Survival in amoeba: a major selection pressure on the presence of bacterial copper and zinc resistance determinants?: identification of a "copper pathogenicity island"

The presence of metal resistance determinants in bacteria usually is attributed to geological or anthropogenic metal contamination in different environments or associated with the use of antimicrobial metals in human healthcare or in agriculture. While this is certainly true, we hypothesize that protozoan predation and macrophage killing are also responsible for selection of copper/zinc resistance genes in bacteria. In this review, we outline evidence supporting this hypothesis, as well as highlight the correlation between metal resistance and pathogenicity in bacteria. In addition, we introduce and characterize the "copper pathogenicity island" identified in Escherichia coli and Salmonella strains isolated from copper- and zinc-fed Danish pigs

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer compensation relationship to company performance in state-owned entities

Background: Optimal contracting continues to dominate boardroom and dinner discussions worldwide in light of the 2008 global financial crisis and especially in South Africa, due to the growing income gap. Increased scrutiny is being placed on South African state-owned entities (SOEs), as a result of the seemingly poor performance of SOEs. Some of the SOEs are reported to have received financial bailouts from taxpayers’ money, while executives are raking in millions of rands in remuneration, provoking some concerns on the alignment of executive pay to company performance in SOEs. Aim: The study will assist remuneration committees and policymakers in the structuring of executive pay in SOEs to ensure alignment to company performance. Setting: The study sought to assess, based on empirical evidence, if there is a positive relationship between Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) remuneration and company performance in South African SOEs in the period between 2010 and 2014. All 21 Schedule 2 SOEs were included in the study. Methods: The research was a quantitative archival research methodology. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were the main statistical techniques used in this study. Results: Contrary to popular media, a positive relationship between CEO and CFO remuneration (fixed pay and short-term incentives) and company performance in SOEs was observed. Company size appears to be the key determiner of fixed pay in SOEs. The positive relationship was mainly noted on absolute profitability measurements like EBITDA (earnings before interest and tax and depreciation and amortisation) and net profit. Conclusion: SOE remuneration committees and policymakers should maintain the positive relationship; however, more emphasis should be placed on financial efficiency measurements so as to enhance efficiencies in SOEs

Random Hamiltonians ergodic in all but one direction

SIGLECopy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Challenges in service network expansion: An application in donated breastmilk banking in South Africa

Neonatal infections are the leading cause for neonatal deaths in developing countries, resulting in more than 1.5 million infant fatalities annually. The most effective prevention against neonatal infections is exclusive breastfeeding. However, reasons such as maternal death during birth, maternal illnesses such as HIV and TB-meningitis, and lack of rooming-in facilities prevent the infant to be breastfed by his/her mother. One way to mitigate these infections is by supplying pasteurized donor-expressed breastmilk. In this paper, we consider the network expansion of the donated breastmilk distribution supply chain in South Africa. As with the distribution of most public sector and humanitarian relief goods and services, the transportation of donated breastmilk is hampered by the inherent uncertainty in the environment, and by the fact that in addition to efficient usage of resources, distribution should be made in an equitable manner. We incorporate uncertainty into our models by means of multiple scenarios, which are determined based on different assumptions about population size, HIV prevalence, and status of public health in the country, income, and education. We consider various equity-based objectives and propose rounding-based heuristics to solve these. We focus on two delivery schemes; one which uses out-and back transportation, and one that makes multiple stops on the delivery route. Using computational experiments, we analyze the trade-offs between the objectives as well as the effects of various public health policies, network expansion budget, and assumptions on supply and demand. We also describe the teaching materials resulting from this paper, which include a case study, a supply/demand estimation tool, and an interactive decision support tool. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserve