Search

This scoping review explores the professional literature in allied healthcare to determine which self-assessments of mentor skills are the most valid and reliable for use in occupational therapy doctoral capstone programs. The aims of this scoping review include mapping evidence related to mentor assessments in healthcare, exploring implications for occupational therapy doctoral mentor training programs, and identifying common characteristics of mentor self-assessments for occupational therapy programs to consider when developing capstone mentoring resources. Researchers applied and reported via PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). A librarian and authors formulated keywords and database selections to search PubMed/MEDLINE/PMC, and Embase were searched from across healthcare professions for training outcomes, mentor self-assessment, mentor attributes, and use of researcher-developed assessments. The search was limited to English publications from the last 20 years. Data were extracted for quantitative information regarding study characteristics and qualitative information about mentoring skills. A total of 852 results were delivered across all databases. Nineteen papers met the final eligibility criteria and were included in the data extraction. Populations were included from several healthcare professions, including 11 nursing, four healthcare researchers, one pharmacy, one midwifery, one medicine, and one medical dietetics. Countries included the United States (n = 7), Finland (n = 5), United Kingdom (n = 4), Japan (n = 1), South Africa (n = 1) and Canada (n = 1). The authors identified four valid self-assessment tools, demonstrating III and IV levels of evidence, that may be implemented by occupational therapy programs as they develop resources for mentor programs. Occupational therapy programs can use the mentor attributes found in this scoping review to create their own mentor assessment measures or may choose to use a validated tool. The authors recommend additional research in mentor education and mentor skill acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Innovative interventions are needed to address the growing burden of breast cancer globally, especially among vulnerable patient populations. Given the success of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in addressing communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases, this scoping review will investigate the roles and impacts of CHWs in breast cancer screening programs. This paper also seeks to determine the effectiveness and feasibility of these programs, with particular attention paid to differences between CHW-led interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs).Methods: A scoping review was performed using six databases with dates ranging from 1978 to 2019. Comprehensive definitions and search terms were established for 'Community Health Workers' and 'breast cancer screening', and studies were extracted using the World Bank definition of LMIC. Screening and data extraction were protocolized using multiple independent reviewers. Chi-square test of independence was used for statistical analysis of the incidence of themes in HICs and LMICs.Results: Of the 1,551 papers screened, 33 were included based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Study locations included the United States (n=27), Bangladesh (n=1), Peru (n=1), Malawi (n=2), Rwanda (n=1), and South Africa (n=1). Three primary roles for CHWs in breast cancer screening were identified: education (n=30), direct assistance or performance of breast cancer screening (n=7), and navigational services (n=6). In these roles, CHWs improved rates of breast cancer screening (n=23) and overall community member knowledge (n=21). Two studies performed cost-analyses of CHW-led interventions.Conclusion: This review extends our understanding of CHW effectiveness to breast cancer screening. It illustrates how CHW involvement in screening programs can have a significant impact in LMICs and HICs, and highlights the three CHW roles of education, direct performance of screening, and navigational services that emerge as useful pillars around which governments and NGOs can design effective programs in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to provide a comparative analysis on the psychological and socio-cultural impacts of COVID-19 on victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) in South Africa (SA) and the USA. Design/methodology/approach: The authors collected media and scholarly articles that dealt with IPV victims during the early phase of the pandemic. This study focused solely on SA and the USA because of their unique contexts and the fact that the authors are residents of these countries. The authors observed how both presidents dealt with IPV amidst the COVID 19 pandemic, especially when stay-at-home orders were in place. Aspects relating to the psychological and socio-cultural impacts amidst the pandemic were considered. Findings: The authors found that in both countries, many black women from low socio-economic backgrounds experience IPV. Being in isolated spaces with their perpetrators prohibits victims from reporting the abuse. As the world attempts to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections, effective strategies have been suggested for victims and perpetrators. The authors found the approaches of the two governments (until the Biden Administration in 2021) to be starkly different in terms of effective strategies and the neglect and downplaying of the extent of one or both pandemics (i.e. COVID-19 and IPV). Pro-safety, equality, gender and race-conscious embracing approaches to overcome IPV are urgently needed. Originality/value: The paper focused on IPV during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides relevant information about IPV in both countries, especially when stay-at-home orders are in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community engagement is crucial for controlling disease outbreak and mitigating natural and industrial disasters. The COVID-19 pandemic has reconfirmed the need to elevate community engagement to build equity, trust and sustained action in future health promotion preparedness strategies. Using the health promotion strategy of strengthening community action enhances the opportunity for better outcomes. There is, therefore, a need to improve our understanding of community engagement practices during crises, scale-up good community engagement initiatives, and improve and sustain people-centered approaches to emergency responses. This paper presents five case studies from the United States, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Kenya and South Africa that demonstrate the potential strengths that can be nurtured to build resilience in local communities to help mitigate the impact of disasters and emergencies. The case studies highlight the importance of co-developing relevant education and communication strategies, amplifying the role of community leaders, empowering community members to achieve shared goals, assessing and adapting to changing contexts, pre-planning and readiness for future emergencies and acknowledgement of historic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) is one of the five instruments hosted on-board the NASA Terra platform, launched on 18 December 1999. This instrument has been operational since 24 February 2000 and is still acquiring Earth Observation data as of this writing. The primary missions of MISR are to document the state and properties of the atmosphere, and in particular the clouds and aerosols it contains, as well as the planetary surface, on the basis of 36 data channels gathered by each of its nine cameras (pointing in different directions along the orbital track) in four spectral bands (blue, green, red and near-infrared). The Radiometric Camera-by-Camera Cloud Mask (RCCM) is derived from the calibrated measurements at the nominal top of the atmosphere, and is provided separately for each of the nine cameras. This RCCM data product is permanently archived at the NASA Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) in Langley, VA, USA and is openly accessible (Diner et al., 1999 and https://doi.org/10.5067/Terra/MISR/MIRCCM_L2.004). For various technical reasons described in this paper, this RCCM product exhibits missing data, even though an estimate of the clear or cloudy status of the environment at each individual observed location can be deduced from the available measurements. The aims of this paper are (1) to describe how to replace most missing values by estimates and (2) to briefly describe the software to process MISR RCCM data products, which is openly available to the community from the GitHub web site (https://github.com/mmverstraete or https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3240018). Limited amounts of updated MISR RCCM data products are also archived in South Africa and can be made available upon request. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Untreated hearing loss is recognized as a growing global health priority because of its prevalence and harmful effects on health and well-being. Until recently, little progress had been made in expanding hearing care beyond traditional clinic-based models to incorporate public health approaches that increase accessibility to and affordability of hearing care. As demonstrated in numerous countries and for many health conditions, sharing health-care tasks with community health workers (CHWs) offers advantages as a complementary approach to expand health-service delivery and improve public health. This paper explores the possibilities of task shifting to provide hearing care across the life course by reviewing several ongoing projects in a variety of settings -- Bangladesh, India, South Africa and the United States of America. The selected programmes train CHWs to provide a range of hearing-care services, from childhood hearing screening to management of age-related hearing loss. We discuss lessons learnt from these examples to inform best practices for task shifting within community-delivered hearing care. Preliminary evidence supports the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of hearing care delivered by CHWs in these varied settings. To make further progress, community-delivered hearing care must build on established models of CHWs and ensure adequate training and supervision, delineation of the scope of practice, supportive local and national legislation, incorporation of appropriate technology and analysis of programme costs and cost--effectiveness. In view of the growing evidence, community-delivered hearing care may now be a way forward to improve hearing health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that in order to understand the anti-Apartheid campaign in Portland, Oregon it must be located within the particular socio-historical context of race and racism in the city and state. Thus, Black people living in Portland had good reason to compare the Apartheid system in South Africa to their own experience. Therefore, the confluence of national and local issues that move the local anti-Apartheid campaign forward is examined; the paper documents the rise and development of critical organizations in the anti-Apartheid campaign in Portland; the paper focus on the closure of the Honorary South Africa Consulate in downtown Portland and the passing of South Africa divestment legislation at the state level which paralleled actions of the national movement. This study is based on an analysis of historical documents, and interviews with four prominent community activists and politicians regarding their participation. In conclusion, it is argued that this research is important because there is little scholarship of the anti-Apartheid movement in the Northwest region of the U.S., and even less on the role Black people in the state of Oregon played in the anti-apartheid movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the rhetoric of truth commissions in South Africa and Kenya, as well as a proposal for a commission in the United States, to better understand how truth commissions contribute to the formation of new national communities. Drawing on rhetorical methods and the theoretical perspective of decoloniality, I argue that truth commissions can offer new ways of understanding national community. Along the way, my analysis refigures key terms in the work of truth commissions: truth, reconciliation, justice, and--through all of these--national unity. I conclude by discussing the problems of applying established frameworks - transitional and restorative justice - in disparate contexts. Ultimately, I challenge scholars and practitioners to instead consider how particular cases can transform our understanding of these very concepts and frameworks. Section I of this paper sets up the above argument. Section II describes the invention and rise in popularity of truth commissions within the framework of transitional justice. Section III reviews the contributions of rhetorical scholarship to the study of truth commissions and describes the theoretical and methodological framework of my analysis. Section IV analyzes the rhetoric of truth commissions in South Africa and Kenya and a proposed commission in the United States. Section V discusses the contributions and implications of this analysis for the practice and theory of both transitional justice and restorative justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare conditions in informal day-labor markets in South Africa and the USA to better understand the nature of worker vulnerabilities in this market, as well as the economic conditions that have contributed to the growth of day labor. The conclusion considers interventions that are underway in the two countries to improve conditions in day-labor markets. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on national surveys of day laborers in South Africa and the USA. A random sample of day laborers seeking work at informal hiring sites was undertaken in each country. The paper presents key findings, compares conditions in South Africa and the USA, and analyzes the relationship between economic change, labor-market dynamics, and worker vulnerability. Findings – Day-labor work is characterized by low pay, hazardous conditions on the job, and tremendous income insecurity. The day-labor markets in South Africa and the USA perform somewhat different functions within regional economies. Within South Africa, day labor can be regarded as a survival strategy. The growth of day labor in South Africa over the past decade is a manifestation of a formal labor market that is incapable of absorbing the structurally unemployed. Here, day labor is the employment of last resort, allowing workers to subsist on the fringes of the mainstream economy, but offering few pathways into the formal sector. In the USA, the day labor workforce is a largely undocumented-immigrant workforce. Workers seek work at informal hiring sites, maintaining a tenuous hold on jobs in the construction industry. There is evidence of some mobility into more stable and better paying employment. Practical implications – This paper documents the need for policies and programs to increase employment opportunities for day laborers and to better enforce labor standards in the informal economy. Originality/value – This paper summarizes findings from the only two national surveys of day laborers that have been conducted, and it compares for the first time the dynamic within growing day-labor markets in a developed- and emerging-market context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores arguments for and against same-sex marriage as ‘movement advocacy’ in the USA as a backdrop to the proposition that, despite the influence of US discourses on South African debates about same-sex marriage, US discussions are less important to understanding South African responses than controversies about marriage itself in the country. The paper works in two sections. First it sketches legal and critical tensions within the USA around the implications of same-sex marriage activism, drawing on work from Franke, Brandzel, Grossman, Puar and others. Second, it notes arguments on queer homonationalisms, made most forcefully by Puar, concerning the effects and interests of ‘exporting’ US legal ideals to countries elsewhere, especially poorer countries. It then moves to offer suggestions for ways of nuancing this argument through stronger critical attention to context concerning radically shifting notions of marriage within those countries themselves, using South Africa as a case study. This section draws on recent work by Judge, van Zyl, Scott, Mkhize and Adebayo and Nyameza, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents abstracts of the Proffered Papers Meeting held at the Institute of Education, University of London, in London, England on September 20, 2002, on study of human biology. Historical population structure of Ocracoke Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina; Comparison of anthropometric and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry estimates of body fat in African children; Growth of South African urban children during the 1990s.

This paper is a revised version of a paper prepared for the biennial conference of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management held in Durbin, South Africa - hence the initial choice of both American and South African contexts. The purpose of this paper is to argue that, although not a panacea, transformative leadership - with its emphasis on inequity, power and promise, and its reliance on dialogue and the explicit naming of difficult issues such as racism - holds considerable promise for ensuring that education is an important agent for societal change. The paper starts with the premise that although legal barriers to discrimination may have been overcome in both the United States and South Africa, the reality for many racialised individuals in both countries is quite different. The on going presence of disparity in educational achievement between white, middle-class students and their minoritised peers attests not only to inequitable access, but also to continued experiences of marginalisation, prejudice, discrimination and racism that lead inevitably to disparities in outcomes and in opportunities beyond school. Drawing on studies of schooling in both countries and of school leaders striving to use social justice to promote equity, this paper will demonstrate the need for educators to acknowledge issues of power and privilege, to create spaces in which difficult conversations may occur, and to become expert in bringing together, listening to and truly hearing the inevitably conflicting perspectives that arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, laboratory-based bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) analysis of vegetation leaves, soil, and leaf-litter samples is presented. The leaf litter and soil samples, numbered 1 and 2, were obtained from a site located in the savanna biome of South Africa (Skukuza: 25.0° S, 31.5° E). A third soil sample, number 3, was obtained from Etosha Pan, Namibia (19.20° S, 15.93° E, altitude of 1100 m). In addition, BRDF of local fresh and dry leaves from tulip polar tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and black locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia) were studied. It is shown how the BRDF depends on the incident and scatter angles, sample size (i.e., crushed versus whole leaf), soil samples fraction size, sample status (i.e., fresh versus dry leaves), vegetation species (i.e., poplar versus locust), and the vegetation's biochemical composition. As a demonstration of the application of the results of this paper, airborne BRDF measurements acquired with NASA's Cloud Absorption Radiometer over the same general site where the soil and leaf-litter samples were obtained are compared to the laboratory results. Good agreement between laboratory and airborne-measured BRDF is reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ground improvement comprises approximately 30 different methods of ground treatment, including modification, chemical alteration, reinforcement with steel or geosynthetic, strengthening by drainage, densification by vibration or consolidation, the use of electro-osmosis, and the use of the observational technique. This paper attempts to highlight influential papers published in Géotechnique since 1947, and urges the reader to seek these out. Descriptions are given of those papers considered to be most influential, ranging from the densification of soils at Cape Kennedy in the USA to the construction of a 41 m high reinforced soil wall in South Africa. The use of vibro-compaction and vibro-replacement techniques has featured significantly, as has consolidation using vertical drains. The importance of observational techniques and their relationship to ground improvement has also received great attention in Géotechnique. A summary of papers is also presented in a table to provide a quick reference tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The determination of sex and estimation of stature are among the important aspect of forensic anthropology. These characteristics display population specific variation and therefore, need further attention for major populations of the world. The aim of this special issue is to bring together scientific papers dealing with new anthropological techniques and knowledge about populations that are least known. The present issue is composed of 12 papers by individual scientists from Germany, South Africa, India, The United States, Croatia, Spain, Poland, and Turkey. The samples, those were analyses by these authors had wide range including remains from archaeological and mass grave sites and dictatorial regimes. The papers show that still osteometry seems to be the preferred technique because they are more effective in determining sex and estimating body height. Forensic anthropology seems to be developing technique for specific population groups and increasing its ability to deal with diverse population around the world. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper studies homeschooling as an alternative form of educational provision in South Africa and USA to determine what knowledge and experiences from research on homeschooling in the USA may be relevant to the South Africa situation. Homeschooling in the USA has a sound legal foundation and has become an acceptable educational alternative. Research indicates that homeschoolers are not disadvantaged academically or with regard to social--emotional development or socialisation. Policy makers in the USA seem to be increasingly of the opinion that there should be some form of cooperation between public schools and home-schoolers. The South African Constitution does not contain a stipulation granting parents an explicit right to homeschooling, but does not make homeschooling unconstitutional either. Homeschooling in South Africa is growing phenomenally and educational reasons and religious beliefs appear to be the most important reasons for homeschooling in South Africa. This paper primarily recommends a partnership between government and homeschoolers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims This study aimed to compare the findings of the quality of nursing doctoral education survey across seven countries and discuss the strategic directions for improving quality. Background No comparative evaluation of global quality of nursing doctoral education has been reported to date despite the rapid increase in the number of nursing doctoral programmes. Design A descriptive, cross-country, comparative design was employed. Methods Data were collected from 2007-2010 from nursing schools in seven countries: Australia, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Thailand, UK and USA. An online questionnaire was used to evaluate quality of nursing doctoral education except for Japan, where a paper version was used. Korea and South Africa used e-mails quality of nursing doctoral education was evaluated using four domains: Programme, Faculty (referring to academic staff), Resource and Evaluation. Descriptive statistics, correlational and ordinal logistic regression were employed. Results A total of 105 deans/schools, 414 faculty and 1149 students/graduates participated. The perceptions of faculty and students/graduates about the quality of nursing doctoral education across the seven countries were mostly favourable on all four domains. The faculty domain score had the largest estimated coefficient for relative importance. As the overall quality level of doctoral education rose from fair to good, the resource domain showed an increased effect. Conclusions Both faculty and students/graduates groups rated the overall quality of nursing doctoral education favourably. The faculty domain had the greatest importance for quality, followed by the programme domain. However, the importance of the resource domain gained significance as the overall quality of nursing doctoral education increased, indicating the needs for more attention to resources if the quality of nursing doctoral education is to improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses details relating to the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), a collaborative project built by research bodies from the U.S., Great Britain and South Africa in the Karoo Astronomy Reserve in Carnarvon, South Africa. Topics covered include the limited scientific understanding of the Dark Ages, the highlights of the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) and Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) experiments, and details relating to HERA funding.

Different industries manage the threats presented by HIV and AIDS in different ways. The construction industry is particularly vulnerable to the pandemic because of its large unskilled labour force, high labour turnover and the migratory nature of the workforce. The study reported on in this paper, the first of its kind in the South African construction industry, aimed to identify the important drivers needed for the effective management of HIV and AIDS and to understand their impact on the construction industry. The aim was achieved in two stages. The first stage involved an extensive literature review to determine the factors that drive corporate response in the management of HIV and AIDS in the South African construction sector. Six drivers, namely legal requirements, social pressures, business costs, voluntary regulation, visibility of the disease, and individuals within companies with a total of 87 items were identified. An iterative Delphi technique with a panel of experts was used to validate the factors identified in the literature review and formed the second stage of this research. The Delphi method was used as it provided a systematic approach to achieve consensus on the six drivers for effective management of HIV and AIDS management in the construction industry. An expert panel responded to three iterations of questionnaires to achieve consensus. The experts reached consensus on 56 items categorised under the 6 drivers. This study found that the legal driver was considered most important but only second in terms of impact. The second most important driver was the visibility of the disease and was regarded as the driver with the highest impact. Internal agents ranked third in terms of importance and impact. This study can be used for further research to assist the construction industry in helping fight HIV and AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In May-June of 2013 we visited several South African parks and reserves to learn about wildlife and natural areas management in that country. We focused our visit on parks and reserves that are of moderate size (5,000-100,00 ha), comprised of grassland/savanna habitats, located within agrarian landscapes, and enclosed with boundary fences, characteristics similar to several parks and reserves in the Northern Great Plains region of the United States. In this paper we compare the South African model of natural areas management to the United States model. We observed that South African parks and reserves with the aforementioned characteristics are more likely to (1) reintroduce and conserve small, nonviable wildlife populations, (2) reintroduce and conserve top-level predators, (3) have more intensive management of wildlife, (4) manage in partnership across multiple landowners, (5) engage local communities, (6) be self-funding, and (7) restrict visitor movement. The South African model is arguably more effective in conserving biodiversity as measured by conservation of apex predators and natural processes. The differences between the countries appear to be driven in large part by socioeconomic factors. Knowledge of natural areas management in other countries may lead to more innovative and creative models that could benefit biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In much of the world, President George W. Bush was not admired for his foreign policy and diplomacy. It is therefore ironic that Bush's single most uncontested foreign policy triumph was an instance of what has now become known as "health diplomacy". In 2003 Bush launched the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a five-year $15 billion initiative to fight HIV/AIDS, mostly in Africa. The president's pragmatic health diplomacy may well save his foreign policy legacy. This article argues that a middle power such as South Africa should consider a similar instrumental AIDS diplomatic strategy, to rehabilitate its public health as well as foreign policy images. Discussion: This article reflects on the emergence and contemporary practice of health diplomacy. In particular, it explores the potential of niche areas within health diplomacy to become constructive focal points of emerging middle powers' foreign policies. Middle powers often apply niche diplomacy to maximise their foreign policy impact, particularly by pursuing a multilateral agenda. The literature on middle powers indicates that such foreign policy ambitions and concomitant diplomacy mostly act to affirm the global status quo. Instead, this paper argues that there may well be niches within health diplomacy in particular that can be used to actually challenge the existing global order. Emerging middle powers in particular can use niche areas within health diplomacy in a critical theoretical manner, so that foreign policy and diplomacy become a project of emancipation and transformation, rather than an affirmation of the world as it is. Summary: The article first describes the emergence and contemporary practice of health diplomacy; this is followed by a discussion of niche diplomacy, in particular as it applies to the foreign policy agendas of emerging middle powers. It then reviews South African foreign policy and diplomacy, before situating these policies within the context of emerging mechanisms of south-south multilateralism. The article concludes by synthesizing these elements and advocating for a South African AIDS diplomacy, emphasizing its potential to galvanize a global project of emancipation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we will provide a preliminary overview of the Chinese diaspora in South Africa, with particular focus on non-metropolitan, rural contexts.The migrations of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries have produced a complex array of Chinese communities around the world. While we know a fair amount about the Chinese diasporas in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and also diasporic communities within Asia, Africa's Chinese community remains a vastly understudied aspect of this larger Chinese diaspora (Ma & Cartier, 2003). Yet there have been long-standing ties between Africa and China, going back to the fifteenth century, and presently China is one of Africa's biggest trade partners and investors (Rotberg, 2008). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical component of child rearing is time use. There has been a wealth of studies on time use in child rearing focusing on biological parents in the US and western contexts but there is a notable absence of any scholarship on time use that has incorporated extended kin in the African context. This paper examines time use with children in rural South Africa using observational data and incorporates a range of kin and non-kin. The analysis focuses on 24 children under the age of 6 and all the people who interact with them over the course of a week. Through an examination of the composition of care networks, the quantity and quality of time investment, and the relationship between care networks and child outcomes, the findings support a kin-based, socially distributed model of child rearing but also challenge assumptions about the extent of kin involvement and impact on child outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance debate in psychology can be described as discourse which calls for the discipline to become more socially valuable and accessible to those who purportedly need it. Literature suggests that there is a socio-historical dimension to relevance discourse that is frequently overlooked by those engaging in the debate, resulting in a typically ahistorical and axiomatic presentation. It is therefore argued that an historical perspective on the relevance debate is necessary for an informed consideration of its attending issues. This paper compares relevance discourse from South Africa (1974-1994) and the United States of America (1960-1980) by means of a thematic analysis of journal articles published during these periods in the South African Journal of Psychology and American Psychologist, respectively. The analysis yielded six key analytic themes: social upheaval; the pureapplied dichotomy in psychology; the role of psychology in socio-political matters; the place of human values in science; equity in psychology; and indigenising psychology. The first five themes are common to both the American and South African debates. Consequently, it is argued that the two debates arose in similar social contexts and that, in particular, the relevance debate is associated with conditions of social upheaval. This historicisation of relevance discourse permits a more critical and accurate understanding of the relationship between the debate and contemporary society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers epistemology in economics, looking at the ways in which theory, observation and measurement are combined. Agricultural economics is a policy science and so scientific research programmes operate simultaneously with political action programmes. Taking policy positions and advising government makes scientific detachment impossible. With this as background progress in production economics is considered, especially regarding technology, productivity and the returns to R&D. The position taken is that progress has been considerable and we can by now measure technological progress and show how it is generated by agricultural R&D. Almost all the studies show that this is an investment with a high rate of return. The main point of the study is that almost all the agricultural economics research that has made this possible was conducted in the USA, where the theory and data were in place when needed to convince the politicians that public funding should be maintained at adequate levels. The payoff is that agricultural productivity has grown monotonically in the USA. The UK case shows the costs of our profession failing to mount an effective political action programme in the area at time of Mrs Thatcher's cuts in the early 1980s. The result was about sixteen years of negative productivity growth. This should act as a warning for South Africa, which is pretty clearly cutting R&D and following the UK productivity path. These failures are so costly, it is odd that only USA seems to have the knowledge and funding required for steady productivity growth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Approaches that prioritise chemicals according to their importance as environmental contaminants have been developed by government agencies and private industries. However, it has been noticed that few approaches, such as one published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), address the needs of the drinking water industry. There is also no generic approach to the selection, prioritisation and monitoring of organic contaminants in the drinking water value chain. To safeguard drinking water industry customers, it was necessary to develop a generic protocol to assist with the identification of a list of organic contaminants for monitoring in the drinking water value chain. Once the protocol was developed, it was validated in a prototype drinking water value chain. This paper describes the implementation of such a generic protocol. The exercise comprised of testing each step of the protocol, from selection of the 'pool of organic contaminants' (Step I) to recommending the final priority list of organic contaminants (Step VII). Successful implementation of the protocol took place in the Rand Water (South Africa) drinking water value chain (from catchment to tap). Expert judgment was emphasized during the implementation as each step was validated and the opinion of key stakeholders used to shape the process. The tailor-made prioritisation criteria, reflecting the drinking water industry perspective, proved to be successful in selecting and prioritising organic contaminants for monitoring in the drinking water value chain. The organic contaminants were successfully prioritised in 3 classes: short-term priority for analysis, medium-term priority for analysis and long-term priority for analysis. This is a very important guide to assist water utilities in optimising their resources while not compromising the role of public health protection. Finally, a priority list of organic contaminants was identified for use by Rand Water and other water utilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The paper estimates the effects of the 2008–09 trade contraction on employment in India and South Africa, using social accounting matrices (SAMs) in a Leontief multiplier model. Employment results are presented at aggregate and industry levels and examine gender and skills biases. The most notable finding is that India and South Africa experienced substantial employment declines as a result of trade contraction with the European Union and the United States. A large share of these declines occurred in the non-tradable sector and resulted from income-induced effects, illustrating how a shock originating in the tradable goods sector had strong ripple effects throughout these economies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background. To date, there has been no attempt to describe or compare physical therapy as practiced globally, nor any evidence that an international data set exists to support this effort. It is known that research evidence can be used in strategic and tactical ways, especially within the highly politicized context of the policy arena. The International Private Practitioners Association recognized the potential value a global evidence base could have in influencing policy and supporting professional development in a number of countries, yet it lacked a mechanism to achieve these aims. Objectives. The purposes of this study were: (1) to identify and test an international data set, definitions, and means of data collection and (2) to establish views in relation to the value of international collaborations. Design. A mixed, prospective design was used in the study. Method. Phase 1 (2006-2007) involved the development of a data set, definitions, and Web-based and paper-based data collection options involving 98 physical therapists from 68 physical therapy practices in 7 countries. Phase 2 (2008-2009) involved testing of the data set in 34 practices involving 3,195 patient episodes and included physical therapist feedback of experience, local relevance of the data set, and value of international collaborations. Results. Testing confirmed the relevance and reliability of the data set and definitions and a preference for Web-based data collection (74.0%). Physical therapist feedback supported these findings. Most respondents (60.0%-100.0%) reported the value of further international collaborations for their profession nationally or internationally. Limitations. Although a true international collaboration, the limited sample size should be recognized. Conclusions. It is possible to develop an agreed-upon international data set and means of data collection. Testing appears to support its acceptability and relevance for use in practice. Participants highly valued the opportunity to undertake international collaborations that may benefit their profession nationally and internationally. Further testing and use of the data set are advocated before final validation is sought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States pictured a bright future with a strategic country when the new South African government took power in 1994. They envisioned a strong partnership in political, economic and security realms. The bilateral relationship did not turn out to be as easy as many in America might have envisioned. Despite notable camaraderie during the Mandela–Clinton administrations, there was a considerable downward swing in US–South African relations during the Bush administration. This situation has since appeared to reverse itself during the current Obama and Zuma administrations. This paper, through the lens of ‘asymmetry theory’ as developed by Brantly Womack, seeks to shed light on how a rollercoaster relationship such as this can go through such fluctuations and not end in extreme tension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

President George H. W. Bush was widely criticized for not publicly denouncing the apartheid regime in South Africa. His silence was attributed to a lack of understanding or caring about the issues at hand. However, President Bush was firmly aware of the situation and made an intentional strategic choice not to speak. In this paper, I argue that remaining silent was the best available strategic choice. In addition to the strategic question, I examine the role that silence plays in a democratic system where people expect their leaders to speak on critical issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For most democracies across the world, legislative engagement in foreign policy development has traditionally been limited to ratification of international agreements and oversight of the executive. While the Parliament of South Africa tends to adhere to this traditional approach, deferring to the executive on matters of foreign policy, this paper argues that a collaborative approach between the legislative and executive branches as articulated in the South African constitution must rather form the basis of South Africa's foreign policy development process. Moreover, by comparing the parliament of South Africa, a legislature with limited policy influence, to the United States' Congress, a policy making legislature, it becomes clear from Congress that political will in employing constitutional power is the most important factor in ensuring legislative engagement in foreign policy decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an observation of Academic Freedom in the United States and South Africa. It compares academic freedom in both countries drawing on what is referred to as the Big Five in the United States. It suggests that the threat to academic freedom in the United States is from outside the university whereas such threats come from inside the academe in the South African case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Race-based preferential policies have been employed in the United States and other countries such as Malaysia, South Africa, Brazil, and India to foster economic development among economically marginalized ethnic groups. This research applies a two-player signaling model to help understand labor-market effects of race-based preferential policies used in college admissions. The model shows that in the context of imperfect information in the labor market, purely race-based forms of preferential policies in college admissions are likely to lead to statistical discrimination by future employers, reducing the equilibrium wage of targeted minority groups for both college graduates and non-college graduates. In addition, average wages of the targeted group remain unchanged in the model, with the targeted group being worse off to the extent that educational signaling is costly. In conclusion, the paper argues that race-base preferences cannot substitute for policies and programs that genuinely address imbalances in college preparation between ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, calls for the scaling-up, or more broad dissemination of evidence-based HIV prevention programmes, have increased. This paper responds to the call for increasing applicable knowledge about programme dissemination by reviewing the history of a major evidence-based human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention and mental health promotion programme that has been adapted successfully and pilot-tested across four settings - including two major cities, as well as in the United States, Trinidad and Tobago and South Africa - to date. This programme, entitled CHAMP (the Collaborative HIV Prevention & Adolescent Mental Health Project), is distinctive primarily for its emphasis on community collaboration and power-sharing, and also its incorporation of individual, family and community-level interventions. The history of programme development, including theoretical foundations and results across sites, is discussed with a particular emphasis on the implications of CHAMP's dissemination thus far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents in South Africa are at particularly high risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as other sexually transmitted infections. Because rates are so high, using minimal time and resources to develop effective interventions is essential. One strategy to achieve this goal is to modify and adapt western school-based preventive interventions for application in South African schools. This study focuses on the adaptation and integration of two interventions with proven effectiveness in the United States in order to ensure cultural relevance in South Africa and its subsequent testing in eight high schools located in townships near Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal province. The findings reported in this paper reflect data from the first cohort of students, which included 1095 9th grade learners. Participants were assessed both 4-6 months and 15-18 months following baseline data collection. Results indicated significant differences in change between students in the intervention and comparison conditions on sexual refusal self-efficacy, intentions to have sex, attitudes about sex, initiation of sex, intention to use alcohol with sex, alcohol refusal self-efficacy and attitudes about alcohol. These results suggest that, after careful adaptation for cultural differences, behavioural interventions developed in western countries may achieve effectiveness in other contexts including township schools in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this theoretical paper, I develop a framework to analyze and to understand men's work and family roles in multicultural societies with histories of inequality. I draw upon a life course perspective-including the concepts of reciprocal continuity, linked lives, and timing of lives (Elder, 1995)-for the basic components of the framework. For each concept, I examine lived experiences of and effect of social structure on poor fathers in South Africa and the United States. In both societies, nonresidential fatherhood emerges from a complex interplay of subordination by race and class, dynamic political economies, and family dynamics. Paternal absence is shaped by migrant labor and coping with un/underemployment, imprisonment, military service, desertion, and divorce. Finally, I offer a set of questions for future comparative research on men's work and family roles in low-income communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2004 marked the 50th anniversary of the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case that put an official end to segregated schooling in the USA. Desegregation has received little attention as of late, yet a number of scholars argue that the work of desegregation is far from being complete in the USA. The aim of this paper is to refocus attention on desegregation through a detailed comparison with a more recent case: the racial integration of schools in post-Apartheid South Africa. While South Africa is not held up as the perfect example of integration, it illuminates concepts and ideas that may explain shortcomings of the US process and present new alternatives to revitalize the process. Likewise, it is hoped that the historical example of the USA is instructive to those involved in the integration effort in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This article reviews and comments on the development, strengths and limitations of the US National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) from a variety of domestic and international perspectives. Methods: The authors were provided preliminary copies of the manuscripts in this special edition and examined them to understand and put in context the elements and uses of the NVDRS so far. Their comments are based on their reading and interpretation of these papers plus their own combined experience in injury and public health surveillance from four different countries: the US, Colombia, Australia, and South Africa. Results: The NVDRS is bigger than the sum of its parts because it links existing data from multiple sources. Its adoption of modern relational database technologies offers advantages over traditional injury surveillance databases and creates new opportunities for understanding, collaboration, and partnerships. Challenges include overcoming resource limitations so that it can become a truly national system, measuring and improving its sensitivity and comparability, and the need to examine mortality in context with serious non-fatal violent events. Conclusion: The NVDRS is an important work in progress for the US. Each country should examine its own needs, traditions, resources, and existing infrastructure when deciding what kind of violence surveillance system to develop. However, collaboration in developing common definitions and classifications provides an important foundation for international comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the politics of color-blindness in comparative perspective as its meaning has changed over the past half-century. Drawing on the cases of South Africa and the United States, I focus in particular on the socio-political and psychological functions that color-blind ideology performs for whites in defending white advantage in the present context. Although in the past color-blindness served as an effective rallying cry for the abolition of Jim Crow and the demise of apartheid, the very same principle serves in the post-segregation context to stall transformation of the racial order in the direction of greater equality. It is an irony that the principle of color-blindness that so effectively mobilized opposition to the institutionally racist order in both national contexts mutates at the very moment of apparent victory into one that radically limits the anti-racist imagination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevailing conception of John Kennedy's presidency has been that of a liberal administration unable to take a stronger stand on apartheid, not out of its own doubts about the desirability of black self-rule, but because of South Africa's Cold War geopolitical value. This paper, however, argues that Kennedy's presidency, while representing an important break with previous administrations over the sort of contact the United States should maintain with African nationalist movements, failed to engage with the African National Congress, seeing it instead as little more than a communist proxy. Through a careful examination of debates occurring within the Departments of State and Defense, as well as those in Pretoria, this article demonstrates that Kennedy's administration, while far from monolithic, ultimately chose to align itself with the Nationalist Party's depiction of apartheid as a policy ‘in the interest of both sides’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the latter third of the twentieth century, the "homeland" reserves of two reputed "warrior" societies--the Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge and the Zulu of KwaZulu-Natal--erupted in civil violence. This paper compares the role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the South African Police as intervening forces in these civil conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical trials for the treatment of schizophrenia now often include cognitive assessments in addition to clinical ratings of symptoms. Recently, these trials have included cross-national assessments. It is not clear if translated psychological tests produce consistent results across different languages. This paper presents the results of a study of the comparability of the results of cognitive assessments in different English-speaking countries and a number of countries where tests were translated into other languages. Performance on tests of executive functioning, verbal and visuo-spatial learning and memory, language skills, psychomotor speed, and vigilance was compared across the first episode patients with schizophrenia (n=301) assessed in six different languages (English, French, Finnish, German, Hebrew, and Afrikaans), including two different countries where patients were assessed in English and other languages: Canada (French) and South Africa (Afrikaans). The variance in performance across the sites tested in English was as large as the variance between English and non-English speakers when all tests were considered. Performance differences across English and other languages were found only for executive functions, vigilance, and psychomotor speed, with executive functioning differences nonsignificant when education was considered. No differences were found between English and non-English speakers in Canada. These results suggest that the translation of tests of memory and verbal skills can lead to consistent results across translated versions of the tests. Differences between countries were greater than differences between languages, suggesting the need to consider representativeness of patient samples in terms of local educational attainment. In general, these data support the validity of cross-national neuropsychological assessments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyzes the grantmaking to South African civil society of six major U.S. foundations between 1988 and 1996. It answers four related questions: (1) How did these foundations understand civil society, and did they think there was a link between it and democracy? (2) How significant was their support for civil society from 1988 to 1996? (3) How did South Africa's democratization affect their grantmaking patterns? (4) Did the foundations favor professionalized NGOs over grassroots and decentralized organizations, and if so, was this the right approach? The empirical analysis of the South African case contributes to the general debate about the link between civil society and democracy, and the role of funders in supporting both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse: (a) how the attitude towards renewable energy-based heating systems, pro-environmental behaviour and the perceived attributes of technology influence intention to convert residential heating systems from fossil fuels to biofuels, and (b) the moderating role of culture based on Hofstede's individualism dimension. A total of 425 responses were collected from a panel of internet users from representative countries in three continents (the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa); the data analysis was carried out using structural equation models in a multigroup analysis. The results showed that attitude towards renewable energy-based heating systems is influenced by environmental variables in the United States and the United Kingdom, and by the perceived attributes of clean residential heating systems in the United States and South Africa. Attitude, in turn, impacts on the intention to convert from fossil fuels to biofuels. In addition, individualism has a moderating effect between these variables and there are intercultural differences in the degree of importance attributed to them. The study concludes the use of these energy systems as drivers of environmentally-sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]