This article explores the management of snakebite in vulnerable patient groups, namely children and pregnant women, as well as providing detail on the current best practice when caring for venom ...ophthalmia and surgical wounds resulting from snakebite. Finally, the optimal free-to-use medical record for accurate documentation of snakebite incidents is provided for use by South African practitioners.
Snakebites occur in the community, not in the Emergency Unit. As such it is important to understand the first-aid concepts and pre-hospital emergency care aspects of this neglected disease. This ...article will highlight the concepts for emergency care within the context of the current pre-hospital arena and in light of the recent South African Snakebite Symposium consensus meeting held in July 2022, where wilderness rescue, emergency medical services and other medical participants agreed through evidence review and consensus debate on the current best approaches to care of the snakebite victim outside the hospital environment.
This article explores the management of snakebite to vulnerable patient groups, namely children and pregnant women as well as providing detail on the current best practice when caring for venom ...ophthalmia and surgical wounds resulting from snakebite. Finally, the optimal free-to-use medical record for accurate documentation of snakebite incidents is provided for use by South African practitioners.
Snakebites occur in the community, not in the Emergency Unit. As such it is important to understand the first-aid concepts and pre-hospital emergency care aspects of this neglected disease. This ...article will highlight the concepts for emergency care within the context of the current pre-hospital arena and in light of the recent South African Snakebite Symposium consensus meeting held in July 2022, where wilderness rescue, emergency medical services and other medical participants agreed through evidence review and consensus debate on the current best approaches to care of the snakebite victim outside the hospital environment.
The Palmiet Estuary is a small, rural estuary in the Western Cape that only closes briefly during dry summers. The system was previously surveyed during 1979 to 1980 and we repeated the survey in ...April 2015 (mouth closed) and September 2015 (mouth open). Salinity, temperature, pH and oxygen saturation were measured, and invertebrate and fish faunas surveyed. Physico-chemical characteristics have undergone little directional change, apart from an apparent increase in pH, possibly as a result of changes in land use and application of fertilisers and pesticides in the catchment. Invertebrate species richness increased from 31 to 40 species, despite lower sampling effort in 2015. Most changes were among rare species, or were readily explained by changes in mouth condition and water chemistry. We also confirmed a substantial range extension of the tropical crab, Varuna litterata, rediscovered the locally endemic amphipod, Quadrivisio aviceps, and reported several new distribution records. Gastropods had virtually disappeared from the system, whereas the previously unreported bivalve, Brachidontes virgilae, had become abundant. Overall, fish diversity dropped from 19 to 11 species, but this can largely be ascribed to differences in sampling frequency, season and mouth state. Comparisons of samples from like months showed the fish assemblage to have remained fairly stable, despite changes in inflowing water chemistry and infection of fish by the pathogenic water mould, Aphanomyces invadans. Bird abundance and diversity increased substantially. No alien invertebrate or fish species were recorded. Accordingly, in marked contrast to other smaller estuaries in the region, the Palmiet Estuary has remains in relatively good condition.
Early online T Hardcastle; A Engelbrecht; V Lalloo ...
South African medical journal,
06/2023, Letnik:
113, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This article explores the management of snakebite to vulnerable patient groups, namely children and pregnant women as well as providing detail on the current best practice when caring for venom ...ophthalmia and surgical wounds resulting from snakebite. Finally, the optimal free-to-use medical record for accurate documentation of snakebite incidents is provided for use by South African practitioners.
The development of research capacity among undergraduates is an important intervention in countering the documented decrease in medical and health sciences researchers. The literature on ...undergraduate research generally emanates from smaller scale studies that have been conducted in high income countries, with a focus on medical students. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a Sub-Saharan country, included a population of medical and allied health professions (AHP) students, and aimed to improve our understanding of the factors influencing undergraduate student research.
A questionnaire was distributed to all students enrolled in an undergraduate programme at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa (including Medicine and four AHP programmes). Data was collected on a number of demographic characteristics and on 3 major outcome-themes: "voluntary research involvement", "self-perceived research competence" and "future research participation". Associations between characteristics and outcome themes were explored.
In total, 1815 students participated in the study (response rate 80.2%). Of all the demographic variables, discipline (AHP programmes vs. Medicine), male gender and prior undergraduate experience in a science degree were significantly associated with voluntary research involvement. Significantly higher levels of self-perceived research competence and greater interest in future research participation, were seen among participants from AHP programmes; males; and those with previous or current voluntary research involvement. Ethnicity and geographic background were not significantly associated with any of our outcomes.
Our results offer important new evidence in support of the imperative to diversify the research work-force, in Sub-Saharan Africa and globally. Enhanced efforts aimed at achieving better academic representation in terms of gender, ethnicity, geographical and socio-economic backgrounds are strengthened by the findings of this study. Potential student researchers represent an important group amenable to further intervention. Further research may be required to explore the factors that determine the progression from interest to future participation in research.
In South Africa, freshwater habitats are among the most threatened ecosystems, and freshwater fishes are the most threatened species group. Understanding patterns in freshwater fish diversity, ...threat, invasion, and protection status are vital for their management. However, few studies have undertaken such analyses at ecologically and politically appropriate spatial scales, largely because of limited access to comprehensive biodiversity data sets. Access to freshwater fish data for South Africa has recently improved through the advent of the Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (FBIS). We used occurrence records downloaded from the FBIS to evaluate spatial patterns in distribution, diversity, threat, invasion, and protection status of freshwater fishes in South Africa. Results show that record density varies spatially, at both primary catchment and provincial scales. The diversity of freshwater fishes also varied spatially: native species hotspots were identified at a provincial level in the Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces; endemic species hotspots were identified in the Western Cape; and threatened species hotspots in the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. Non-native species distributions mirrored threatened species hotspots in the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. Some 47% of threatened species records fell outside of protected areas, and 38% of non-native species records fell within protected areas. Concerningly, 58% of the distribution ranges of threatened species were invaded by non-native species.
We propose a modified differential evolution (DE) algorithm for constrained global optimization. The modification is based on the mutation rule of DE. The new algorithm also incorporates a periodic ...local exploration technique. The local technique used is a ‘limited’ version of the pattern search (PS) method. The penalty functions such as the superiority of feasible points (SFP) and the parameter free penalty (PFP) are used for handling constraints. We numerically study SFP and PFP and based on a drawback observed, we adapt the selection rule of DE. The new algorithm is tested on 45 test problems. Comparisons are made with some recent algorithms.
Freshwater ecosystems are the most threatened on Earth, with many species facing extinction. The Clanwilliam sandfish (Labeo seeberi) is South Africa's most threatened migratory freshwater fish and ...is endemic to the Olifants–Doring River system in the Cape Fold Ecoregion. Non‐native fish predation and river desiccation have caused a recruitment bottleneck, severely compromising juvenile survival and resulting in a declining population of aging sandfish. The Saving Sandfish Project launched an emergency head‐start intervention in 2020 to reduce extinction risk. We (1) rescued juvenile sandfish from drying pools in a key spawning tributary (the Biedouw River); (2) relocated them to 6 off‐stream reservoirs; and (3) released reservoir‐reared sandfish back into their natal river once large enough to evade non‐native fish predation. Here, we estimate survival in the reservoir environment, evaluate return rates relative to wild run size, and assess the probability of return based on conditions at release. Between 2020 and 2022, we stocked 33,391 juvenile sandfish into the 6 reservoirs. After 1 year, the estimated survival rate at one reservoir was 0.679 (range based on 95% CI: 0.385–0.973). Release and return results are presented only for the first (2020) rescue cohort. In 2021, we released 1277 sandfish from 2 reservoirs into the Biedouw River, comprising 16.6% of the 2020 rescue cohort. Mean size at release was 169 mm (SE 0.6) total length. Of those released, 994 were PIT‐tagged. A total of 77 PIT‐tagged sandfish were recorded during the 2022 spawning migration—a return rate of 7.7% of tagged releases in the first year of returns. Size of fish and distance from the Doring River at release were significant predictors of return probability, with larger fish released further from the Doring experiencing a higher probability of return. This program serves as a model for the conservation of freshwater fish where there is an imminent and high risk of extinction.
The endangered Clanwilliam sandfish (Labeo seeberi), the most threatened migratory freshwater fish in South Africa, is at risk of extinction due to a recruitment bottleneck caused by river desiccation and predation by non‐native species. We evaluate the outcome of the first cycle of a head‐start program to increase recruitment and boost spawning numbers of adult sandfish in a key spawning tributary. PIT tags are used as a monitoring tool to show that 7.7% of PIT‐tagged head‐started sandfish returned to their natal river 1 year after release into the wild, boosting the size of the spawning migration substantially compared to the previous year.
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