The Bantustan State and the South African Transition: Militarisation, Patrimonialism and the Collapse of the Ciskei Regime, 1986-1994

This article examines the Ciskei bantustan and processes of state formation during the transition to democracy. In the Ciskei, the rule of Brigadier Gqozo rested on the continued support of the South African state: identified as the weakest link in the National Party’s conservative alliance, the Ciskei became the first target for the African National Congress’ mass action campaign of 1992. The struggle in the Ciskei thus had some significance for the shape of the transition. While at a constitutional level the National Party eventually conceded to the re-incorporation of the bantustans in late 1992, it continued to stall change and to bolster the bantustans through covert military operations and land transfers to bantustan elites. These dynamics of state formation are critical aspects of the history of the transition and were at the heart of the emerging political conflict in the Ciskei, which by mid-1992 was escalating into civil war. This article examines mass mobilisation, political repression and the consequences of the patrimonial militarisation of the Ciskei state in the Ciskei/ Border region. By focusing on processes of state formation and struggles over the fabric of the state, this article provides a corrective to the prevailing academic focus on the elite negotiations and argues for the value of social histories of the bantustan states for understanding the enduring legacies of these regimes

Mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

The genetic make-up of an individual contributes to the susceptibility and response to viral infection. Although environmental, clinical and social factors have a role in the chance of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and the severity of COVID-19(1,2), host genetics may also be important. Identifying host-specific genetic factors may reveal biological mechanisms of therapeutic relevance and clarify causal relationships of modifiable environmental risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and outcomes. We formed a global network of researchers to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity. Here we describe the results of three genome-wide association meta-analyses that consist of up to 49,562 patients with COVID-19 from 46 studies across19 countries. We report 13 genome-wide significant loci that are associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection or severe manifestations of COVID-19. Several of these loci correspond to previously documented associations to lung or autoimmune and inflammatory diseases(3-7). They also represent potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection. Mendelian randomization analyses support a causal role for smoking and body-mass index for severe COVID-19 although not for type II diabetes. The identification of novel host genetic factors associated with COVID-19 was made possible by the community of human genetics researchers coming together to prioritize the sharing of data, results, resources and analytical frameworks. This working model of international collaboration underscores what is possible for future genetic discoveries in emerging pandemics, or indeed for any complex human disease.Radiolog

Quantitative methods required for implementing PAS 55 or the ISO 55000 series for asset management

CITATION: Minnaar, J. R., Basson, W. & Vlok, P. J. 2013. Quantitative methods required for implementing PAS 55 or the ISO 55000 series for asset management. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 24(3):98-111, doi:10.7166/24-3-576.The original publication is available at http://sajie.journals.ac.zaENGLISH ABSTRACT: Asset management is an important part of any organisation, as it allows them to extract value from their assets. The publicly-available specification for asset management (PAS 55) outlines what a standardised asset management system should consist of. The newly-proposed series of standards from the International Organizations for Standardization (the ISO 55000 series) also aims to provide a standardised framework for an asset management system. Both of these documents, however, only tell organisations what should be done, not how to do it. This article provides an introductory overview of numerical tools that an organisation can use when implementing an asset management system, and provides resources for further reading.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Batebestuur is ‘n belangrike aspek van enige organisasie. Batebestuur laat organisasies toe om waarde uit hul bates te ontgin. PAS 55 (die publieke spesifikasie van die Britse Standaarde Instituut) verskaf ‘n gestandaardiseerde raamwerk vir die implementering van ‘n batebestuurstelsel. Die Internasionale Organisasie vir Standaardisering (ISO) is ook besig om ‘n stel internasionale standaarde te publiseer wat verder poog om batebestuurstelsels te standardiseer. Beide hierdie dokumente beskryf egter slegs wat gedoen moet word, nie hoe dit gedoen moet word nie. Hierdie artikel gee ‘n oorsig van beskikbare numeriese metodes wat organisasies kan gebruik wanneer ‘n batebestuurstelsel geïmplementeer word.http://sajie.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/576Publisher's versio

Heat-shock induction of the human immunodeficiency virus long terminal repeat

Rat cell lines were established in which the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene under control of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) long terminal repeat (LTR) was stably integrated. The cell lines showed a repressed phenotype for CAT expression, but could be induced for it by inhibition of protein synthesis, as well as by heat-shock and chemical inducers of the cellular stress response, such as sodium arsenite, 8-hydroxyquinoline and the heavy metals cadmium and copper. A decameric sequence present in the NF-kB binding sites in the HIV LTR (GGGACTTTCC) resembles the cellular heat-shock core sequence and may therefore be involved in the heat-shock respons

Induction of gene expression under human cytomegalovirus immediate early enhancer-promoter control by inhibition of protein synthesis is cell cycle-dependent

In this paper we describe stably transfected rat cell lines which harbour either the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) immediate early (IE) gene encoding the 72K IE nuclear antigen (IEA) or the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene both under transcriptional control of the HCMV IE enhancer-promoter (-484 to -19 relative to the IE cap site, +1). In these cell lines IE gene or CAT gene expression is repressed but can be induced by heat-shock, by sodium arsenite and by inhibitors of protein synthesis such as cycloheximide (CH). In addition, we present evidence suggesting that CH-mediated activation is cell cycle-dependent. Thus CH-mediated induction of the 72K IEA as well as CAT gene expression was impaired and accumulation of mRNAs did not occur when cellular DNA synthesis was inhibited. Activation of IE genes by CH occurred almost exclusively in those cells which were in S-phase. In contrast, activation of gene expression by sodium arsenite occurred independently of cellular DNA synthesis and was not restricted to cells in S-phase. The data are consistent with, but not proof of, the hypothesis that the activation of IE transcription, brought about by inhibition of protein synthesis, resulted from a disturbed chromatin conformation due to DNA synthesis continuing in the absence of a supply of chromatin-organizing proteins. The possible relevance of these observations with regard to HCMV latency and reactivation is discusse