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Cankers leading to branch, stem and plant death were observed on the South African endemic Rafnia amplexicaulis (Fabaceae) in the Cederberg Wilderness Area, South Africa, during September 2021. Conidiomatal pycnidia were found developing on the cankers, and isolations consistently yielded a Microsphaeropsis species. Phylogenetic analysis based on partial nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS), the nuclear large subunit (LSU) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) regions showed that the fungus represented an undescribed species. Based on the multigene phylogeny and morphological characteristics, we describe the species here as M. rafniae sp. nov. Pathogenicity tests and the fulfilment of Koch's postulates confirmed that M. rafniae sp. nov. is the cause of the cankers of R. amplexicaulis. Presently, this disease is known from a single location in South Africa, and further surveys are required to determine its distribution and relative importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I reflect on a recent development currently shaping programme evaluation as field, which makes the case for evaluators facilitating evaluation training evaluees to self-evaluate and improve the programmes they teach. Fetterman argues persuasively that the practice was incipient in the field and required formalization and acceptance as framework in mainstream evaluation for the field to retain integrity. Its use widely across the globe, as well as in South Africa, prompts questions about the form it should take when adopted outside its country of origin. This is the focus of the article. As conceptualised at the time, Fetterman's evaluation framework is discussed to show its procedure and developmental stages. Used in a national pilot in South Africa in the early 2000s, the framework assisted implement "inclusion" in state schools as it occurred, endeavouring, as in the US, to seamlessly move between implementation, gauging worth and further implementation, in one of three programmes in the pilot. After 18 months, the data indicated that inclusion seemed in place in most schools, take-up differed in rural and urban schools, and was likely to be sustained less strongly in rural than urban schools. Four adaptations are suggested to extend its reach where used here.

There has been a recent increase in new records of insects from the subtropical parts of South Africa that have expanded their historical ranges to now include the biologically and climatically atypical southwestern Cape region at the tip of the African continent. Suggested mechanisms include climate change, provision of previously absent nutriments and direct transport of individuals via human activities. Here we summarise previous reports of fruit chafer beetles (Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Cetoniini) invading the southwestern Cape region, provide additional data on their distributions and provide data for additional taxa that have now also been newly recorded in the region. The newly reported species Pachnoda sinuata sinuata probably naturally occurs in the region but has gone unnoticed due to specialised habitat requirements and morphological similarity to a widespread generalist. Some taxa are very recent arrivals while others have been known from the region for a long time, but all are experiencing noticeable population increases in urban and agricultural areas. We propose that these species likely dispersed from their native ranges to the southwestern Cape via direct transport of colonised nursery stock and their recent increases in population size are consistent with what is expected when founder populations overcome barriers to reproduction. All of the new arrivals are well-adapted to transformed landscapes in the subtropics and do not occupy natural vegetation in the newly invaded ranges, strengthening the hypothesis that pre-adaptation to human settlements aid biological invasions of otherwise unsuitable bioregions in South Africa. As many additional species are pre-adapted to transformed biotopes in subtropical areas, one would expect that additional species will colonise the southwestern Cape in the future with unknown economic, ecological and evolutionary consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the phoretic association between Cyaneolytta Péringuey triungulins (Coleoptera: Meloidae) and Anthia Weber (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in southern Africa. It mentions the important ecological factors that determine a phoretic association. It also mentions the information on the fly's life-cycle and phoresis.

Current conceptualization of women's sexual response recognizes overlapping phases of variable order Even without their sensing sexual desire at a particular moment, women initiate or agree to a sexual encounter for numerous reasons. Provided there is adequate attention to appropriate sexual stimulation and an ability to remain focused, subjective arousal follows. That arousal is often poorly correlated with typically prompt reflexive genital congestion. If this complex state of arousal is accompanied by positive emotions and thoughts, then sexual desire, along with further arousal, is triggered. Positive sexual experiences provide further motivation to be sexual again. Understanding this cycle allows patients and clinicians to identify points of interruption, guiding traditional and recently adopted forms of psychosexual therapy for problematic desire and arousal Given the strong correlation between women's sexual function and their mental and relationship health, it is necessary to first address these parameters. Recommendations to change official definitions of women's sexual disorders have been published. Pharmacologic and hormonal therapies for sexual disorders are currently under investigation. There are numerous gaps in present knowledge regarding the need and safety of any testosterone supplementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into school curricula indicates an instability of focus. Curriculum may refer to a disciplinary perspective on a programme, to what practitioners ‘do’ in a programme, to programme content and its arrangement, to the hidden assumptions patterning thought and action and embedded in the discourse of a curriculum, to the historical and political context of curriculum, to the official curriculum, to the curriculum as curriculum-in-use, to combining academic disciplines in Learning Areas, school with community, or incorporating disability into the mainstream. As opposed to curriculum research being seen as an aspirant body of knowledge, it has been argued that curriculum studies may more usefully be seen as a social movement which focuses, in the first instance, on the unstable but usable arts of the practitioner, rather than on the systematic application of a discipline to elucidate programmer purposes and effects and to reflect back on the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing awareness and use of effective biomedical treatments for erectile dysfunction (ED). Although often originating partly from pathophysiological factors, ED has interpersonal and psychosocial implications for men and their partners. This paper draws attention to the need for clinicians to address the affective and cognitive factors that can be both causes and consequences of ED. A review of the treatment outcome literature supports the need for an integrated approach to the treatment of ED that employs biomedical treatments in the context of overall sexual health and interpersonal relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]