Quantification of corticosteroid-induced skin vasoconstriction: visual ranking, chromameter measurement or digital image analysis
- Smith, Eric W, Haigh, John M, Surber, Christian
- Authors: Smith, Eric W , Haigh, John M , Surber, Christian
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6427 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006564
- Description: Topical corticosteroid formulations have been evaluated by visual grading protocols for many years. Toward a more objective methodology, several instrumental methods have been evaluated for applicability in quantifying the vasoconstriction side-effect that follows corticosteroid application to the skin. Although the chromameter has been adopted by regulatory bodies throughout the world as the current standard for topical bioequivalence determinations, there is considerable criticism of this instrument from several quarters. A preliminary comparison reported here indicates that digital image analysis provides statistically significant results that are similar to those obtained by visual assessment techniques, and shows considerably greater precision than that obtained by the chromameter. Continued evaluation of objective assessment techniques, such as digital imaging, and continued modernisation of regulatory bioequivalence requirements will assist in protecting patients and optimising clinical results.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Smith, Eric W , Haigh, John M , Surber, Christian
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6427 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006564
- Description: Topical corticosteroid formulations have been evaluated by visual grading protocols for many years. Toward a more objective methodology, several instrumental methods have been evaluated for applicability in quantifying the vasoconstriction side-effect that follows corticosteroid application to the skin. Although the chromameter has been adopted by regulatory bodies throughout the world as the current standard for topical bioequivalence determinations, there is considerable criticism of this instrument from several quarters. A preliminary comparison reported here indicates that digital image analysis provides statistically significant results that are similar to those obtained by visual assessment techniques, and shows considerably greater precision than that obtained by the chromameter. Continued evaluation of objective assessment techniques, such as digital imaging, and continued modernisation of regulatory bioequivalence requirements will assist in protecting patients and optimising clinical results.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
Metabolic responses to various combinations of gradient, load and marching speed
- Todd, Andrew I, Scott, Patricia A
- Authors: Todd, Andrew I , Scott, Patricia A
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6751 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009331
- Description: This study examined the metabolic cost of South African soldiers carrying loads under various conditions of gradient and marching speed. Thirty-two male soldiers participated in the study. Three speed and load combinations, 4, 5 and 6 km.h[superscript (-1)] carrying of 50, 35 and 20 kg respectively, were imposed, on each of three gradients: -10%, 0% and +10%; a total of nine experimental conditions. Subjects wore standardized military uniforms and breathed into a portable ergospirometer (Metamax) for the duration of each condition. Subjects were required to march for six minutes under each condition, and metabolic responses were monitored during the third and sixth minute of each condition. The metabolic responses to the three level marching conditions showed no significant differences. Marching uphill resulted in a significant increase in metabolic demands under all three speed and load onditions. Downhill marching elicited significant decreases only under the two lighter load conditions. Downhill marching with heavy loads appears to show no reduction in metabolic demands placed on soldiers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Todd, Andrew I , Scott, Patricia A
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6751 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009331
- Description: This study examined the metabolic cost of South African soldiers carrying loads under various conditions of gradient and marching speed. Thirty-two male soldiers participated in the study. Three speed and load combinations, 4, 5 and 6 km.h[superscript (-1)] carrying of 50, 35 and 20 kg respectively, were imposed, on each of three gradients: -10%, 0% and +10%; a total of nine experimental conditions. Subjects wore standardized military uniforms and breathed into a portable ergospirometer (Metamax) for the duration of each condition. Subjects were required to march for six minutes under each condition, and metabolic responses were monitored during the third and sixth minute of each condition. The metabolic responses to the three level marching conditions showed no significant differences. Marching uphill resulted in a significant increase in metabolic demands under all three speed and load onditions. Downhill marching elicited significant decreases only under the two lighter load conditions. Downhill marching with heavy loads appears to show no reduction in metabolic demands placed on soldiers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
The new moral order and racism in South Africa post 11 September 2001
- Painter, D, Macleod, Catriona I
- Authors: Painter, D , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6215 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006266
- Description: In this paper we argue that globalisation imposes on ‘developing’ countries more than an economic order; they find themselves with the moral imperative to align themselves with the West against its Others, increasingly portrayed as Islamic fundamentalists. The 11 September terror attacks in the United States of America have pushed this process to a new level, with the attacks represented as no less than a barbaric attack on ‘civilisation’. Through an analysis of a newspaper article reporting on the disciplining of a Muslim woman in for wearing an Osama Bin Laden t-shirt to work in South Africa, we indicate how this moral representation of the 11 September events and the Islamic Other have unique local effects. In South Africa it creates yet more possibilities for racialising practices to continue without being framed in explicitly racial terms. We further reflect on the implications of these events, and the complex interplay of the global and the local they demonstrate, for critical psychology in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Painter, D , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6215 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006266
- Description: In this paper we argue that globalisation imposes on ‘developing’ countries more than an economic order; they find themselves with the moral imperative to align themselves with the West against its Others, increasingly portrayed as Islamic fundamentalists. The 11 September terror attacks in the United States of America have pushed this process to a new level, with the attacks represented as no less than a barbaric attack on ‘civilisation’. Through an analysis of a newspaper article reporting on the disciplining of a Muslim woman in for wearing an Osama Bin Laden t-shirt to work in South Africa, we indicate how this moral representation of the 11 September events and the Islamic Other have unique local effects. In South Africa it creates yet more possibilities for racialising practices to continue without being framed in explicitly racial terms. We further reflect on the implications of these events, and the complex interplay of the global and the local they demonstrate, for critical psychology in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
Foucauldian feminism: the implications of governmentality
- Macleod, Catriona I, Durrheim, Kevin
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Durrheim, Kevin
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6261 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007879
- Description: Foucauldian discourse has been received with varying degrees of enthusiasm within feminist circles. Some authors (e.g. Balbus, 1988; Di Leonardo, 1991; Hartsock, 1990) see a Foucauldian stance as incompatible with feminist theory, while others (e.g. Grimshaw, 1993; Hoy, 1988; McNay, 1992; Sawicki, 1988) advocate a positive relationship between Foucauldian discourse and feminism. And then there are those theorists (e.g. Burman, 1990) who stand between these two positions, stating that while Foucault offers useful insights and methods to feminists, it can also be dangerous.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Durrheim, Kevin
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6261 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007879
- Description: Foucauldian discourse has been received with varying degrees of enthusiasm within feminist circles. Some authors (e.g. Balbus, 1988; Di Leonardo, 1991; Hartsock, 1990) see a Foucauldian stance as incompatible with feminist theory, while others (e.g. Grimshaw, 1993; Hoy, 1988; McNay, 1992; Sawicki, 1988) advocate a positive relationship between Foucauldian discourse and feminism. And then there are those theorists (e.g. Burman, 1990) who stand between these two positions, stating that while Foucault offers useful insights and methods to feminists, it can also be dangerous.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
Racializing teenage pregnancy : ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’ in the South African scientific literature
- Macleod, Catriona I, Durrheim, Kevin
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Durrheim, Kevin
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6260 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007878
- Description: The signifiers, ‘race’, ‘culture’ or ‘ethnicity’ are utilized in the teenage pregnancy literature (1) to highlight ‘differences’ in adolescent sexual and reproductive behaviour and (2) as explanatory tools. When ‘white’ teenagers are the focus of research, psychological explanations are usually invoked, while for ‘black’ teenagers, explanations are socio-cultural in nature. In this paper, we explore how, through a process of racialization, the psycho-medical literature on teenage pregnancy in South Africa contributes to the entrenchment of ‘race’, ‘culture’ and ‘ethnicity’ as fixed, ‘natural’ signifiers. We utilize Derrida’s notion of différance, together with Phoenix and Woollett’s adaptation – ‘normalized absence/pathologized presence’ – to indicate how ‘black’ people are cast as the Other, the pathologized presence which relies on the normalized absent trace, ‘whiteness’, for definition. We analyse how the notions of ‘tradition’ and ‘culture’ are deployed to sanitize or disguise the underlying racializing project. ‘Black’ is exoticized and rendered strange and thus open to scrutiny, monitoring and intervention. ‘Culture’ and ‘tradition’ appeal to the myth of origin, thus providing pseudo-historical explanations which essentialize and naturalize racialized collectivities. , Rhodes University
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
Racializing teenage pregnancy : ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’ in the South African scientific literature
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Durrheim, Kevin
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6260 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007878
- Description: The signifiers, ‘race’, ‘culture’ or ‘ethnicity’ are utilized in the teenage pregnancy literature (1) to highlight ‘differences’ in adolescent sexual and reproductive behaviour and (2) as explanatory tools. When ‘white’ teenagers are the focus of research, psychological explanations are usually invoked, while for ‘black’ teenagers, explanations are socio-cultural in nature. In this paper, we explore how, through a process of racialization, the psycho-medical literature on teenage pregnancy in South Africa contributes to the entrenchment of ‘race’, ‘culture’ and ‘ethnicity’ as fixed, ‘natural’ signifiers. We utilize Derrida’s notion of différance, together with Phoenix and Woollett’s adaptation – ‘normalized absence/pathologized presence’ – to indicate how ‘black’ people are cast as the Other, the pathologized presence which relies on the normalized absent trace, ‘whiteness’, for definition. We analyse how the notions of ‘tradition’ and ‘culture’ are deployed to sanitize or disguise the underlying racializing project. ‘Black’ is exoticized and rendered strange and thus open to scrutiny, monitoring and intervention. ‘Culture’ and ‘tradition’ appeal to the myth of origin, thus providing pseudo-historical explanations which essentialize and naturalize racialized collectivities. , Rhodes University
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
Economic security and the social science literature on teenage pregnancy in South Africa
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6253 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007871
- Description: Feminists have argued that the association made between teenage childbearing and long-term lower socioeconomic status hides a multitude of socially constructed inequalities. I extend this position by analysing how the association is linked in the South African literature on teenage pregnancy to economic security. I utilise Foucault’s conceptualization of the method of security. Security refers to institutions and practices that defend and maintain a national population as well as secure the economic, demographic, and social processes of that population. I analyse how the traits of the method of security are deployed with regard to teenage pregnancy; how reproductive adolescents are viewed as disrupting the production of the economic self and fracturing population control, thereby threatening economic security; and how the invocation of economic security allows for the legitimation of various regulatory practices. , Rhodes University
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6253 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007871
- Description: Feminists have argued that the association made between teenage childbearing and long-term lower socioeconomic status hides a multitude of socially constructed inequalities. I extend this position by analysing how the association is linked in the South African literature on teenage pregnancy to economic security. I utilise Foucault’s conceptualization of the method of security. Security refers to institutions and practices that defend and maintain a national population as well as secure the economic, demographic, and social processes of that population. I analyse how the traits of the method of security are deployed with regard to teenage pregnancy; how reproductive adolescents are viewed as disrupting the production of the economic self and fracturing population control, thereby threatening economic security; and how the invocation of economic security allows for the legitimation of various regulatory practices. , Rhodes University
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
Parasitic Cape bees in the northern regions of South Africa: source of the founder population
- Neumann, Peter, Radloff, Sarah E, Hepburn, H Randall
- Authors: Neumann, Peter , Radloff, Sarah E , Hepburn, H Randall
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6908 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011861
- Description: Multivariate discriminant analyses of nine standard morphometric characters of honeybee workers were used to track the origin of a social parasitic pseudo-clone of thelytokous laying workers that have invaded colonies of Apis mellifera scutellata in South Africa. Twenty social parasitic workers were sampled from both of two infested A. m. scutellata colonies at two distant apiaries (Graskop and Heilbronn, about 390 km apart) and compared with data obtained from 80 colonies in four different geographical zones (zone I: thelytokous A. m. capensis morphocluster; zone II: natural thelytokous hybrids between A. m. capensis and A. m. scutellata; zone III: thelytokous A. m. scutellata morphocluster; zone IV: an arrhenotokous A. m. scutellata morphocluster). Thelytokous laying workers occur naturally in zones I-III. Highly significant morphometric differences were found among the bees in the four zones. The data support the conclusion that the social parasitic workers belong to the thelytokous A. m. capensis morphocluster. It is most likely that the social parasitic workers originated from the heart of the Cape bee's distribution range in the Western Cape region in zone I. Morphometric analysis makes it feasible to restrict the possible origin of the social parasitic workers from the natural distribution range of thelytoky (approximately 240 000 km2) down to about 12 000 km2, which represents a resolution capacity of about 95%.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Neumann, Peter , Radloff, Sarah E , Hepburn, H Randall
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6908 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011861
- Description: Multivariate discriminant analyses of nine standard morphometric characters of honeybee workers were used to track the origin of a social parasitic pseudo-clone of thelytokous laying workers that have invaded colonies of Apis mellifera scutellata in South Africa. Twenty social parasitic workers were sampled from both of two infested A. m. scutellata colonies at two distant apiaries (Graskop and Heilbronn, about 390 km apart) and compared with data obtained from 80 colonies in four different geographical zones (zone I: thelytokous A. m. capensis morphocluster; zone II: natural thelytokous hybrids between A. m. capensis and A. m. scutellata; zone III: thelytokous A. m. scutellata morphocluster; zone IV: an arrhenotokous A. m. scutellata morphocluster). Thelytokous laying workers occur naturally in zones I-III. Highly significant morphometric differences were found among the bees in the four zones. The data support the conclusion that the social parasitic workers belong to the thelytokous A. m. capensis morphocluster. It is most likely that the social parasitic workers originated from the heart of the Cape bee's distribution range in the Western Cape region in zone I. Morphometric analysis makes it feasible to restrict the possible origin of the social parasitic workers from the natural distribution range of thelytoky (approximately 240 000 km2) down to about 12 000 km2, which represents a resolution capacity of about 95%.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
Physical and biological variability in the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone: report on research cruise 103 of the MV SA Agulhas
- Froneman, P William, Ansorge, Isabelle J, Vumazonke, Lukhanyiso U, Gulekana, A, Bernard, K S, Webb, Arthur C M, Leukes, W, Risien, C M, Thomalla, S, Hermes, J, Knott, M, Anderson, D, Hargey, N, Jennings, M E, Veitch, J, Lutjeharms, Johan R E, McQuaid, Christopher D
- Authors: Froneman, P William , Ansorge, Isabelle J , Vumazonke, Lukhanyiso U , Gulekana, A , Bernard, K S , Webb, Arthur C M , Leukes, W , Risien, C M , Thomalla, S , Hermes, J , Knott, M , Anderson, D , Hargey, N , Jennings, M E , Veitch, J , Lutjeharms, Johan R E , McQuaid, Christopher D
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6910 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011863
- Description: A detailed hydrographic and biological survey was carried out in the region of the South-west Indian Ridge during April 2002. Hydrographic data revealed that the Andrew Bain Fracture Zone, centred at 30oE, 50oS, functions as an important choke point to the flow of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, resulting in the convergence of the Antarctic Polar Front (APF) and the southern branch of the Sub-Antarctic Front (SSAF). Total chlorophyll-a concentration and zooplankton biomass were highest at stations occupied in the vicinity of two frontal features represented by the APF and SSAF. These data suggest that the region of the South-west Indian Ridge is an area of elevated biological activity and probably acts as an important offshore feeding area for the top predators on the Prince Edward Islands.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Froneman, P William , Ansorge, Isabelle J , Vumazonke, Lukhanyiso U , Gulekana, A , Bernard, K S , Webb, Arthur C M , Leukes, W , Risien, C M , Thomalla, S , Hermes, J , Knott, M , Anderson, D , Hargey, N , Jennings, M E , Veitch, J , Lutjeharms, Johan R E , McQuaid, Christopher D
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6910 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011863
- Description: A detailed hydrographic and biological survey was carried out in the region of the South-west Indian Ridge during April 2002. Hydrographic data revealed that the Andrew Bain Fracture Zone, centred at 30oE, 50oS, functions as an important choke point to the flow of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, resulting in the convergence of the Antarctic Polar Front (APF) and the southern branch of the Sub-Antarctic Front (SSAF). Total chlorophyll-a concentration and zooplankton biomass were highest at stations occupied in the vicinity of two frontal features represented by the APF and SSAF. These data suggest that the region of the South-west Indian Ridge is an area of elevated biological activity and probably acts as an important offshore feeding area for the top predators on the Prince Edward Islands.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
Use of indigenous and indigenised medicines to enhance personal well-being: a South African case study
- Cocks, Michelle L, Moller, Valerie
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7106 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010679
- Description: An estimated 27 million South Africans use indigenous medicines (Mander, 1997, Medicinal plant marketing and strategies for sustaining the plant supply in the Bushbuckridge area and Mpumalanga Province. Institute for Natural Resources, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa). Although herbal remedies are freely available in amayeza stores, or Xhosa chemists, for self-medication, little is known about the motivations of consumers. According to African belief systems, good health is holistic and extends to the person's social environment. The paper makes a distinction between traditional medicines which are used to enhance personal well-being generally and for cultural purposes, on the one hand, and medicines used to treat physical conditions only, on the other. Drawing on an eight-month study of Xhosa chemists in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, in 1996, the paper identifies 90 medicines in stock which are used to enhance personal well-being. Just under one-third of all purchases were of medicines to enhance well-being. Remedies particularly popular included medicines believed to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. The protection of infants with medicines which repel evil spirits is a common practice. Consumer behaviours indicate that the range of medicines available is increased by indigenisation of manufactured traditional medicines and cross-cultural borrowing. Case studies confirm that self- and infant medication with indigenous remedies augmented by indigenised medicines plays an important role in primary health care by allaying the fears and anxieties of everyday life within the Xhosa belief system, thereby promoting personal well-being.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7106 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010679
- Description: An estimated 27 million South Africans use indigenous medicines (Mander, 1997, Medicinal plant marketing and strategies for sustaining the plant supply in the Bushbuckridge area and Mpumalanga Province. Institute for Natural Resources, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa). Although herbal remedies are freely available in amayeza stores, or Xhosa chemists, for self-medication, little is known about the motivations of consumers. According to African belief systems, good health is holistic and extends to the person's social environment. The paper makes a distinction between traditional medicines which are used to enhance personal well-being generally and for cultural purposes, on the one hand, and medicines used to treat physical conditions only, on the other. Drawing on an eight-month study of Xhosa chemists in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, in 1996, the paper identifies 90 medicines in stock which are used to enhance personal well-being. Just under one-third of all purchases were of medicines to enhance well-being. Remedies particularly popular included medicines believed to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. The protection of infants with medicines which repel evil spirits is a common practice. Consumer behaviours indicate that the range of medicines available is increased by indigenisation of manufactured traditional medicines and cross-cultural borrowing. Case studies confirm that self- and infant medication with indigenous remedies augmented by indigenised medicines plays an important role in primary health care by allaying the fears and anxieties of everyday life within the Xhosa belief system, thereby promoting personal well-being.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
The trade in medicinal plants in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Dold, Anthony P, Cocks, Michelle L
- Authors: Dold, Anthony P , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6512 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005940
- Description: A study of the trade in medicinal plants in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa undertook to document the species traded, to determine the quantities harvested annually, and to assess the economic value of the trade. All the participants involved at the different levels of the trade were included in the survey, that is, informal street hawkers, owners of amayeza esiXhosa stores, traditional healers, and consumers of traditional medicines. In total, 282 questionnaires were administered in six urban centres. It was found that poorly educated black middle-aged women of low economic standing dominate the trade. A minimum of 166 medicinal plant species were traded at the study sites alone, providing 525 tonnes of plant material valued at approximately R27 million annually. Plants were harvested from a diverse range of vegetation types including Valley Thicket, Afromontane Forest, Coastal Forest and Moist Upland Grassland, the most frequently sold species differing significantly from those documented in similar studies in other regions. The Forest Biome was the vegetation type found to be most threatened by over-harvesting. Of the species documented, 93% were being harvested unsustainably and 34 species have been prioritised for conservation management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Dold, Anthony P , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6512 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005940
- Description: A study of the trade in medicinal plants in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa undertook to document the species traded, to determine the quantities harvested annually, and to assess the economic value of the trade. All the participants involved at the different levels of the trade were included in the survey, that is, informal street hawkers, owners of amayeza esiXhosa stores, traditional healers, and consumers of traditional medicines. In total, 282 questionnaires were administered in six urban centres. It was found that poorly educated black middle-aged women of low economic standing dominate the trade. A minimum of 166 medicinal plant species were traded at the study sites alone, providing 525 tonnes of plant material valued at approximately R27 million annually. Plants were harvested from a diverse range of vegetation types including Valley Thicket, Afromontane Forest, Coastal Forest and Moist Upland Grassland, the most frequently sold species differing significantly from those documented in similar studies in other regions. The Forest Biome was the vegetation type found to be most threatened by over-harvesting. Of the species documented, 93% were being harvested unsustainably and 34 species have been prioritised for conservation management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002