A Review of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa and the Implications for more Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems

Indigenous and traditional foods crops (ITFCs) have multiple uses within society, and most notably have an important role to play in the attempt to diversify the food in order to enhance food and nutrition security. However, research suggests that the benefits and value of indigenous foods within the South African and the African context have not been fully understood and synthesized. Their potential value to the African food system could be enhanced if their benefits were explored more comprehensively. This synthesis presents a literature review relating to underutilized indigenous crop species and foods in Africa. It organizes the findings into four main contributions, nutritional, environmental, economic, and social-cultural, in line with key themes of a sustainable food system framework. It also goes on to unpack the benefits and challenges associated with ITFCs under these themes. A major obstacle is that people are not valuing indigenous foods and the potential benefit that can be derived from using them is thus neglected. Furthermore, knowledge is being lost from one generation to the next, with potentially dire implications for long-term sustainable food security. The results show the need to recognize and enable indigenous foods as a key resource in ensuring healthy food systems in the African continent

Strengthening graduate employee commitment through internal marketing in the South African retail banking industry

Abstract: A strong internal marketing strategy can be critical to achieving and sustaining a competitive advantage as well as driving organisational change and enhanced organisational performance. This study sought to determine the influence of internal marketing mix elements on the satisfaction levels of recently employed graduates (GradDPs) within the retail banking industry in South Africa. The study also identified links between the satisfaction of GradDPs and their affective commitment in this context. A census approach to generating data was applied in the study by using a person-administered and an electronic survey method. Regression analysis was used to test the relationships proposed in the study. The results indicated that internal marketing significantly influences GradDP employee satisfaction within retail banks in South Africa and that a positive relationship exists between GradDP employee satisfaction and their affective commitment. The study results allowed for recommendations that retail banks provide training and support programmes to assist managers in developing a more participative style of leading. Such programmes would assist leaders in consulting employees more often and ensuring that they have sufficient autonomy when executing their work. It would also help leaders to create a safer GradDP employee environment that fosters openness, risk-taking and idea generation

Beliefs about back pain and pain management behaviours, and their associations in the general population : a systematic review

This work was supported by the Arthritis Research UK/Medical Research Council Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work (grant number: 20665).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Equilibrium states for potentials with \sup\phi - \inf\phi < \htop(f)

In the context of smooth interval maps, we study an inducing scheme approach to prove existence and uniqueness of equilibrium states for potentials $\phi$ with he `bounded range' condition \sup \phi - \inf \phi < \htop, first used by Hofbauer and Keller. We compare our results to Hofbauer and Keller's use of Perron-Frobenius operators. We demonstrate that this `bounded range' condition on the potential is important even if the potential is H\"older continuous. We also prove analyticity of the pressure in this context.Comment: Added Lemma 6 to deal with the disparity between leading eigenvalues and operator norms. Added extra references and corrected some typo

What We Mean When We Talk About Adherence In Respiratory Medicine

The Respiratory Effectiveness Group (REG; www.effectivenessevaluation.org) supported the Expert Adherence Panel Meeting at which many of the concepts presented in this paper were first discussed. REG also supported the manuscript submission costs. ALD, EvG, and MdB have received funding from the European Community's 7th Framework (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 282593. Teva supported the meeting costs at which the concepts in this paper were discussed by the co-authors and the open access publication fee for this article. The authors had full editorial control over the ideas presented.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Duration of Effectiveness Evaluation of Additional Risk Minimisation Measures for Centrally Authorised Medicinal Products in the EU Between 2012 and 2021

Introduction:In studies evaluating the effectiveness of additional risk minimisation measures (aRMMs), the need for speed must be properly balanced with the quality of the study. We assessed the duration of aRMM effectiveness evaluations, using additional pharmacovigilance activities, for centrally authorised medicinal products in the European Union. Methods: We established a cohort of medicinal products with aRMMs at marketing authorisation (MA) that were centrally authorised from July 2012–December 2021 using the European Public Assessment Reports. Evaluation studies were identified from the Risk Management Plans at the time of MA. Subsequently, we retrieved protocols, final study reports, Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) assessment reports, and PRAC minutes. We calculated the probability of completing an effectiveness evaluation within 60 months after MA using time-to-event analyses. Besides, we compared the planned final report with the actual final report date. Results: We identified 134 medicinal products authorised with aRMMs, of which almost half (n = 63, 47.0%) had an effectiveness evaluation study. The probability of an evaluation for a medicinal product being completed within 60 months after MA was 20.7% (95% CI 6.8–32.6). Regarding study design, the probability of completing a study was higher for cross-sectional studies when compared to cohort studies (p = 0.002). Moreover, 81.0% of studies were delayed when compared to their planned final report date. Conclusion: The probability of completing an aRMM effectiveness evaluation at time for renewal of the MA was only one in five. Furthermore, estimates of the duration of studies around MA are too optimistic, with the majority being delayed.</p

Detection of Coxiella burnetii in complex matrices by using multiplex quantitative PCR during a major Q fever outbreak in the Netherlands

Q fever, caused by Coxiella burnetii, is a zoonosis with a worldwide distribution. A large rural area in the southeast of the Netherlands was heavily affected by Q fever between 2007 and 2009. This initiated the development of a robust and internally controlled multiplex quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay for the detection of C. burnetii DNA in veterinary and environmental matrices on suspected Q fever-affected farms. The qPCR detects three C. burnetii targets (icd, com1, and IS1111) and one Bacillus thuringiensis internal control target (cry1b). Bacillus thuringiensis spores were added to samples to control both DNA extraction and PCR amplification. The performance of the qPCR assay was investigated and showed a high efficiency; a limit of detection of 13.0, 10.6, and 10.4 copies per reaction for the targets icd, com1, and IS1111, respectively; and no crossreactivity with the nontarget organisms tested. Screening for C. burnetii DNA on 29 suspected Q fever-affected farms during the Q fever epidemic in 2008 showed that swabs from dust-accumulating surfaces contained higher levels of C. burnetii DNA than vaginal swabs from goats or sheep. PCR inhibition by coextracted substances was observed in some environmental samples, and 10- or 100-fold dilutions of samples were sufficient to obtain interpretable signals for both the C. burnetii targets and the internal control. The inclusion of an internal control target and three C. burnetii targets in one multiplex qPCR assay showed that complex veterinary and environmental matrices can be screened reliably for the presence of C. burnetii DNA during an outbreak. © 2011, American Society for Microbiology

Internal marketing, service quality and customer satisfaction : an Islamic banking perspective

Abstract: Purpose – The study explores the extent to which internal marketing influences employees’ perceived ability to deliver service quality in the Islamic banking industry in Oman. Additionally, the influence of perceived service quality on customer satisfaction is established. Design/methodology/approach – Data was obtained from retail banking branch employees at the customer front line of Islamic banks in Oman using electronic and person-administered surveys, and 272 responses were deemed suitable for data analysis. The measurement and structural models were measured through Structural Equation Modelling. Findings – The findings show that internal promotion, internal process and internal purpose are enablers of employees’ perceived ability to deliver service quality in the Islamic banking industry of Oman. In addition, service quality was found to have a strong positive influence on customer satisfaction in Islamic banks. Research implications – This study demonstrates that internal product, internal price, internal promotion, internal process and internal purpose are influencers of service quality, and the latter has a direct relationship with customer satisfaction in Islamic banking. Managerial implications – The findings can guide the Islamic banking sector in Oman on how internal marketing can foster service quality, ultimately leading to positive customer satisfaction experiences. Originality/value – The internal marketing mix model is predominately a western model, which has been tested primarily in mature western markets. This study reflects on 10 internal marketing mix elements, which have been tested for the enablement of service quality and customer satisfaction in Oman