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Conjunctival stromal tumour: a case report
(Elsevier, 2024) Buys, Jane E.; Gouws, Christiaan H.; van der Walt, Stefanus W. D.; Goedhals, Jacqueline
Conjunctival stromal tumour (COST) is a rare and newly described mesenchymal tumour of the conjunctiva. We present a case of a slow-growing conjunctival lesion in a 54-year-old female. Due to persistent irritant symptoms, the lesion was excised. Histopathological assessment showed a paucicellular tumour set in an oedematous and collagenous background within the lamina propria. Significant nuclear degenerative atypia was noted. Lesional cells were positive for CD34 immunohistochemistry. The features were consistent with COST. The condition is typically unilateral and arises in the bulbar conjunctiva, with both inflammatory and neoplastic origins considered. They are sporadic and occur most frequently in adults. COSTs are indolent and managed effectively with complete surgical excision. Conjunctival myxoma is the most important differential diagnosis due to its association with the Carney complex, a potentially life-threatening condition that requires close clinical follow-up. Accurate recognition of COST and myxoma is crucial to stratify care appropriately.
Exploring distributed leadership practice in Nigerian secondary schools
(Richtmann Publishing, 2023) Sasere, Oluwasola Babatunde; Makhasane, Sekitla Daniel
A growing body of research on distributed leadership shows that it effectively improves school effectiveness in developed economies. However, due to centralized education systems, the full benefits of distributed school leadership have not been fully appropriated in developing economies. This study investigates the realities of distributed leadership practices as applicable in selected Nigerian secondary schools. Lensed with Distributed Leadership Theory, the study is located in the qualitative strand of the interpretivist paradigm. In a case study research design, a combination of purposeful and snowballing sampling techniques was adopted in selecting twelve participants comprising three school administrators and nine classroom teachers who participated in semi-structured interviews. The results show that distributed leadership is perceived and practised as delegation and distribution of roles by the superordinate to the subordinate in a manner inconsistent with the principles of distributed leadership theory. It was also revealed that teachers with no formal portfolio were assigned leadership responsibilities. Lastly, the findings showed that participants acknowledged the existence of the School Management Team in their school. Still, most are unaware of their roles in school leadership and how they impacted their jobs. Recommendations were made based on the findings.
The effect of dietary non-protein nitrogen content on the meat quality of finishing lambs
(SASAS, 2024) Einkamerer, O. B.; Ferreira, A. V.; Fair, M. D.; Hugo, A.
The effect of increasing the non-protein nitrogen content of low-fibre finishing diets on the meat quality of South African Mutton Merino wether lambs was investigated. Four similar dietary treatments were formulated with different non-protein nitrogen contents (16.6 g/kg, 28.3 g/kg, 40 g/kg, and 51.7 g/kg) on a dry matter basis. The study was conducted over 71 days. Muscle lipid content was higher on the 40 g/kg compared to 16.6 g/kg and 28.3 g/kg non-protein nitrogen diets. Myristic acid and total saturated fatty acid content of lamb muscle tissue was higher, whereas the total unsaturated fatty acid content of the same tissue was lower following a high dietary non-protein nitrogen content. A high non-protein nitrogen diet (51.7 g/kg) reduced conjugated linoleic acid content of adipose tissue, compared to 28.3 and 40 g/kg non-protein nitrogen treatments. Malonaldehyde content of fresh lamb meat was higher on the 28.3 g/kg compared to the 16.6 g/kg non-protein nitrogen diet. The malonaldehyde content of the treatment containing 40 g/kg non-protein nitrogen was higher than the 51.7 g/kg when stored for 90 days. Therefore, the non-protein nitrogen content of low-fibre lamb finishing diets does not affect mutton fatty acid composition and quality parameters. Protein quality and its effect on ruminant meat quality requires more attention.
Collaboration: the key to managing discipline in South African schools
(Education Association of South Africa (EASA), 2022) Padayachee, Amy Sarah; Gcelu, Ntombizandile
South African schools are faced with an arguably insurmountable problem as a culture of indiscipline continually increases in schools. Despite being undeterred by the legal framework that guides stakeholders in the discipline crisis in schools, indiscipline in schools has soared to critical levels. Scant literature exists on how stakeholders collaborate in managing discipline in schools. The research reported on here was guided by the primary research question: How do stakeholders collaborate in managing discipline in schools? As such, in this article we explore how stakeholders collaborate in managing discipline in schools. Through purposive sampling, 16 participants from 4 secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal were chosen to take part in semi-structured interviews. The sample of participants comprised school management team members (SMT); the principal, 1 head of department, 1 post-level 1 educator and 1 school governing body (SGB) member from 4 schools in the iLembe education district. Themes that emerged from the data include that implementation of the school code of conduct as one of the most effective strategies in managing discipline in schools. The inclusion of stakeholders such as the local community, the Community Police Forum, the South African Police Services and the Department of Social Development in the successful management of learner discipline surfaced as an important theme. Furthermore, participants asserted that a whole-school approach to the implementation of the code of conduct was successful in managing discipline. The participants revealed that the collaboration of stakeholders in schools was very important for the smooth running of the school, including the management of discipline.
Self-compassion as a mechanism to facilitate the adjustment of first-year students to university environments
(Springer, 2023) Naidoo, Pravani; Oosthuizen, Maroné
Despite high enrolment rates at higher education institutions, a perturbing number of first-year university students discontinue their studies. As first-year students constitute a vulnerable group, it is important to investigate ways in which to facilitate their adjustment to university. Extant research within student populations, including first-year students, deems self-compassion to be a robust protective factor in adjustment to university. However, studies rely largely on quantitative research designs, overlooking the voices and everyday experiences of first-year students. Accordingly, this study aimed to qualitatively explore experiences and practices of self-compassion amongst first-year students when faced with the challenges of adjusting to university. To capture in-depth, rich, thick contextual data, 12 South African first-year students participated in semi-structured interviews in their first semester, while follow-up interviews were conducted with 9 participants in the second semester. Themes generated through reflexive thematic analysis highlighted the yin and yang of self-compassion as a valuable conceptual tool to understand and promote first-year students’ experiences and practices of self-compassion. Further, students’ experiences of self-compassion are more nuanced and contradictory than previous research has indicated. Lastly, receiving social support and being self-compassionate constitute reciprocal processes that students engage with in distinct ways, affecting both the depth and breadth of their experiences. Based on this research, self-compassion is vital for strengths-based mental health programmes amongst first-year students. Programmes should promote the practice of the yin and the yang of self-compassion, foster an accepting approach to experiences, and recognise the nuanced, potentially contradictory nature of self-compassion.
Prevalence and occupational exposure to zoonotic diseases in high-risk populations in the Free State Province, South Africa
(Frontiers Media, 2023) van der Westhuizen, Cornelius G.; Burt, Felicity J.; van Heerden, Nina; van Zyl, Willie; Anthonissen, Tonia; Musoke, Jolly
𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Zoonotic diseases are responsible for 2.5 billion human cases globally and approximately 2.7 million deaths annually. Surveillance of animal handlers and livestock for zoonotic pathogens contributes to understanding the true disease burden and risk factors within a community. This study investigated the prevalence of selected zoonoses in cattle, farm workers and occupational exposure to endemic zoonotic diseases and their associated risk factors.
𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀: Sputum samples from farmworkers were screened for Mycobacterium bovis. Blood specimens from farmworkers and archived sera were tested for serological evidence of Brucella sp., hantaviruses, and Leptospira sp. Communal and commercial cattle herds were tested for bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis.
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: Mycobacterium bovis was not isolated from human samples. A total of 327 human sera were screened, and 35/327 (10.7%) were Brucella sp. IgG positive, 17/327 (5.2%) Leptospira sp. IgM positive, and 38/327 (11.6%) hantavirus IgG positive (95% CI). A higher proportion of Brucella sp. IgG-positive samples were detected among veterinarians (value of p = 0.0006). Additionally, two cattle from a commercial dairy farm were bovine tuberculosis (bTB) positive using the bTB skin test and confirmatory interferon-gamma assay. A higher percentage of confirmed brucellosis-positive animals were from communal herds (8.7%) compared to commercial herds (1.1%).
𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: These findings highlight the brucellosis and M. bovis prevalence in commercial and communal herds, the zoonotic disease risk in commercial and subsistence farming in developing countries, and the occupational and rural exposure risk to zoonotic pathogens.
Sustainable agriculture through the Enhancement of Microbial Biocontrol Agents: Current Challenges and New Perspectives
(MDPI, 2023) Gokul, Arun; Mabaso, Jabulani; Henema, Nontuthuko; Otomo, Laetitia; Bakare, Olalekan O.; Klein, Ashwil; Daniel, Augustine I.; Omolola, Aina; Niekerk, Lee-Ann; Nkomo, Mbukeni; Keyster, Marshall
The future of pesticide usage in agriculture is uncertain due to its unsustainability, adverse environmental impacts, and its association in enhanced phytopathogen resistance. Hence, this situation urges the development of new sustainable practices in agriculture. A promising approach involves endophytes, which are non-pathogenic microorganisms inhabiting the interior parts of plants. However, due to the vast diversity and complexity of plant microbiomes, a major gap has formed with regards to endophytic research and its application in phytopathogen biocontrol. The gap has mainly been increasing due to the difficulty of isolating underrepresented endophytes and due to limitation of previous genetic tools availability to further research and understand plant-microbe interaction, endophytic biocontrol capabilities and their biocontrol compounds. This review highlights the current challenges being encountered in this research field. Additionally, the research advances through utilization of specialized techniques (CRISPR/Cas9 system, nanoparticles and multi-omics) are highlighted to assist in elucidating the mechanism revolving around plant-microbe interactions and to generate model systems demonstrating improved biocontrol capabilities of endophytes. The ultimate goal of this review is to provide improved approaches that could be implement in an array of microorganism that will enhance the phytopathogen biocontrol field in order to create a sustainable agricultural sector.
A South African disaster legislative perspective of information management and communication systems
(AOSIS Publishing, 2022) Kunguma, Olivia
𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: Establishing a disaster information management and communication system (IMCS) is a mandate of the South African National Disaster Management Framework of 2005 (NDMF). The inception of such systems is supposed to be at the initial set-up of disaster management centres. The comprehensive functioning of a disaster centre will require an interoperable system that can collect, process, store and disseminate data. The lack of such a system might result in poor disaster risk reduction (DRR) and ineffective response.
𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: This article identified and described IMCSs from the South African disaster policy perspective.
𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀: Qualitative in-depth interviews were used to investigate the status quo of all nine provincial disaster management centres (PDMCs) regarding the existence, functioning and understanding of IMCSs. The NDMF informed the interview questions administered to 29 purposively selected participants. Themes from descriptions by informants were used to analyse the data.
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: All the centres operating for more than 10 years lack integrated IMCSs. The disaster managers perceive IMCSs as more information technology, computers and other physical devices and less human input systems and governance capabilities. The lack of integrated and well-governed disaster information and communication affects disaster management operations and service delivery mandate.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: To date, no studies have explored the establishment and management of interoperable IMCSs in disaster management centres. Therefore, this study contributes to the literature on disaster information and communication discourse and practical contributions to improve the capacity of PDMCs. This article provides insight into the significance of IMCS for building resilient communities and recommendations for establishing and maintaining the systems.
Dike-induced aquifer models derived from high-resolution multi-spectral satellite imagery
(Nature Research, 2024) Radebe, Samkelo; Clark, Martin
The Main Karoo Basin in South Africa is a typical example of an expanding arid region dependent on groundwater resources. Dolerite dikes in the region, analogous to dolerite dikes worldwide, are known to influence subsurface groundwater flow and spatially relate to high-yielding boreholes. Here, the effect of dolerite dikes on groundwater flow is remotely assessed using the Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index derived from high-resolution multi-spectral satellite imagery. From imagery collected during the wet and dry seasons of 2018 and 2021, two aquifer models relating to 505 dikes were identified; (1) barrier-controlled aquifers are induced by ~ 56% of dikes, (2) fractured aquifers are induced by ~ 35% of dikes. Surficial areas overlying aquifers are also shown to sustain vegetation growth through dry seasons. This research demonstrates the efficacy of vegetation indices to rapidly characterise dike-related aquifer models and their seasonal sustainability, critical for effective groundwater exploration and management.
Downscaling legacy soil information for hydrological soil mapping using multinomial logistic regression
(Elsevier, 2023) Smit, I.E.; Van Zijl, G.M.; Riddell, E.S.; Van Tol, J.J.
In South Africa, there is a growing demand for large scale detailed hydrological soil maps for modelling and management purposes. However, imbalanced legacy soil information often impedes the accurate creation of such maps by not being representative of the environmental complexity of large-scale catchments and containing imbalanced soil class distributions, often resulting in the loss of minority soil classes, which are often of great hydrological importance (e.g., wetland and riparian soils). In this study, we proposed a new downscaling approach to handle spatially localised legacy soil data within a larger low resolution legacy soil dataset to create an accurate hydrological soil map of the macro-scale (5790 km2) Sabie-Sand catchment using multinomial logistic regression (MNLR). The spatially localised legacy data was downscaled using k-means clustering and added to the broader legacy dataset. Five levels of legacy soil data were analysed in their representation of environmental covariates using QQ-plots and a Welsh’s t-test and their mapping accuracy using confusion matrix’s and Kappa coefficient statistics. However, MNLR also requires balanced soil classes. The value of the best performing legacy soil dataset was also compared to using all available soil information after both had their soil class distributions fully balanced using Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE). The 500 ha/observation-SMOTE dataset resulted in the most accurate hydrological soil map with a validation point accuracy of 73% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.60, substantially outperforming the other downscaled soil maps as well as the SMOTE balanced dataset using all available soil information. This was due to the decreased variation between observations and catchment means, where the 500 ha/observation dataset yielded the least variation between soil observation and catchment datasets and well as reducing the class imbalance within the legacy soil data. Downscaling spatially localised legacy soil data for environmental representation is an effective tool to improve digital soil mapping accuracy using MNLR.