to the advent of agriculture and pasture management. Aridification in recent times is the likely cause of changes in grassland quality and the local dissappearance of these animals, if not their extinction.Non

Dimethyl 2,6-dimethyl-4-phenyl­pyridine-3,5-dicarboxyl­ate

In the title compound, C17H17NO4, the dihedral angle between the benzene and pyridine rings is 75.51 (4)°. The benzene and pyridine rings are both approximately planar (r.m.s. deviations of 0.0040 and 0.0083 Å, respectively), indicating that the pyridine N atom is not protonated. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O and C—H⋯N inter­actions

5-(3,4-Dimeth­oxy­benzyl­idene)-1,3-dimethyl-1,3-diazinane-2,4,6-trione

In the title compound, C15H16N2O5, the dihedral angle between 1,3-diazinane and benzene rings is only 4.27 (1)°. The essentially planar mol­ecular structure is characterized by a short intra­molecular C—H⋯O separation and by an exceptionally large bond angle of 138.25 (14)° at the bridging methine C atom. The meth­oxy groups deviate somewhat from the plane of the benzene ring, with C—C—O—C torsion angles of −15.6 (1) and 9.17 (6)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules form centrosymmetric dimers via donor–acceptor π–π inter­actions, with a centroid–centroid distance of 3.401 (1) Å

Low mortality of people living with diabetes mellitus diagnosed with COVID-19 and managed at a field hospital in Western Cape Province, South Africa

Background. The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared an international pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. Throughout the pandemic, the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and more severe COVID-19 has been well described internationally, with limited data, however, on South Africa (SA). The role of field hospitals in the management of patients with COVID-19 in SA has not yet been described. Objectives. To describe the mortality and morbidity of people living with DM (PLWD) and comorbid COVID-19, as well as to shed light on the role of intermediate facilities in managing DM and COVID-19 during the pandemic. Methods. This is a single-centre cross-sectional descriptive study that included all patients with confirmed COVID-19 and pre-existing or newly diagnosed DM (of any type) admitted to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) Intermediate Care Bed Facility from June 2020 to August 2020. This study presents the profile of patients admitted to the CTICC, and reports on the clinical outcome of PLWD diagnosed with COVID-19, and additionally determines some associations between risk factors and death or escalation of care in this setting. Results. There were 1 447 admissions at the CTICC, with a total of 674 (46.6%) patients who had confirmed DM, of whom 125 (19%) were newly diagnosed diabetics and 550 (81%) had pre-existing DM. Included in this group were 57 referrals from the telemedicine platform – a platform that identified high-risk diabetic patients with COVID-19 in the community, and linked them directly to hospital inpatient care. Of the 674 PLWD admitted, 593 were discharged alive, 45 were escalated to tertiary hospital requiring advanced care and 36 died. PLWD who died were older, had more comorbidities (specifically chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive cardiac failure and chronic kidney disease) and were more likely to be on insulin.Conclusions. In a resource-limited environment, interdisciplinary and interfacility collaboration ensured that complicated patients with DM and COVID-19 were successfully managed in a field hospital setting. Telemedicine offered a unique opportunity to identify high-risk patients in the community and link them to in-hospital monitoring and care. Future studies should explore ways to optimise this collaboration, as well as to explore possibilities for early identification and management of high-risk patients

The South African Sodium Regulation (R214) : does it make provision for processed foods frequently consumed by young children?

Abstract:Background. Rising levels of hypertension and the associated non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are of global public health concern. Evidence is emerging regarding the crucial role of sodium in regulating blood pressure in children. Processed foods high in fat, sugar or sodium have been identified as a key contributing factor to childhood obesity and diet-related NCDs. Objectives. To determine the true sodium content of processed foods frequently consumed by children aged 2 - 5 years in Tlokwe Municipality in North-West Province, South Africa, and to determine whether the current sodium regulation (R214) includes highsodium foods frequently consumed by young children. Methods. Frequently counsumed processed foods were identified using an unquantified food frequency questionnaire. Atomic absorption spectrometry was used to determine the true sodium content of identified foods following microwave digestion. Results. True sodium content was identified in 45 food products from 15 food categories. The majority of the products (86.7%) were included in R214. The measured sodium content of products differed from what was reported on the nutrition information labels, with differences ranging from 4.1% to 40.7%. Conclusion. The majority of the food products consumed by children in this study are included in R214. These findings provide valuable information to support future studies on a larger set of processed foods frequently consumed by young children

A community approach for pathogens and their arthropod vectors (ticks and fleas) in cats of sub-Saharan Africa

Background Arthropod-borne pathogens and their vectors are present throughout Africa. They have been well studied in livestock of sub-Saharan Africa, but poorly studied in companion animals. Given their socioeconomic importance, the African Small Companion Animal Network (AFSCAN), as part of the WSAVA Foundation, initiated a standardized multi-country surveillance study. Methods In six countries (Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Namibia) in both rural and urban settings, 160 infested cats were sampled to assess their ectoparasite community (ticks and fleas), as well as the micro-parasite prevalence within those ectoparasites (60 and 118 pools of ticks and fleas, respectively) and blood (276 cats, including 116 non-infested). Results Almost two thirds of all infested cats originated from Tanzania and Kenya. Despite the large macro-geographical variation, no consistent difference was found in ectoparasite diversity and numbers between East and West Africa. Far more flea-infested than tick-infested cats were found. The most dominant ectoparasite was Ctenocephalides felis. Among the ticks, the exophilic Haemaphysalis spp. were the commonest, including species that are not typically linked with companion animals (Haemaphysalis spinulosa and Haemaphysalis elliptica). The most prevalent pathogens found in the blood and fleas were Bartonella henselae and Mycoplasma haemofelis. In the ticks, the dog-associated Hepatozoon canis was most commonly found. A high degree of co-parasitism was found in all countries and habitats. Conclusions Our continent-wide standardized field study highlights the cat’s potential to serve as a reservoir of pathogens that can be transmitted to humans or livestock, especially when cats are expected to become more commonly kept in African villages and towns