Phylogenetic analysis to define feline immunodeficiency virus subtypes in 31 domestic cats in South Africa

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), a lentivirus, is an important pathogen of domestic cats around the world and has many similarities to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A characteristic of these lentiviruses is their extensive genetic diversity which has been an obstacle in the development of successful vaccines. Of the FIV genes, the envelope gene is the most variable and sequence differences in a portion of this gene have been used to define 5 FIV subtypes (A, B, C, D and E). In this study, the proviral DNA sequence of the V3-V5 region of the envelope gene was determined in blood samples from 31 FIV positive cats from 4 different regions of South Africa. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated the presence of both subtypes A and C, with subtype A predominating. These findings contribute to the understanding of the genetic diversity of FIV

White football in South Africa: empire, apartheid and change, 1892-1977

This essay traces the development, domination and decline of white football in South Africa. It suggests that white football was more significant and popular than generally acknowledged and was at the forefront of globalizing football in the early twentieth century. In order to better understand the broader history of twentieth-century South African football, a more detailed examination of the organized white game at the national and international levels is necessary. This historical analysis of elite white football draws from the archives of the Football Association of South Africa. The analysis underscores the important role of white football authorities in the contestation of power and identity in the game in South Africa and abroad. In the first period under consideration (1892-1940s), local football authorities challenged the dominant sports within South Africa. This period was followed in the 1950s by the challenges of professionalism and anti-apartheid organizations. In the final phase (1967-77), officials experimented with football on 'multi-national' and multi-racial lines - a failed reform that led to the demise of white football.

Structural change in apartheid era South Africa:1975-93

This paper examines the sources of structural changes in output growth of South Africa's economy over 1975-93 using a decomposition method within the inputoutput (IO) framework for analysing output changes from a demand side perspective. It decomposes output growth into private consumption, government consumption, investment and export components and also measures the impact of import substitution and changes in intermediate input use (as indicated by changes in IO coefficients). It is found that, before 1981, overall output growth was multi-components driven with all the above components contributing positively to economic growth. However, the collapse of investment demand is by far the single largest factor contributing to the economic stagnation that categorizes the post-1981 period.

Struggles for Citizenship in South Africa

South Africa’s first democratic constitution of 1996, which defines the content and scope of citizenship, emerged out of what the country’s Constitutional Court accurately described as ‘a deeply divided society characterized by strife, conflict, untold suffering and injustice which generated gross violations of human rights, the transgression of humanitarian principles in violent conflicts and a legacy of hatred, fear, guilt and revenge’ (cited in Jagwanth, 2003: 7). The constitution was internationally noteworthy for its expressed protection of women’s and sexual minority rights and its extension of rights of citizenship to socio-economic rights, such as rights of adequate healthcare, housing and education (SAGI, 1996). During South Africa’s first two decades of democracy, the Constitutional Court has proven its independence by advancing citizenship rights on a number of occasions (O’Regan, 2012). The struggle for citizenship was at the heart of the liberation struggle against the apartheid regime and within the complex dynamics of the anti-apartheid movement, increasingly sophisticated and intersectional demands for citizenship were made. South Africa’s constitutional rights for citizenship are not always matched in practice. The country’s high rates of sexual violence, ongoing poverty and inequality and public attitudes towards the rights of sexual minorities and immigrants lag well behind the spirit and letter of the constitution. Nevertheless, the achievement of formal citizenship rights in South Africa was the result of a prolonged and complex liberation struggle and analysis of South Africa demonstrates Werbner’s claim that ‘struggles over citizenship are thus struggles over the very meaning of politics and membership in a community’ (1999: 221). This chapter will begin with a contextual and historical overview before moving onto analyzing the development of non-racialism as a basis for citizenship, non-sexism and gendered citizenship, contestations of white, militarized citizenship and the achievement of sexual citizenship by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights movement. As shall be made clear, all these citizenship demands emerged during the decades of the country’s liberation struggle.

The Barriers to the Integration of the Uterine Balloon Tamponade into South Africa and Ghana's Health Systems for the Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage

Background

Postpartum hemorrhage is the most significant contributor to maternal mortality globally, claiming 140,000 lives annually. Postpartum hemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal death in South Africa, with the literature indicating that 80 percent of the postpartum hemorrhage deaths in South Africa are avoidable. Ghana, as of 2010, witnesses 2700 maternal deaths annually, primarily because of poor quality of care in health facilities and services being difficult to access. As per WHO recommendations, uterotonics are integral to treating postpartum hemorrhage as soon as it is diagnosed. In case of persistent bleeding or limited availability of uterotonics, the uterine balloon tamponade (UBT) can be used as a second line of defense. If both these measures are unable to counter the bleeding, providers must perform surgical interventions. Literature on the UBT, as one tool in the protocol to address postpartum hemorrhage, has shown it to have success rates ranging from 60 to 100 percent. Despite the potential to lower the number of postpartum hemorrhage deaths in South Africa and Ghana, the UBT has not been incorporated widely in South Africa and Ghana. The aim of this study is to describe the barriers involved with integrating the UBT into South Africa and Ghana’s health systems to address postpartum hemorrhage.

Methods

The study took place in multiple sites in South Africa (Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Mpumalanga) and in Accra, Ghana. South Africa and Ghana were selected because postpartum hemorrhage contributes greatly to their maternal mortality numbers and there is potential in both countries to lower those rates through greater use of the UBT. A total of 25 participants were interviewed through purposive sampling, snowball sampling and participant referrals, and included various categories of stakeholders integral to the integration process of a medical device. Individual in-depth interviews were used for data collection, with interview questions being tailored to each stakeholder category. The focus of the interviews was on the protocol used to counter postpartum hemorrhage, the frequency with which the UBT is used as part of the protocol, and the process of integrating it into the South Africa and Ghana’s health systems. The data collected were coded using NVivo and analyzed using content analysis.

Results

The barriers to integration of the uterine balloon tamponade to address postpartum hemorrhage in South Africa and Ghana were evident on the political, economic and health delivery levels. The results indicated that the barriers to integration in South Africa included the low recognition of postpartum hemorrhage as a problem, the lack of clarity surrounding the role of the Medicines Control Council as a regulatory body for medical devices, and low awareness of the UBT as an intervention to control postpartum hemorrhage. The barriers in Ghana were the cash constraints experienced by the Ghana Health Services to fund medical devices, a heavy reliance on donors for funding, and the lack of consistent knowledge on processes involving clinical trials for new medical devices in Ghana.

Conclusion

Existing literature on methods to counter postpartum hemorrhage to reduce maternal mortality has focused on and emphasized the efficacy of the UBT. Despite overwhelming evidence supporting the use of the UBT, many health systems across the world, particularly low-income countries, do not have access to the device owing to numerous barriers in integrating the device into obstetric care. This study illustrates the need to focus on incorporating the UBT into health systems for greater availability to health workers and its use as standard of care. Ultimately, this study can be used as a stepping-stone for more research on this subject, providing evidence to influence policymakers to integrate the UBT into their protocols for postpartum hemorrhage response.

Update of the BIPM comparison BIPM.RI(II)-K1.Cs-134 of activity measurements of the radionuclide 134Cs to include the 2008 results of the BEV (Austria), the 2009 result of the IRA (Switzerland) and the 2010 results of the NMISA (South Africa)

Purine nucleotide pyrophosphotransferase was purified to apparent homogeneity from a culture filtrate of Streptomyces morookaensis. It is a monomeric protein with a molecular weight of 24 000-25 000, and its isoelectric point is 6.9. The enzyme synthesizes purine nucleoside 5'-phosphate (mono, di, or tri) 3'-diphosphates such as pppApp, ppApp, pApp, pppGpp, ppGpp and pppIpp by transferring a pyrophosphoryl group from the 5'-position of ATP, dATP and ppApp to the 3'-position of purine nucleotides. The purified enzyme catalysed the formation of 435 mumol of pppApp and 620 mumol of pppGpp from ATP and GTP per min mg protein under the standard conditions. The enzyme requires absolutely a divalent cation for activity, and optimum pH for the enzyme activity lay above 10 for Mg2+, for Co2+ and Zn2+ from 9 to 9.5, and for Fe2+ from 7.5 to 8. The following Michaelis constants were determined: AMP, 2.78 mM; ADP, 3.23 mM; GMP, 0.89 mM; GDP, 0.46 mM and GTP, 1.54 mM, in the case of ATP donor. The enzyme is inhibited by guanine, guanosine, dGDP, dGTP, N-bromosuccinimide, iodacetate, sodium borate and mercuric acetate.

Basin-internal derivation of hydrocarbons in the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa: evidence from bulk and molecular δ13C data

Gold in the quartz-pebble conglomerates of the late Archean Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, is often intimately associated with carbonaceous matter of organic/biogenic origin which occurs in the form of stratiform carbon seams and paragenetically late bitumen nodules. Both carbon forms are believed to be formed by solidification of migrating hydrocarbons. This paper presents bulk and molecular chemical and stable carbon isotope data for the carbonaceous matter, all of which are used to provide a clue to the source of the hydrocarbons. These data are compared with those from intra-basinal shales and overlying dolostone of the Transvaal Supergroup. The delta C-13 values of the extracts from the Witwatersrand carbonaceous material show small differences (up to 2.4 parts per thousand) compared to the associated insoluble organic matter. This suggests that the auriferous rocks were stained by mobile hydrocarbons produced by thermal and oxidative alteration of indigenous bitumens, a contribution from hydrocarbons derived from intra-basinal Witwatersrand shales cannot be excluded. Individual aliphatic hydrocarbons of the various carbonaceous materials were subjected to compound specific isotope analysis using on-line gas chromatography/combustion/stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS). The limited variability of the molecular parameters and uniform delta C-13 values of individual n-alkanes (-31.1 +/- 1.7 parts per thousand) and isoprenoids (-30.7 +/- 1.1 parts per thousand) in the Witwatersrand samples exclude the mixing of oils from different sources. Carbonaceous matter in the dolostones shows distinctly different bulk and molecular isotope characteristics and thus cannot have been the source of the hydrocarbons in the Witwatersrand deposits. All the various forms of Witwatersrand carbon appear indigenous to the Witwatersrand Basin, and the differences between them are explained by variable, in general probably short (centimeter- to meter-scale) hydrocarbon migration during diagenesis and subsequent hydrothermal infiltration. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

A comparative study of the resilience of coal logistics chains in Australia, South Africa and Canada

Au cours des dernières années l'industrie du charbon a connu un essor important. L'importance du charbon dans l'économie mondiale provient d'une demande mondiale soutenue et de niveaux de production en hausse constante. De ce fait, le nombre élevé d'importateurs et d'exportateurs est à l'origine d'un système d'échange complexe où la compétition est féroce. En effet, un nombre grandissant de pays importateurs se partagent les sources d'approvisionnement tandis qu'un nombre limité de pays exportateurs s'efforcent de répondre à la demande tout en essayant de s'accaparer le plus de parts du marché mondial. L'objectif de cette recherche s'inscrit dans ce contexte en démontrant les bénéfices associés aux chaînes logistiques résilientes pour tout acteur de l'industrie soucieux de devancer la compétition. Une analyse de la logistique de l'industrie du charbon permet entre autres de se pencher sur les questions suivantes: Comment les infrastructures influencent-elles la résilience d'une chaîne logistique? Quels risques est-ce que les catastrophes naturelles présentent pour une chaîne logistique? Comment la gouvernance influence-t-elle la résilience d'une chaîne logistique? Une chaîne logistique représente le trajet effectué par un bien ou produit au cours de son cycle de vie, du point d'origine au point de consommation. Ceci étant dit, le meilleur moyen de régler les problèmes inhérents aux chaînes logistiques est de maintenir de hauts niveaux de résilience. Cette recherche évaluera donc la résilience de chaînes logistiques du charbon des industries australienne, sud-africaine et canadienne. Pour ce faire, trois variables seront étudiées: les infrastructures, les catastrophes naturelles et la gouvernance. La comparaison des trois cas à l'étude se fera par un nombre défini d'indicateurs (12 au total) pour chacune des variables étudiées. Les résultats de cette recherche démontrent que la résilience des trois cas à l'étude se ressemble. Cependant, certaines chaînes logistiques détiennent des avantages comparatifs qui améliorent grandement leur résilience et leur compétitivité. Plusieurs sujets de recherche pourraient être utilisés pour compléter cette recherche. L'analyse comparative pourrait être appliquée à d'autres chaînes logistiques pour vérifier la viabilité des résultats. Une analyse semblable pourrait également être entreprise pour le secteur en aval de la chaîne logistique. Finalement, une méthodologie basée sur des interviews pourrait ajouter un regard différent sur les questions abordées.

Contested institutions? Traditional leaders and land access and control in communal areas of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

The South African government has endeavoured to strengthen property rights in communal areas and develop civil society institutions for community-led development and natural resource management. However, the effectiveness of this remains unclear as the emergence and operation of civil society institutions in these areas is potentially constrained by the persistence of traditional authorities. Focusing on the former Transkei region of Eastern Cape Province, three case study communities are used examine the extent to which local institutions overlap in issues of land access and control. Within these communities, traditional leaders (chiefs and headmen) continue to exercise complete and sole authority over land allocation and use this to entrench their own positions. However, in the absence of effective state support, traditional authorities have only limited power over how land is used and in enforcing land rights, particularly over communal resources such as rangeland. This diminishes their local legitimacy and encourages some groups to contest their authority by cutting fences, ignoring collective grazing decisions and refusing to pay ‘fees’ levied on them. They are encouraged in such activities by the presence of democratically elected local civil society institutions such as ward councillors and farmers’ organisations, which have broad appeal and are increasingly responsible for much of the agrarian development that takes place, despite having no direct mandate over land. Where it occurs at all, interaction between these different institutions is generally restricted to approval being required from traditional leaders for land allocated to development projects. On this basis it is argued that a more radical approach to land reform in communal areas is required, which transfers all powers over land to elected and accountable local institutions and integrates land allocation, land management and agrarian development more effectively.

Breeding biology of the White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Information on the breeding biology of the White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis is limited and published data are few. Within the Kruger National Park in north-east South Africa there is a regionally important population of about 60 White-headed Vulture pairs, of which 22 pairs were monitored for five years between 2008 and 2012 to determine key aspects of their breeding biology. Across 73 pair/years the mean productivity of 55 breeding attempts was 0.69 chicks per pair. Median egg-laying date across all of the Kruger National Park was 27 June, but northern nests were approximately 30 d later than southern nests. Mean (SD) nearest-neighbour distance was 9 976  7 965 m and inter-nest distances ranged from 1 400 m to more than 20 km, but this did not differ significantly between habitat types. Breeding productivity did not differ significantly between habitat types. The results presented here are the first for this species in Kruger National Park and provide details against which future comparisons can be made.

Influence of pollination and seed dispersal on the genetic population structure of two Commiphora species in Madagascar and South Africa

Pollination and seed dispersal are important ecological processes for the regeneration of plant populations and both vectors for gene exchange between plant populations. For my thesis, I studied the pollination ecology of the South African tree Commiphora harveyi (Burseraceae) and compared it with C. guillauminii from Madagascar. Both species have low visitation rates and a low number of pollinating insect species, resulting in a low fruit set. While their pollination ecology is very similar, they differ in their seed dispersal with a low seed dispersal rate in the Malagasy and a high seed dispersal rate in the South African species. This should be reflected in a stronger genetic differentiation among populations in the Malagasy than in the South African species. My results, based on AFLP markers, contradict these expectations, the overall differentiation was lower in the Malagasy (FST = 0.05) than in the South African species (FST = 0.16). However, at a smaller spatial scale (below 3 km), the Malagasy species was genetically more strongly differentiated than the South African species, which was reflected by the high inter-population variance within the sample site (C. guillauminii: 72.2 - 85.5 %; C. harveyi: 8.4 - 14.5 %). This strong differentiation could arise from limited gene flow, which was confirmed by spatial autocorrelation analyses. The shape of the autocorrelogram suggested that gene exchange between individuals occurred only up to 3 km in the Malagasy species, whereas up to 30 km in the South African species. These results on the genetic structure correspond to the expectations based on seed dispersal data. Thus, seed dispersal seems to be a key factor for the genetic structure in plant populations on a local scale.

Mortality in patients with HIV-1 infection starting antiretroviral therapy in South Africa, Europe, or North America: a collaborative analysis of prospective studies.

BACKGROUND High early mortality in patients with HIV-1 starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to Europe and North America, is well documented. Longer-term comparisons between settings have been limited by poor ascertainment of mortality in high burden African settings. This study aimed to compare mortality up to four years on ART between South Africa, Europe, and North America. METHODS AND FINDINGS Data from four South African cohorts in which patients lost to follow-up (LTF) could be linked to the national population register to determine vital status were combined with data from Europe and North America. Cumulative mortality, crude and adjusted (for characteristics at ART initiation) mortality rate ratios (relative to South Africa), and predicted mortality rates were described by region at 0-3, 3-6, 6-12, 12-24, and 24-48 months on ART for the period 2001-2010. Of the adults included (30,467 [South Africa], 29,727 [Europe], and 7,160 [North America]), 20,306 (67%), 9,961 (34%), and 824 (12%) were women. Patients began treatment with markedly more advanced disease in South Africa (median CD4 count 102, 213, and 172 cells/µl in South Africa, Europe, and North America, respectively). High early mortality after starting ART in South Africa occurred mainly in patients starting ART with CD4 count <50 cells/µl. Cumulative mortality at 4 years was 16.6%, 4.7%, and 15.3% in South Africa, Europe, and North America, respectively. Mortality was initially much lower in Europe and North America than South Africa, but the differences were reduced or reversed (North America) at longer durations on ART (adjusted rate ratios 0.46, 95% CI 0.37-0.58, and 1.62, 95% CI 1.27-2.05 between 24 and 48 months on ART comparing Europe and North America to South Africa). While bias due to under-ascertainment of mortality was minimised through death registry linkage, residual bias could still be present due to differing approaches to and frequency of linkage. CONCLUSIONS After accounting for under-ascertainment of mortality, with increasing duration on ART, the mortality rate on HIV treatment in South Africa declines to levels comparable to or below those described in participating North American cohorts, while substantially narrowing the differential with the European cohorts. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.