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The study sought to understand adolescents' perceived career challenges and needs in a disadvantaged context using the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). A qualitative research design based on semi-structured interviews was conducted with 12 Grade 9 and Grade 10 learners from a disadvantaged background. The results of the study indicated a strong reciprocal relationship between adolescents' social environment, their cognitive processes such as self-efficacy beliefs and their career development. Many of the learners' career challenges were contextually based, and their career needs were a response to their career challenges, which corresponds with the theoretical underpinnings of the SCCT. It was therefore thought that a career intervention based on the tenets of the SCCT would be appropriate for this study. (Contains 3 notes.)

South African evangelicalism finds itself in the midst of an identity crisis. In many sections of evangelicalism, there seems to be a pervasive worldliness which has resulted in a lack of holiness and distinctiveness amongst many professing Christians. In short, the line between holiness and worldliness has been blurred, compelling evangelicals to recapture the doctrine and praxis of personal holiness. To address the problem of the lack of holiness and distinctiveness amongst evangelicals, this article employed qualitative research in the form of a literature review. It explored the meanings of qōdhesh and hágios and applied them to Leviticus 11:1-47 and 1 John 2:15-17, respectively. Furthermore, these two passages were applied to the contemporary context to see how holiness and distinctiveness may be expressed by evangelicals in the 21st century. The article suggests that holiness and distinctiveness is the proper response to God's holiness and God's graciousness. It also suggests that holiness and distinctiveness demand radical obedience to God's Word, resulting in a radical separation from all forms of worldliness, including desires, attitudes and behaviours. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article explores the meanings of qodhesh and hágios and their implications for personal ethics. It shows the intradisciplinary relationship between biblical hermeneutics and practical theology and implies an interdisciplinary relationship between philosophy, sociology, anthropology and theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Information is scant concerning enduring brain injury effects of participation in the contact sport of Rugby Union (hereafter rugby) on early adolescents. Objective: The objective was prospectively to investigate differences between young adolescent male rugby players and non-contact sports controls on neurocognitive test performance over 3 years and academic achievement over 6 years. Method: A sample of boys from the same school and grade was divided into three groups: rugby with seasonal concussions (n = 45), rugby no seasonal concussions (n = 21) and non-contact sports controls (n = 30). Baseline neurocognitive testing was conducted pre-season in Grade 7 and post-season in Grades 8 and 9. Year-end academic grades were documented for Grades 6–9 and 12 (pre-high school to year of school leaving). A mixed model repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to investigate comparative neurocognitive and academic outcomes between the three sub-groups. Results: Compared with controls, both rugby groups were significantly lower on the WISC-III Coding Immediate Recall sub-test. There was a significant interaction effect on the academic measure, with improved scores over time for controls, that was not in evidence for either rugby group. Conclusions: Tentatively, the outcome suggests cognitive vulnerability in association with school level participation in rugby. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In South Africa, medicinal plants have a history of traditional use, with many species used for treating wounds. The scientific basis of such uses remains largely unexplored. To screen South African plants used ethnomedicinally for wound healing based on their pro-angiogenic and wound healing activity, using transgenic zebrafish larvae and cell culture assays. South African medicinal plants used for wound healing were chosen according to literature. Dried plant material was extracted using six solvents of varying polarities. Pro-angiogenesis was assessed in vivo by observing morphological changes in sub-intestinal vessels after crude extract treatment of transgenic zebrafish larvae with vasculature-specific expression of a green fluorescent protein. Subsequently, the in vitro anti-inflammatory, fibroblast proliferation and collagen production effects of the plant extracts that were active in the zebrafish angiogenesis assay were investigated using murine macrophage (RAW 264.7) and human fibroblast (MRHF) cell lines. Fourteen plants were extracted using six different solvents to yield 84 extracts and the non-toxic (n=72) were initially screened for pro-angiogenic activity in the zebrafish assay. Of these plant species, extracts of Lobostemon fruticosus , Scabiosa columbaria and Cotyledon orbiculata exhibited good activity in a concentration-dependent manner. All active extracts showed negligible in vitro toxicity using the MTT assay. Lobostemon fruticosus and Scabiosa columbaria extracts showed noteworthy anti-inflammatory activity in RAW 264.7 macrophages. The acetone extract of Lobostemon fruticosus stimulated the most collagen production at 122% above control values using the MRHF cell line, while all four of the selected extracts significantly stimulated cellular proliferation in vitro in the MRHF cell line. The screening of the selected plant species provided valuable preliminary information validating the use of some of the plants in traditional medicine used for wound healing in South Africa. This study is the first to discover through an evidence-based pharmacology approach the wound healing properties of such plant species using the zebrafish as an in vivo model. [Display omitted] • Scabiosa columbaria, C. orbiculata and L. fruticosus displayed in vivo pro-angiogenic activity. • Scabiosa columbaria and L. fruticosus showed potential to prevent excessive inflammation in vitro. • Lobostemon fruticosus extract inhibited nitric oxide production in a dose-dependent manner. • Lobostemon fruticosus extract significantly increased collagen synthesis in MRHF cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epilepsy is one of the major chronic diseases that does not have a cure to date. Adverse drug reactions have been reported from the use of available anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) which are also effective in only two-thirds of the patients. Accordingly, the identification of scaffolds with promising anti-seizure activity remains an important first step towards the development of new anti-epileptic therapies, with improved efficacy and reduced adverse effects. Herbal medicines are widely used in developing countries, including in the treatment of epilepsy but with little scientific evidence to validate this use. In the search for new epilepsy treatment options, the zebrafish has emerged as a chemoconvulsant-based model for epilepsy, mainly because of the many advantages that zebrafish larvae offer making them highly suitable for high-throughput drug screening. In this study, 20 medicinal plants traditionally used in South Africa to treat epilepsy were screened for anti-epileptic activity using a zebrafish larvae model. Toxicity triaging was conducted on 120 crude extracts, 44 fractions and three isolated compounds to determine the maximum tolerated concentration (MTC) of each extract, fraction or compound. MTC values were used to guide the concentration range selection in bioactivity studies. The effectiveness of crude extracts, fractions and isolated compounds from Rauvolfia caffra Sond. in suppression of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced seizure-like behaviour in a 6-dpf zebrafish larvae model was measured using the PTZ assay. Following a preliminary toxicity triage and bioactivity screen of crude extracts from 20 African plants used traditionally for the treatment and management of epilepsy, the methanolic extract of Rauvolfia caffra Sond. was identified as the most promising at suppressing PTZ induced seizure-like behaviour in a zebrafish larvae model. Subsequent bioactivity-guided fractionation and spectroscopic structural elucidation resulted in the isolation and identification of two tryptoline derivatives; a previously unreported alkaloid to which we assigned the trivial name rauverine H (1) and the known alkaloid pleiocarpamine (2). Pleiocarpamine was found to reduce PTZ-induced seizures in a dose-dependent manner. Accordingly, pleiocarpamine represents a promising scaffold for the development of new anti-seizure therapeutic compounds. Furthermore , the results of this study provide preliminary evidence to support the traditional use of Rauvolfia caffra Sond. in the treatment and management of epilepsy. These findings warrant further studies on the anti-epileptic potential of Rauvolfia caffra Sond. using other models. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the long term psychological sequelae of treating multiple victims of traumatic incidents, such as violent crime and motor vehicle accidents, and to assess staff exposure to violent patients in the emergency department., Methods: A self administered questionnaire booklet was distributed to all full time and part time staff working within the Johannesburg Hospital Trauma Unit during September 2002. Participation was voluntary. The questionnaire was specifically designed for the study as no relevant, validated questionnaire was found to be suitable. Psychological assessment comprised two standardised measures, the impact of event scale-revised and the Maslach burnout inventory., Results: Thirty eight staff members completed the questionnaire, a response rate of 90%. Over 40% of respondents had been physically assaulted while at work and over 90% had been verbally abused. Staff reported a significant level of post-traumatic symptoms, evaluated by the impact of event scale-revised (median = 17.5, range = 0-88), as a result of critical incidents they had been involved in during the previous six months. At least half of the respondents also reported a "high" degree of professional burnout in the three sub-scales of the Maslach burnout tnventory-that is emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and personal accomplishment., Conclusions: Preventative measures, such as increased availability of formal psychological support, should be considered by all trauma units to protect the long term emotional wellbeing of their staff.