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This article presents information on schedule for Eighth International Phycological Congress 2005, that will take place between August 13-19, 2005, in Durban, South Africa. The scientific program consists of Plenary Lectures for all delegates, Symposia, Contributed Paper sessions and Poster sessions. The Plenary Lecture each morning is followed by three parallel Symposia each comprising four talks. In addition to the regular Congress Symposia, the Scientific Program will include Contributed Paper Sessions. These sessions will be organized, where relevant and feasible, in conjunction with the Congress Symposia.

Questions surrounding South Africa's organic crisis have to a large degree been neglected by geographers. The paper offers deliberations on the research undertaken by geographers on urban social movements and attempts to redress the complete silence of South African geographers on questions of social transformation and strategy. The paper opens with a critical theoretical discussion of urban social movements, focusing on the work by the urban sociologist Manuel Castells. Following from this an empirical case study of an urban movement in evidence in several of Durban, South Africa's black townships is presented. The paper represents several moments of an urban movement operating in one South African city. The paper examines explicitly the salient theoretical issues that arise from the empirical material presented. Urban mobilization in South Africa has, to a large degree, been crushed by state repression under the state of emergency. As a result, quiescence rather than mobilization is currently predominant in the black townships.

There exists a growing literature on the geographical aspects of neoliberalism and neoliberalisation. In this paper I focus on how the neoliberalisation process is articulated at the scale of the local state in Durban, South Africa. I examine the neoliberalisation process through the lens of the water sector. This paper contributes to the body of literature showing how private sector governance techniques are being used in the public sector effecting its neoliberalisation. I show how pricing structures are neoliberal and in turn how they are deployed and contribute to the neoliberalisation of the local state in Durban. I show that accounting strategies, tariff structures, and cost recovery measures are central to the neoliberalisation process in Durban. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in developing countries face increasing social and environmental risk. Previous work on how MNCs seek to mitigate these risks has often failed to recognize the complexity and interaction between international, home and host country governance mechanisms. Here, however, changes in corporate environmental behaviour at the site level are evaluated in terms of the dynamics of local and cross-scale institutionalization processes. The subject of the paper is the contestation of industrial pollution at Shell's Sapref oil refinery in Durban, South Africa. Using a novel research design, institutional and organizational theory is combined with social network analysis to explore how and why Sapref's environmental performance has changed over time. The analysis highlights mechanisms of institutional change and how MNC environmental performance can be contested and constructed from the bottom up, thus calling into question the effectiveness of the global environmental governance processes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I seek to gain an understanding of the power that water meters are able to acquire in regulating the daily rhythms of life in the South African city of Durban. In doing so, I put Georg Lukács's writings on reification to work. Lukács's theorisation of the phenomenon of reification captures the twin processes of encroaching formal rationalisation and commodity fetishism. Charting the history of the introduction of water meters and the rise in power of associated infrastructures, I seek to put a historical geographical materialist imagination to work. Thus, I develop a relational ontology of the urban waterscape before seeking to identify lines of struggle that might challenge the dictatorship of the water meter and move towards radically democratic technologies for a more equitable distribution of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is discrimination based on caste equivalent to racism? This paper explores the complex relationship between genetic, race and caste. It also discusses the debate over the exclusion of a discussion of caste-based discrimination at the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in Durban, South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Among the most destructive legacies of apartheid in South Africa is the violent history of division, discrimination, and control through which the everyday injustices of racial order were experienced. This violence of 'separate development' was inscribed within particular spaces, as the apartheid state attempted to define and control where racially-defined citizens could live, work, and travel. This paper examines the geography of violence and reconstruction in one such space, that of Cato Manor near Durban. The area is known for the large-scale forced removals which took place there in the 1950s, destroying a multi-racial community of Indian and African residents. Although zoned for white residence, Cato Manor remained vacant until the 1980s, when it became a safe haven for refugees fleeing violence in the Natal countryside. In the early 1990s, the area became the focus of a non-racial development effort, which sought to overcome the violent social divisions of the apartheid era. This redevelopment, however, became a site of contestation when former residents of Cato Manor petitioned to reclaim land they once owned there, claims that the city of Durban attempted to nullify in court. The outcome of the land claims trial highlights the tensions between the present dictates of development and the process of negotiating the violence of the past, and suggests that the democratization of planning can be a means of 'working through' the legacies of displacement and dispossession that are so much a part of South Africa's present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To date, there are over 320 variants identified in the IRF6 gene that cause Van der Woude syndrome or popliteal pterygium syndrome. We sequenced this gene in a South African orofacial cleft cohort to identify the causal IRF6 variants in our population. Method: Saliva samples from 100 patients with syndromic and non‐syndromic CL ± P were collected. Patients were recruited from the cleft clinics at two public, tertiary hospitals in Durban, South Africa (SA), namely Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital (IALCH) and KwaZulu‐Natal Children's Hospital (KZNCH). We prospectively sequenced the exons of IRF6 in 100 orofacial cleft cases, and where possible, we also sequenced the parents of the individuals to determine the segregation pattern. Results: Two variants were identified; one novel (p.Cys114Tyr) and one known (p.Arg84His) missense variant in IRF6 gene were identified. The patient with the p.Cys114Tyr variant was non‐syndromic with no clinical VWS phenotype expected of individuals with IRF6 coding variants, and the patient with the p.Arg84His had phenotypic features of popliteal pterygium syndrome. The p.Arg84His variant segregated in the family, with the father also being affected. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that IRF6 variants are found in the South African population. Genetic counselling is essential for affected families, particularly in the absence of a known clinical phenotype since it helps with the plans for future pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the life and thought of South African radical philosopher Richard 'Rick ' Turner (1941-1978), a crucial figure in the 1973 anti-apartheid political conjuncture known as the 'Durban Moment. ' Though steeped in existentialist philosophy, Turner's real contribution to New Left thought in South Africa came elsewhere. Turner's receptivity to 'Black Consciousness, ' his vision of radical pedagogy, and his commitment to participatory democracy and 'workers' control ' all made a deep imprint on Black working class mobilization and the birth of a democratic trade union movement in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the prevalence of food insecurity and the independent association between depression and food insecurity among youth living in two urban settings in South Africa.Methods: Baseline cross-sectional survey data was analysed from a prospective cohort study conducted between 2014 and 2016 among youth (aged 16-24 years) in Soweto and Durban. Interviewer-administered questionnaires collecting socio-demographic, sexual and reproductive health and mental health data were conducted. Household food insecurity was measured using the 3-item Household Hunger Scale, with food insecure participants defined as having 'moderate' or 'severe hunger' compared to 'no hunger'. Depression was assessed using the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D 10) Scale (range 0-30, probable depression ≥ 10). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between depression and food insecurity.Results: There were 422 participants. Median age was 19 years (interquartile range [IQR] 18-21) and 60% were women. Overall, 18% were food insecure and 42% had probable depression. After adjustment for socio-demographic variables (age, gender, female-headed household, household size and school enrolment), participants with probable depression had higher odds of being food insecure than non-depressed participants (2.79, 95%CI 1.57-4.94).Conclusion: Nearly one-fifth of youth in this study were food insecure. Those with probable depression had increased odds of food insecurity. Interventions are needed to address food insecurity among urban youth in South Africa, combining nutritional support and better access to quality food with mental health support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Globally, data on antenatal blood transfusion practices are scarce. We sought to characterize the epidemiology of antenatal transfusion in South Africa.Study Design and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted of women who were transfused during pregnancy (>48 hr before anticipated delivery) at two hospitals in Durban and Soweto in 2014 to 2015. Medical record data on demographics, obstetric history, anemia, HIV status, and indications for blood transfusion were abstracted.Results: The records on a total of 560 transfused pregnant women were evaluated; mean age was 28 years, 98% were of black African ethnicity, and 28% were HIV positive. At time of transfusion, one-half were in the first trimester. Hemorrhage was noted in 76% of women, most of which was associated with abortion (67%) or ectopic pregnancy (27%). Most women were transfused with red blood cells (RBCs; median, 2 units); 14% of women were transfused with plasma and 2% with platelets. Median pre- and posttransfusion hemoglobin levels were 6.9 g/dL and 9.2 g/dL, respectively; the latter differed by hospital (8.7 g/dL vs. 9.5 g/dL; p < 0.01). Hemorrhage was associated with missing HIV status, lower gestational age, and transfusion of 3 or more RBC units (all p < 0.01). In contrast, diagnoses of anemia (Soweto only) were associated with HIV infection, later gestational age, and lower (<3 units) RBC dose (all p < 0.01).Conclusion: Abortion and ectopic pregnancy with associated hemorrhage were the leading indications for antenatal transfusion and were concentrated in early gestation. By contrast, anemia was associated with HIV infection and transfusion in the third trimester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Durban has a long tradition of activism and the creation of participatory spaces. The Umlazi Occupy is one example. In 2012 some 3,000 residents of Umlazi township 'occupied' the area outside the municipal councillor's office for the period of a month. The reasons behind the Occupy protest included demands for better services and higher levels of political accountability. This contribution examines the Umlazi Occupy with a focus on the nature of post-2010 activism and its key actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research on informal settlements considers the experiences of children, but seldom outlines the daily parenting experiences of adult men and women. At the same time, policy on housing in South Africa points to the ways in which the 'eradication' of informal housing will help provide children with better futures. This article explores the social relation of parenting within an informal settlement in Durban, South Africa, bearing in mind the broader difficulties of parenting in poverty, and points to ways in which the material qualities of informal settlements contribute to feelings of anxiety in parents. It questions how these experiences might differ from or be similar to those of parents who live in generic contexts of poverty (but not necessarily informality). It concludes ultimately that living in an informal settlement does actually contribute to particular parental anxieties, but that there is no guarantee that informal housing eradication will remove these concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates that Gramsci's concept of passive revolution can be utilised to help unearth some of the contradictions of participatory development within neoliberal governance systems in the global South. I argue that some approaches to 'participation' within neoliberal governance systems can, in part, be understood as moments within a protracted process of passive revolution. The argument is traced through eThekwini municipality's Community Participation Programme and the related extension of Free Basic Water (FBW). This article contributes to existing scholarship by demonstrating how a Gramscian analysis is indispensable to understanding the way in which state-civil society relations are conceived in participatory development strategies and the implications this might have for radical social change. I argue that a Gramscian approach compels us to reconsider current understandings of state-civil society relations so that we might overcome the impasse of passive revolution and move towards a more progressive form of politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physico-chemical characteristics and microbial composition of the final effluents of two municipal wastewater treatment plants in South Africa were assessed between July and September 2009. The impact of the treated final effluents on the receiving water bodies was also evaluated. The temperature across all sampling points ranged between 14 and 22°C, while pH varied from 6.9 to 7.6. High levels of turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and orthophosphate (PO4) were observed in many cases. Turbidity of the samples was in the range of 2.2-288.6 NTU. The concentrations (mg/L) of other physico-chemical parameters are as follows: COD (9.33-289); ammonia (0.000340-45.4); nitrate (0.062-539); nitrite (0.021-22.6); PO4 (5.3-33.2). The microbial quality of the effluents discharged from the plants did not comply with the limits set by the South African guidelines with respect to pathogens such as Salmonella, Shigella, Escherichia coli, total coliform, faecal coliform, enterococci, faecal streptococci, and viral particles for effluents intended for discharge into receiving watersheds. This study revealed an undesirable impact on the physico-chemical and microbial qualities of the receiving water bodies as a result of the discharge of inadequately treated effluents from the wastewater treatment facilities. This poses a health risk to several rural communities which rely on the receiving water bodies primarily as their sources of domestic water and recreational purposes. There is therefore a need for the intervention of appropriate regulatory agencies in South Africa to ensure compliance of treatment facilities with wastewater effluent quality standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I seek to bring together recent work on ‘the production of nature’ with feminist standpoint theories. I do this in order to explore some of the potentials for democratic change in the South African city of Durban. In spite of the shared methodological assumptions of the two bodies of work, there has been little effort to develop a dialogue. In initiating this, I begin by outlining some of the theoretical foundations underlying the two theories. Then I go on to suggest some of the ways in which a relational approach to urban environments sheds light upon the politics of water service provision in Durban. From this, I suggest that a feminist standpoint approach might open up different possibilities for democratic change. However, I argue that this should begin not from a romantic view of some untainted or non-reified consciousness of the socio-natural but rather from the situated knowledges that emerge from the struggle to survive in a world defined by both capitalist and non-capitalist social relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective In January 2001, the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine in Durban, South Africa implemented Year 1 of a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. In attempting to comprehensively evaluate the first year, every aspect was investigated. Problem-based learning requires that, in addition to skills competency and knowledge acquisition, students undergo personal development on their journey towards becoming reflective professionals. Suitable methods of evaluation are therefore necessary to measure some of the new objectives. This discussion appraises the possible use of student drawings as a qualitative evaluation tool. Methods At the end of the first academic year, students were asked to reflect on their experiences during the year by drawing (with brief explanations) how they saw themselves at the beginning (retrospective) and then at the end of the year. Drawings were interpreted in terms of reference to the new programme, and were categorised as disparaging, ambivalent or affirming. Results The results far exceeded expectations, providing a rich data source regarding student perceptions of their experiences in their first year. In response to the drawings, immediate remedial action was taken: for example, continuous assessment was introduced for the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and orientation was extended to 3 weeks to provide students with a better understanding of the PBL process. Conclusions From this pilot study, there can be no doubt that student drawings can give us valuable insight into the world of the learner, providing us with information that cannot be gleaned from any other evaluation. We will continue to use drawings formatively, perhaps extending their use into portfolios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concerns the politics of environmental policy as it has been evolving in the South African city of Durban. How has the end of apartheid impacted on environmental issues and concerns? Since 1994 (actually 1996 from the standpoint of local government), the transition to democracy has brought about a shift from purely green policy to the growing salience of what we may call brown issues. The article first considers the elements of what we would now denote as environmental policy under the old regime and then outlines the policy shifts in recent years. The second half of the article looks at what have emerged as the most significant policy issues with regard to the environment, the future of the South Coast Industrial Basin, the environmental concerns that arise from the construction of new housing settlements and (more briefly) debates about the future of the Bay of Natal and some of the issues at play in the development of an integrated social health policy. With South Africa’s emergence from isolation, international mandates for environmental controls and planning have been formally adopted; this article argues that the actual application of policy from word to deed is another matter. Democratization has opened up debates and created a far healthier climate for the discussion of urban issues, but formal institutional and procedural changes are far from sufficient to ensure new approaches on the ground. The presence or absence of effective environmental lobbying from community organizations and of environmental champions within the bureaucracy are critical factors. The planning process in Durban, inevitably subject to immediate political pressures, is still far from achieving the more holistic ambition of integrating environmental and developmental concerns. Cet article porte sur l’évolution de la stratégie politique en matière d’environnement dans la ville sud-africaine de Durban. Comment la fin de l’a... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectivesCommunity-based medical education (CBE) has clear value. However, there are aspects of CBE where improvement is possible. First, communities do not generally receive valued outcomes in exchange for participation in the CBE process. Secondly, students are usually not trained to influence health in the community using methods that are realistic in busy clinical practice. DesignA CBE rotation was designed to address these problems. Rotation activities were structured to facilitate development of a health programme desired by the community while giving students practical skills for later use. Working with community residents and health staff, sequential groups of students carried out, in turn, problem analysis, resource identification, planning and implementation activities aimed at establishing a community tuberculosis (TB) control programme. SettingThe University of Natal in Durban, South Africa. SubjectsFinal-year medical students. ResultsAt the end of the academic year, the TB control programme was approximately 60% in place, and 90% of TB patients cared for by the students were completing treatment. Overall, students rated the experience good for learning about health care in community settings and about methods for community health programme development. Student ratings were significantly higher for those groups whose activities brought them into greater contact with community residents. The ‘real-time’ nature of planning the sequential student groups’ work created logistical problems and, as an isolated activity, the rotation had little impact on student attitudes toward community-based careers. ConclusionsExpanding the goals for CBE is both feasible and important. Further work should focus on refining designs for this next step in CBE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background In a pilot study performed in eight mosques in the Durban area, it was found that the prevalence of tinea pedis et unguium in the adult Muslim male population regularly attending mosques was higher than in the nonMuslim male population. The aims of the present study were: (i) to determine the prevalence of tinea pedis et unguium in the adult Muslim male population regularly attending mosques; (ii) to investigate the role of mosque carpets and ablution areas in the spread of infection; and (iii) to develop strategies to combat the infection. Method Seventy-eight regular worshippers comprising adult Muslim males, chosen at random from five mosques in the Durban area, were examined for clinical evidence of tinea pedis et unguium. Skin scrapings and nail clippings were taken from clinically infected individuals and submitted for microscopy and culture for fungal organisms. A control group, comprising 72 nonMuslim adult male office workers from the administration departments of King Edward VIII Hospital, was similarly examined. In addition, scrapings from high traffic areas of the mosque carpets and swabs from the ablution areas were cultured for fungi. Results In the mosque group, it was found that the prevalence of tinea pedis et unguium was 85%, taking either microscopy or culture positivity as indicative of infection. In the control group, the prevalence was 41%. Thus a statistical difference of 44% (P < 0.0001) between the two groups was demonstrated. Dermatophytes and yeasts were isolated from the carpets and/or floors of the ablution areas in all the mosques under investigation. Conclusions The high prevalence of tinea pedis et unguium among regular male worshippers in the Muslim community can be attributed to the spread of fungal organisms in the communal ablution areas and prayer carpets of the mosques. Strategies to combat this spread of infection are being developed. These strategies are expected to find important practical applications... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study of the contents of 10 best-selling skin-lightening creams available in Durban, South Africa. The study used high-performance liquid chromatography in analyzing methanol extracts from creams and cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry for determining mercury content. Results show an absence of hydroquinone (HQ) but majority of creams contained mercury.

Presents schedules of events related to behavioral sciences worldwide from 2005 to 2006. History of Science Society Annual Meetings in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Conference on Philosophy and Historiography at Robinson College in Cambridge, 16th World Congress of Sociology in Durban, South Africa.

This publication presents information on economic, financial and technical-related issues in Africa. Nigeria has removed its fuel subsidy, which prompted thousands of Nigerians to stage demonstrations around the country. Shell Petroleum Development is working to repair leaks on its Nembe Creek line in Nigeria. The highlights of the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference held in Durban, South Africa are also cited.

This article presents announcements on Third International Workshop on Respiration and its Effects on the Measurement of Aquatic Primary Productivity, by The Group for Aquatic Primary Productivity on April 27 to May 3, 1986 in Durban, South Africa, published in the March 1, 1986 issue of the Journal of Phycology.