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Highly energy-intensive systems prone to wastage are significant causes of unnecessary energy losses in industry. Deep-level mine chilled water reticulation systems fall within this category of inefficient energy-intensive systems. Some techniques (measured baselining, zero-waste baselining, leak detection, and control valves) exist to identify and reduce wastage in mine water reticulation systems. However, these techniques have not been compared, which begs the question of which is more accurate. A need, therefore, exists to compare these methods to determine the effectiveness of each. This study investigates each method and applies them to a case study mine, providing a platform for comparison. These methods identified wastage ranging between 2 and 20 l/s (3–30% of water consumption). The comparative effectiveness of the methods from best to worst was found to be zero-waste baselining, leak detection, control valves, then measure baselining. This study proposes an application procedure combining the considered methods to identify and eliminate wastage on deep-level mine systems more efficiently.

Field experiments were conducted on wheat to study the effects of foliar-applied iodine(I) alone, Zn (zinc) alone, and a micronutrient cocktail solution containing I, Zn, Se (selenium), and Fe (iron) on grain yield and grain concentrations of micronutrients. Plants were grown over 2 years in China, India, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa, and Turkey. Grain-Zn was increased from 28.6 mg kg–1to 46.0 mg–1kg with Zn-spray and 47.1 mg–1kg with micronutrient cocktail spray. Foliar-applied I and micronutrient cocktail increased grain I from 24 μg kg–1to 361 μg kg–1and 249 μg kg–1, respectively. Micronutrient cocktail also increased grain-Se from 90 μg kg–1to 338 μg kg–1in all countries. Average increase in grain-Fe by micronutrient cocktail solution was about 12%. The results obtained demonstrated that foliar application of a cocktail micronutrient solution represents an effective strategy to biofortify wheat simultaneously with Zn, I, Se and partly with Fe without yield trade-off in wheat.

In childhood absence epilepsy, pharmaco-resistance occurs in 20–30% of patients. In that situation, glucose transporter type 1 deficiency has to be ruled out, especially if absences started before the age of four years and if neurological signs are present. If ethosuximide, valproate and lamotrigine have failed in monotherapy or in association, there are currently no valuable therapeutic options. The same rules apply for epilepsy with myoclonic absences. Importantly, arguments supporting that making the patient seizure-free will improve eventual associated cognitive deficits such as attention deficit are very weak. Therefore, limiting the cognitive side effects of the anti-epileptic drugs has always to be a priority when faced with typical refractory absences in childhood. In epilepsy with eyelid myoclonia, the majority of patients are pharmaco-resistant. However, absence seizures, if present, tend to be very brief, and seizures are limited in many patients to eyelid myoclonia that eventually do not affect their quality of life and are well attenuated by wearing blue lenses. Atypical absences occurring in the course a developmental and/or epileptic encephalopathy are often pharmaco-resistant. In that situation, characterizing the type of epilepsy syndrome and searching for a specific genetic or structural etiology are needed to offer the best therapeutic options to the patient.

Le cancer primitif du poumon est le premier cancer en termes de mortalité en France avec 30 000 décès par an. Le seul traitement curatif pour les cancers bronchiques non à petites cellules reste la chirurgie d’exérèse carcinologique. L’objectif de cet article est de passer en revue les standards actuels de la prise en charge des CBNPC.

Taxonomy provides a universal method to classify biodiversity at different scales locally and globally. Currently, existing taxonomic treatments are scattered, limiting their accessibility and utility. The Convention on Biological Diversity has responded to this challenge by setting the goal of compiling a World Flora Online (Global Strategy for Plant Conservation Target 1, 2011–2020). This can be done by aggregating electronically available information provided by each country, region or specialist group. Developing a Flora or a high-level monographic product requires time and input from a large pool of taxonomic specialists. Completing a Flora may be difficult to accomplish for phytodiverse countries, such as South Africa, if the 2020 target is to be met. Fortunately, a large number of taxonomic contributions and many electronic tools exist that can enhance progress. Where these are available, efforts have to be made to access and digitise the literature. Here we describe a pragmatic approach to developing an online Flora, involving taking floristic information from multiple, previously published sources, digitising the legacy literature where needed and aggregating the required information into a single portal. South Africa is committed to producing an online Flora (the e-Flora of South Africa) and contributing the information to the World Flora Online initiative following the aggregator portal approach, a method described here that might be useful for other countries with high phytodiversity.

Background: Declining levels of physical activity at workplaces, during leisure time and when travelling, accompanied by increasing exposure to the mass media, are major determinants of the global obesity epidemic. This study aimed to assess physical activity, the body mass index (BMI) and energy intake of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-uninfected and HIV-infected black women in Mangaung.Method: A random sample of 500 black women was selected in Mangaung. Physical activity levels, dietary intake and BMI were determined in younger and older women, aged 25–34 and 35–44 years, respectively.Results: Of the 488 women who qualified for participation, 61% of the younger women and 38% of the older women were HIV-infected. Low physical activity levels were reported in most women, and more than 50% were overweight or obese. The BMI of HIV-infected younger women with low physical activity levels (24.9 kg/m2) was significantly lower than that of the HIV-uninfected younger women (27.2 kg/m2) (p-value 0.02). The energy intake of older HIV-infected women with low physical activity levels was significantly lower (10 090 kJ) than that of the older HIV-infected women in the normal to high physical activity category (14 519 kJ) (p-value 0.03).Conclusion: A more active lifestyle and energy-reduced diet that focuses on food quality could partially address BMI parameters in HIV-uninfected women. Safeguarding a lean BMI in HIV-infected women, by increasing physical activity levels while maintaining current energy intake, with an emphasis on healthy eating practices, could support quality of life.

Crotalariais a large genus of 702 species with its centre of diversity in tropical Africa and Madagascar and secondary radiations in other parts of the world. The current infrageneric classification system is based on morphological and morphometric studies of the African taxa only and is here re-evaluated using a phylogenetic approach. DNA sequences derived from the nuclear ITS and the plastid matK, psbA-trnHand rbcLamarkers were analyzed using parsimony and model-based (Bayesian) approaches. The resultant molecular phylogeny allowed for a new interpretation of diagnostically important morphological characters, including specialisations of the calyx, keel, standard petal and style, which are variously convergent in several unrelated infrageneric groups. Of particular interest is the congruence between the new phylogeny and the distribution of standard petal callosity types. A sectional classification system for the entire genus is proposed for the first time. The new system that is formalised here comprises eleven sections: Amphitrichae, Calycinae, Crotalaria, Geniculatae, Glaucae, Grandiflorae, Hedriocarpae, Incanae, Schizostigma, Borealigeniculataeand Stipulosae. Sectional limits of the Geniculatae, Calycinaeand Crotalariaare modified. The subsections Stipulosae, Glaucaeand Incanaeare raised to sectional level, while some groups previously recognized as subsections are abandoned due to non-monophyly (subsections Chrysocalycinae, Hedriocarpae, Macrostachyaeand Tetralobocalyx). Two new sections are recognized, Amphitrichaeand Borealigeniculatae.

AbstractObjectives:The study aimed to describe the nutritional status and determine the impact of current nutrition intervention strategies on weight changes in adult HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.Design:A descriptive, prospective trial was performed.Setting:The investigation was conducted at ARV roll-out centres in Kimberley, Upington, Kuruman, Prieska and Springbok in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.Subjects:Adult HIV-infected patients receiving ARV therapy were included in the study.Outcome measures:Each participants’s body mass index (BMI) was determined before and after a four-month intervention period of nutritional supplementation with an instant, enriched maize product.Results:Data from 98 patients (mean age 39.7 years; standard deviation 8.9 years) were assessed. Prior to intervention, the median BMI was 20 kg/m2(range 12.6–29.7 kg/m2); the patients from Kuruman had a greater incidence of underweight compared to the other towns, with a median BMI of 17.9 kg/m2. Of the 87 patients assessed during the final week, 49.4% experienced weight gain and 40.2% lost weight. Eighteen (20.7%) patients gained more than 5% of their baseline weight, which was significant. Only eight (9.2%) patients lost more than 5% of their baseline weight. Twenty-two patients who presented with a BMI < 18.5 kg/m2at baseline had a median weight gain of 1.13 kg during the intervention period, while the group with a BMI > 18.5 kg/m2presented with no change in median weight.Conclusions:Nutritional supplementation, provided according to provincial policy and combined with ARVs, nutritionally benefitted about half of the patients in the ARV programme in the Northern Cape.

AbstractBackground:Previous research, internationally and in South Africa, suggests that symptoms of depression and anxiety are prevalent among patients living with a chronic illness. Very few behavioural interventions have shown to be effective in ameliorating such symptoms among patients attending public health clinics in South Africa. In this study, a five-session counselling programme was tested to ameliorate symptoms of depression and anxiety in clinic patients living with diabetes and hypertension in the Western Cape, South Africa.Method:A convenience sample of patients (n = 37) was recruited from two public clinics. The sample was non-randomly assigned to a treatment group (n = 20) and a control group (n = 17), and assessed before and after the intervention was presented. A battery of instruments consisting of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory was administered before and after the intervention.Results:The results indicate that person-centred counselling was effective in ameliorating general psychological distress and symptoms of depression, but not symptoms of anxiety, as measured by the above instruments. The results suggest that psychological counselling may be helpful to medical patients.Conclusions:While counselling interventions may be well placed in public health settings from the perspective of treatment efficacy, it is necessary to temper this recommendation with an understanding of the barriers to implementing such services and the resulting impact on therapeutic effectiveness.

Gas chromatographic and gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric techniques were employed to identify 83 compounds, including alkanes, alkenes, aldehydes, 2-methylalkanes, carboxylic acids, 1-alkyl formates and alken-1-yl formates, benzoic acid, and cholesterol, in the preorbital secretion of the male suni, Neotragus moschatus. Dimethyl disulfide derivatization and lithium aluminum hydride reduction were used to determine the position of double bonds and to confirm the identity of the functional groups in some of the constituents of the secretion.

The 42 compounds identified in the pale yellow preorbital secretions of the bontebok, Damaliscus dorcas dorcas, and the blesbok, D. d. phillipsi, include acetic acid, 2-methylbutanoic acid, (E)-2-methyl-2-butenoic acid, benzoic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, saturated and unsaturated long-chain carboxylic acids, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, saturated and unsaturated, unbranched, long-chain alcohols and aldehydes, 2-heptanone, pentane, heptane, pepiritone, dimethylsulfone, isopropyl tetradecanoate, isopropyl hexadecanoate, hexadecyl acetate, δ-lactones, cholesterol, α-tocopherol, and squalene. Some qualitative and quantitative differences were found between the secretions of males and females of both subspecies.

In addition to the nine compounds identified in the interdigital secretion of the bontebok, Damaliscus dorcas dorcas, in a previous study, 76 compounds belonging to different compound types, were identified in the interdigital secretions of the bontebok and the blesbok, D. d. phillipsi.These compounds include alkanes, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, fatty acids, terpenoids, γ-lactones, an isopropyl ester, long-chain hydroxyesters, 2-substituted pyridines, phenols, steroids, and dimethylsulfone. No qualitative differences were found between secretions from the two sexes or from animals from different habitats. Although no attempt was made to correlate territorial behavior or other behavioral phenomena with the qualitative composition of interdigital secretions from individual animals, available information seems to indicate that quantitative differences probably do not have a major semiochemical function. Only two species of bacteria, Bacillus brevisand Planococcus citreus, were found in the interdigital pouches of male and female members of the two subspecies, regardless of the habitat of the animals. B. brevissynthesized, among other unidentified constituents, (Z)-3-penten-2-ol, 2-hexanone, 2-octanone, 2-nonanone, tetradecanoic acid, pentadecanoic acid, heptadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, (Z)-9-hexadecenoic acid, and isopropyl hexadecanoate in vitro, while P. citreusproduced, among others, the γ-lactones dodecan-4-olide and (Z)-6-dodecen-4-olide, which is one of the major constituents of the interdigital secretions of both subspecies. Some components of the interdigital secretions are not present in the interdigital glandular tissue, and the possibility is discused that these compounds could be produced by microbiological activity in the interdigital pouch.

Using electron impact and chemical ionization mass spectrometry with methane and nitric oxide as reactant gases in conjunction with mass spectral analysis of the dimethyl disulfide derivatives of unsaturated constituents, 51 compounds have been identified in addition to the compounds previously found in the preorbital secretion of the grysbokRaphicerus melanotis. The compounds identified are saturated, monounsaturated, and diunsaturated alcohols and formates, saturated and monounsaturated aldehydes, saturated carboxylic acids,γ- andδ-lactones, alkyl methyl sulfides, andβ-hydroxyalkyl acetates. All of these compounds have unbranched structures. The constituent previously incorrectly identified as (Z)-5-tetradecen-1-ol, was found to consist of the coeluting (Z)-7- and (Z)-8-tetradecenols.

The ketones 3-pentanone, 4-methyl-2-pentanone, 5-methyl-3-hexanone, 4-methyl-3-hexanone, and the esters ethyl propanoate, 2-methylpropyl acetate, ethyl 3-methylbutanoate, and 2-methylpropyl propanoate were identified as the only volatile organic constituents of the preorbital secretion of the klipspringer, Oreotragus oreotragus. These compounds are considerably more volatile than those found in the preorbital secretions of other antelopes belonging to the tribe Antelopini. More than 50% of the preorbital secretion consists of proteinaceous material, which probably acts as a controlled-release substance in retarding the evaporation of the volatile constituents of the secretion from territorial marks.

La BPCO est une pathologie inflammatoire chronique pulmonaire qui peut être exacerbée par des virus, comme le virus respiratoire syncitial (VRS) ou le virus de la grippe. Les cytokines IL-20 dont la sécrétion est induite dans l’épithélium respiratoire après infection virale, interviennent dans les mécanismes de défense anti-infectieuse. Dans la BPCO, ces cytokines participent à la susceptibilité aux infections bactériennes. Notre objectif est de définir leur rôle lors des exacerbations virales de la BPCO et des surinfections bactériennes qui en découlent.

Abstract: The forensic application of mtDNA typing requires large databases which are regionally well defined. To further this aim, we have typed mtDNA in a sample of 111 French and 106 Sicilians. The French were typed for both hypervariable segments (HVR1 and HVR2) of the mtDNA control region, whereas the Sicilians were only typed for HVR1, but in addition for the coding region RFLP markers for mtDNA groups H, I, J, K, L, M, T, U, V and X. In both samples, the predominant sequence type by far was the Cambridge reference sequence. Comparing HVR1 sequences, we found that the French sample was twice as diverse as the Sicilian sample as measured by sequence matches. A further set of sequence match comparisons including the French, Sicilian, and the published British mtDNA samples, demonstrate that sequence matching probabilities within samples differ by less than a factor of 2 from the matching probabilities between samples.