Search

The 2020 pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19 disease is an unprecedented global emergency. COVID-19 appears to be a disease with an early phase where the virus replicates, coinciding with the first presentation of symptoms, followed by a later 'inflammatory' phase which results in severe disease in some individuals. It is known from other rapidly progressive infections such as sepsis and influenza that early treatment with antimicrobials is associated with a better outcome. The hypothesis is that this holds for COVID-19 and that early antiviral treatment may prevent progression to the later phase of the disease.Trial design: Phase IIA randomised, double-blind, 2 × 2 design, placebo-controlled, interventional trial.Participants will be randomised 1:1 by stratification, with the following factors: gender, obesity, symptomatic or asymptomatic, current smoking status presence or absence of comorbidity, and if the participant has or has not been vaccinated.Participants and investigators will both be blinded to treatment allocation (double-blind).We propose to conduct a proof-of-principle placebo-controlled clinical trial of favipiravir plus or minus nitazoxanide in health workers, their household members and patients treated at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) facilities. Participants with or without symptomatic COVID-19 or who tested positive will be assigned to receive favipiravir plus nitazoxanide or favipiravir plus nitazoxanide placebo. The primary outcome will be the difference in the amount of virus ('viral load') in the upper respiratory tract after 5 days of therapy. Secondary outcomes will include hospitalization, major morbidity and mortality, pharmacokinetics, and impact of antiviral therapy on viral genetic mutation rate. If favipiravir with nitazoxanide demonstrates important antiviral effects without significant toxicity, there will be a strong case for a larger trial in people at high risk of hospitalization or intensive care admission, for example older patients and/or those with comorbidities and with early disease.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04918927 . Registered on June 9, 2021.

En los últimos años, la gestión ambiental ha ganado importancia tanto a nivel mundial como empresarial, por lo que se han empezado a tomar acciones conscientes del impacto que esta gestión tiene tanto en el medio ambiente como en la renta generada. Esta investigación considera estimaciones del gasto corriente e inversión en la gestión ambiental del sector privado frente al PIB durante el período 2010-2015 en el Ecuador, apoyadas en la constatación de la curva ambiental de Kuznets (CKA) con el fin de conocer en qué medida dicho sector aporta en la reducción del deterioro ambiental. Para el desarrollo de este trabajo, se utilizaron indicadores obtenidos del Banco Central del Ecuador como el PIB, y del INEC, relacionados con la Encuesta de Información Ambiental Económica en empresas privadas de la cual se obtuvo valores relativos a gasto e inversión en gestión ambiental. La información fue procesada en el programa SPSS, se aplicó un análisis multivariado que descartó variables no significativas y probó el modelo de la CKA en relación con el desempeño ambiental. Se concluye que, con base en las estimaciones, el gasto en Gestión ambiental se encuentra en 0,34 % del PIB en promedio durante el período de estudio y el desempeño ambiental se encuentra en una fase creciente de la curva de Kuznets, es decir, un mayor crecimiento económico del país genera un mayor deterioro del medioambiente. Se confirma que el Ecuador, al ser un país en vías de desarrollo, todavía no alcanza el punto de inflexión de dicha curva, siendo esto posible cuando se alcance un nivel de ingreso per cápita que transforme en tendencia decreciente la degradación ambiental, lo que sugiere futuras líneas de investigación.

En los últimos años, la gestión ambiental ha ganado importancia tanto a nivel mundial como empresarial, por lo que se han empezado a tomar acciones conscientes del impacto que esta gestión tiene tanto en el medio ambiente como en la renta generada. Esta investigación considera estimaciones del gasto corriente e inversión en gestión ambiental del sector privado frente al PIB durante el periodo 2010-2015 en el Ecuador, apoyadas en la constatación de la curva ambiental de Kuznets (CKA) con el fin de conocer en qué medida dicho sector aporta en la reducción del deterioro ambiental. Para el desarrollo de este trabajo, se utilizaron indicadores obtenidos del Banco Central del Ecuador como el PIB, y del INEC, relacionados con la Encuesta de Información Ambiental Económica en empresas privadas de la cual se obtuvo valores relativos a gasto e inversión en gestión ambiental. La información fue procesada en el programa SPSS, se aplicó un análisis multivariado que descartó variables no significativas y probó el modelo de la CKA en relación con el desempeño ambiental. Se concluye que, con base en las estimaciones, el gasto en Gestión ambiental se encuentra en 0,34 % del PIB en promedio durante el periodo de estudio y el desempeño ambiental se encuentra en una fase creciente de la curva de Kuznets, es decir, un mayor crecimiento económico del país genera un mayor deterioro del medioambiente. Se confirma que el Ecuador, al ser un país en vías de desarrollo, todavía no alcanza el punto de inflexión de dicha curva, siendo esto posible cuando se alcance un nivel de ingreso per cápita que transforme en tendencia decreciente la degradación ambiental, lo que sugiere futuras líneas de investigación.

Feeding rates and selectivity of the calanoid copepods Calanus helgolandicus and Para-Pseudocalanus spp. on natural assemblages of microplankton were evaluated in the English Channel and western Celtic Sea during non-bloom and bloom conditions in April 2002. Ingestion rates of total chlorophyll- a were low at non-bloom stations where the phytoplankton community was dominated by cells 5 μm size fraction was dominant. Protozooplankton contributed to the copepod diet in all experiments, C. helgolandicus clearance and ingestion rates were highest for the ciliate Myrionecta rubra (626–1347 ml cop − 1 d − 1 ; 0.3–27 μg C cop − 1 d − 1 ). C. helgolandicus ingested between 1 and 18 μg C cop − 1 d − 1 (1–12% body C) from phytoplankton + protozooplankton food sources. The total carbon ingested by Para-Pseudocalanus spp. was lower (0.5–6 μg cop − 1 d − 1 ) but this was equivalent to between 6 and 78% of body carbon being ingested daily. Our data suggest that C. helgolandicus selected prey according to size; this was not the case for Para-Pseudocalanus spp. which became more selective as chlorophyll- a concentration increased. Grazing impact of the entire copepod community on protozooplankton was assessed. We found that at non-bloom stations between 12 and 17% of the protozooplankton community was being removed daily by the copepod community, whereas during the peak of the bloom the proportion being removed daily was only 2%. We conclude that during the spring bloom period copepods gained the majority of their carbon from phytoplankton ingestion but during non-bloom periods, protozooplankton and the ciliate M. rubra made a significant contribution to copepod diet.

Net sampling within the vicinity of the Crozet archipelago, in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean, was conducted during late spring/summer (November 2004-January 2005) to describe the composition, distribution and grazing impact of mesozooplankton, and to investigate their relationships with the prevailing oceanographic regime in the area. The mesozooplankton community was intimately linked with the large-scale physical circulation in the region. To the west and north of the Islands, the sub-Antarctic Front (SAF) presented a strong biogeographic boundary between subtropical and sub-Antarctic species. South and east of the SAF, the mesozooplankton community was dominated by Polar Frontal Zone (PFZ) copepod species. Cluster analysis of mesozooplankton abundance data identified two main communities in the PFZ, termed here Island and Oceanic. Island stations, representing the proposed iron-fertilised productive region north of the archipelago, contained an abundance (mean of 2269 ind m(-3)) of the neritic copepod Drepanopus pectinatus, whose presence indicated that the water had interacted with the Crozet Island shelf at some point. D. pectinatus was present in samples north of Crozet up to the SAF, confirming that water passing the Crozet Islands could be transported, throughout the region to the north. The Oceanic stations, south of the Islands and within the SAF, contained similar mesozooplankton abundances and biovolume to the Island stations suggesting little enhanced impact of the iron-fertilised phytoplankton bloom through the mesozooplankton food web. Copepod community grazing pressure, in both Island and Oceanic stations, during November and December was small ( < 7% of chlorophyll-a standing stock per day, < 35% primary production per day). By January, a phytoplankton bloom had developed at some of the Island stations (up to similar to 3000 mg C m(-2) d(-1)) and grazing pressure was < 1% of chlorophyll-a standing stock per day. At the oceanic stations, primary productivity had reduced from similar to 460 to similar to 200 mg C m(-2) d(-1), typical values for high-nutrient low-chlorophyll (HNLC) waters, and the copepod community grazing pressure had increased to similar to 90% of daily primary productivity. This suggests that a combination of grazing and micronutrient availability controls phytoplankton biomass in HNLC waters to the south of Crozet, while grazing had little impact on the "iron- fertilised" bloom north of the Crozet Islands. The intense seasonal phytoplankton bloom around Crozet may therefore be exported to the sea floor rather than fuelling the higher trophic levels. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accurate measurement of temperature is vital in the intensive care setting. A prospective trial was performed to compare the accuracy of tympanic, urinary, and axillary temperatures with that of pulmonary artery (PA) core temperature measurements.A total of 110 patients were enrolled in a prospective observational cohort study.Multidisciplinary intensive care unit of a university teaching hospital.The cohort was (mean +/- sd) 65 +/- 16 yrs of age, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score was 25 +/- 9, 58% of the patients were men, and 76% were mechanically ventilated. The accuracy of tympanic (averaged over both ears), axillary (averaged over both sides), and urinary temperatures was referenced (as mean difference, Delta degrees centigrade) to PA temperatures as standard in 6,703 recordings. Lin concordance correlation (pc) and Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement (degrees centigrade) described the relationship between paired measurements. Regression analysis (linear mixed model) assessed covariate confounding with respect to temperature modes and reliability formulated as an intraclass correlation coefficient.Concordance of PA temperatures with tympanic, urinary, and axillary was 0.77, 0.92, and 0.83, respectively. Compared with PA temperatures, Delta (limits of agreement) were 0.36 degrees C (-0.56 degrees C, 1.28 degrees C), -0.05 degrees C (-0.69 degrees C, 0.59 degrees C), and 0.30 degrees C (-0.42 degrees C, 1.01 degrees C) for tympanic, urinary, and axillary temperatures, respectively. Temperature measurement mode effect, estimated via regression analysis, was consistent with concordance and Delta (PA vs. urinary, p = .98). Patient age (p = .03), sedation score (p = .0001), and dialysis (p = .0001) had modest negative relations with temperature; quadratic relationships were identified with adrenaline and dobutamine. No interactions with particular temperature modes were identified (por = .12 for all comparisons) and no relationship was identified with either mean arterial pressure or APACHE II score (por = .64). The average temperature mode intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was 0.72.Agreement of tympanic with pulmonary temperature was inferior to that of urinary temperature, which, on overall assessment, seemed more likely to reflect PA core temperature.

Oithona spp. is considered the most abundant and ubiquitous copepod genus in the marine environment, often outnumbering calanoid copepods throughout the year. Previous studies have argued that one of the reasons for such success is that the respiration rate of Oithona spp. is insensitive to temperature changes and lower than in calanoids. However, comprehensive data on the thermal biology of this important copepod genus is lacking. In this study, the respiration rate of adult female O. similis from the English Channel, was measured over the temperature range 4 to 25°C. The respiration rate of O. similis changed exponentially with temperature (ln O2-rate = -3.59 + 0.114 T, df = 35, r 2 = 0.85, p < 0.001, Q10 = 3.1) similar to that of other poikilotherms. Over the temperature range examined, O. similis basic metabolic cost varied from a minimum of ~1.4% body-C d -1 at 4°C to a maximum of 23% body-C d -1 at 25°C, corresponding to an energy demand of ~3% and 32% body-C d -1 respectively. The respiration rate of O. similis, from the present study, is ~8 times lower than that of a calanoid copepod of equivalent body weight estimated from published empirical metabolism-temperature data. We suggest that these differences in metabolic rates may account for the year-round persistence and higher abundances of Oithona spp. over calanoid copepods, particu- larly in oceanic and oligotrophic environments where food resources may be limiting for calanoid copepods.

Appendicularians have some of the highest growth rates among metazoans but they are usually outnumbered by the slower growing copepods in mesozooplankton communities. We present experimental evidence that the eggs and juveniles of the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica are actively consumed by various copepod species. Clearance rates of Calanus helgolandicus, Candacia armata, Centropages typicus, Eucalanus crassus, and Temora longicornis on eggs of O. dioica were usually above 300 ml copepod-1 d-1. The ingestion rates of C. helgolandicus on O. dioica eggs did not reach saturation even at the highest egg concentrations (4,560 eggs L-1). Although C. helgolandicus, C. typicus, and C. armata preyed actively on 1-mm-long O. dioica (approximately 0.2 mm in trunk length), predatory pressure decreased with increasing appendicularian size. We suggest that the association of dense appendicularian populations with phytoplankton blooms could be explained by their opportunistic response to beneficial conditions before copepod densities become high enough to cause a decline in appendicularian populations due to predation. Our results indicate that, in addition to the direct shunt of biomass from picoplankton to fish, appendicularians can occupy a similar role to that of microzooplankton in the ocean. They represent an intermediate step in the less efficient, picoplankton–appendicularia–copepod-fish food chain.

The current practice in immunochemistry staining for Lynch syndrome (LS) is to use a four-antibody panel, (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2) to screen for the four Mismatch Repair (MMR) gene expressions involved. We hypothesised that testing two antibodies (MSH6 and PMS2), followed by the other two only when there is loss of expression of the first two antibodies, would be equally effective as a four antibody panel in detecting LS. This hypothesis is based on the biochemical binding properties of the MMR proteins.We tested this hypothesis on a patient cohort consisting of all cases of colorectal cancer that were stained for MMR gene expression at Auckland City Hospital (Auckland, New Zealand) from the years 2000 to 2010 (inclusive), providing a series of 410 cases for this study. Exclusions were made based on heterogeneous staining pattern and unsatisfactory staining results on MSH6 and PMS2, which left n=400 included in the study.The MMR gene protein stains were regarded as demonstrating loss of expression (LOE) when there was no uptake in the nucleus of the tumour cells, with a positive internal control. The results from our analysis supported our hypothesis. Seventy-four cases showed LOE of MSH6 or PMS2. One of them showed LOE of all four MMR proteins. For the remaining 326 cases, there was no LOE of all four MMR proteins.Our study gives further evidence that an initial two-antibody panel consisting of PMS2 and MSH6 would be as effective as a four-antibody panel in detecting DNA MMR gene protein LOE. This study has implications for significant cost cutting and improved efficiency in detection of DNA MMR gene protein LOE in LS.

The Tertiary Education Strategy 2010 – 2015 in Aotearoa/New Zealand states that the Government aims to ‘increase the number of Māori students achieving at the higher level’ (Tertiary Education Commission 2010, p10). For this to be achieved universities need to play their part in assisting Māori students to progress beyond the undergraduate degree and into postgraduate study. Universities take their origins from western European values, ideals and world view which are reflected in the curriculum, management systems and processes. It is predicated that by 2020 over half the tertiary student population will be Māori due to a youthful Māori population (Department of Labour, 2008). This will be a challenge for universities. Therefore, the role of a Māori administrator within the university system becomes critical in being able to provide useful insight to the university on how to retain Māori students in this changing environment. This paper draws on my Master of Philosophy research. It will critically examine the role Māori administrator’s play in the recruitment and retention of Māori students in universities in Aotearoa/New Zealand including culturally specific pastoral care, accurate course advice, information on degree requirements, appropriate learning pathways for students and supporting academic staff to track student progress through to completion. These additional responsibilities, often unrecognised by the university, demonstrates the important role a Māori administrator can make in retaining Māori students in the academy.

Diatoms dominate spring bloom phytoplankton assemblages in temperate waters and coastal upwelling regions of the global ocean. Copepods usually dominate the zooplankton in these regions and are the prey of many larval fish species. Recent laboratory studies suggest that diatoms may have a deleterious effect on the success of copepod egg hatching. These findings challenge the classical view of marine food-web energy flow from diatoms to fish by means of copepods. Egg mortality is an important factor in copepod population dynamics, thus, if diatoms have a deleterious in situ effect, paradoxically, high diatom abundance could limit secondary production. Therefore, the current understanding of energy transfer from primary production to fisheries in some of the most productive and economically important marine ecosystems may be seriously flawed. Here we present in situ estimates of copepod egg hatching success from twelve globally distributed areas, where diatoms dominate the phytoplankton assemblage. We did not observe a negative relationship between copepod egg hatching success and either diatom biomass or dominance in the microplankton in any of these regions. The classical model for diatom-dominated system remains valid.

Recently, I have had the opportunity to visit an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander preschool/kindergarten as part of a course I did called “Children with special needs.”

The addition of iron to high- nutrient, low- chlorophyll regions induces phytoplankton blooms that take up carbon(1-3). Carbon export from the surface layer and, in particular, the ability of the ocean and sediments to sequester carbon for many years remains, however, poorly quantified(3). Here we report data from the CROZEX experiment(4) in the Southern Ocean, which was conducted to test the hypothesis that the observed north - south gradient in phytoplankton concentrations in the vicinity of the Crozet Islands is induced by natural iron fertilization that results in enhanced organic carbon flux to the deep ocean. We report annual particulate carbon fluxes out of the surface layer, at three kilometres below the ocean surface and to the ocean floor. We find that carbon fluxes from a highly productive, naturally iron-fertilized region of the sub- Antarctic Southern Ocean are two to three times larger than the carbon fluxes from an adjacent high-nutrient, low- chlorophyll area not fertilized by iron. Our findings support the hypothesis that increased iron supply to the glacial sub- Antarctic may have directly enhanced carbon export to the deep ocean(5). The CROZEX sequestration efficiency(6) ( the amount of carbon sequestered below the depth of winter mixing for a given iron supply) of 8,600 mol mol(-1) was 18 times greater than that of a phytoplankton bloom induced artificially by adding iron(7), but 77 times smaller than that of another bloom(8) initiated, like CROZEX, by a natural supply of iron. Large losses of purposefully added iron can explain the lower efficiency of the induced bloom(6). The discrepancy between the blooms naturally supplied with iron may result in part from an underestimate of horizontal iron supply.

Long-term research in the western English Channel, undertaken by the marine laboratories in Plymouth, is described and details of survey methods, sites, and time series given in this chapter. Major findings are summarized and their limitations outlined. Current research, with recent reestablishment and expansion of many sampling programmes, is presented, and possible future approaches are indicated. These unique long-term data sets provide an environmental baseline for predicting complex ecological responses to local, regional, and global environmental change. Between 1888 and the present, investigations have been carried out into the physical, chemical, and biological components (ranging from plankton and fish to benthic and intertidal assemblages) of the western English Channel ecosystem. The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom has performed the main body of these observations. More recent contributions come from the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey, now the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, dating from 1957; the Institute for Marine Environmental Research, from 1974 to 1987; and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, which was formed by amalgamation of the Institute for Marine Environmental Research and part of the Marine Biological Association, from 1988. Together, these contributions constitute a unique data series-one of the longest and most comprehensive samplings of environmental and marine biological variables in the world. Since the termination of many of these time series in 1987-1988 during a reorganisation of UK marine research, there has been a resurgence of interest in long-term environmental change. Many programmes have been restarted and expanded with support from several agencies. The observations span significant periods of warming (1921-1961; 1985-present) and cooling (1962-1980). During these periods of change, the abundance of key species underwent dramatic shifts. The first period of warming saw changes in zooplankton, pelagic fish, and larval fish, including the collapse of an important herring fishery. During later periods of change, shifts in species abundances have been reflected in other assemblages, such as the intertidal zone and the benthic fauna. Many of these changes appear to be related to climate, manifested as temperature changes, acting directly or indirectly. The hypothesis that climate is a forcing factor is widely supported today and has been reinforced by recent studies that show responses of marine organisms to climatic attributes such as the strength of the North Atlantic Oscillation. The long-term data also yield important insights into the effects of anthropogenic disturbances such as fisheries exploitation and pollution. Comparison of demersal fish hauls over time highlights fisheries effects not only on commercially important species but also on the entire demersal community. The effects of acute ("Torrey Canyon" oil spill) and chronic (tributyltin [TBT] antifoulants) pollution are clearly seen in the intertidal records. Significant advances in diverse scientific disciplines have been generated from research undertaken alongside the long-term data series. Many concepts in marine biological textbooks have originated in part from this work (e.g. the seasonal cycle of plankton, the cycling of nutrients, the pelagic food web trophic interactions, and the influence of hydrography on pelagic communities). Associated projects currently range from studies of marine viruses and bacterial ecology to zooplankton feeding dynamics and validation of ocean colour satellite sensors. Recent advances in technology mean these long-term programmes are more valuable than ever before. New technology collects data on finer temporal and spatial scales and can be used to capture processes that operate on multiple scales and help determine their influence in the marine environment. The MBA has been in the forefront of environmental modelling of shelf seas since the early 1970s. Future directions being pursued include the continued development of coupled physical-ecosystem models using western English Channel time-series data. These models will include both the recent high-resolution data and the long-term time-series information to predict effects of future climate change scenarios. It would be beneficial to provide more spatial and high-resolution temporal context to these data, which are fundamental for capturing processes that operate at multiple scales and understanding how they operate within the marine environment. This is being achieved through employment of technologies such as satellite-derived information and advanced telemetry instruments that provide real-time in situ profile data from the water column.

Long-term research in the western English Channel, undertaken by the marine laboratories in Plymouth, is described and details of survey methods, sites, and time series given in this chapter. Major findings are summarized and their limitations outlined. Current research, with recent reestablishment and expansion of many sampling programmes, is presented, and possible future approaches are indicated. These unique long-term data sets provide an environmental baseline,for predicting complex ecological responses to local, regional, and global environmental change. Between 1888 and the present, investigations have been carried out into the physical, chemical, and biological components (ranging from plankton and fish to benthic and intertidal assemblages) of the western English Channel ecosystem. The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom has performed the main body of these observations. More recent contributions come from the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey, now the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, dating from 1957; the Institute for Marine Environmental Research, from 1974 to 1987; and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, which was formed by amalgamation of the Institute for Marine Environmental Research and part of the Marine Biological Association,,from 1988. Together, these contributions constitute a unique data series-one of the longest and most comprehensive samplings of enviromnental and marine biological variables in the world. Since the termination of many of these time series in 1987-1988 during a reorganisation of UK marine research, there has been a resurgence of interest in long-term environmental change. Many programmes have been restarted and expanded with support from several agencies. The observations span significant periods of warming (1921-1961; 1985-present) and cooling (1962-1980). During these periods of change, the abundance of key species underwent dramatic shifts. The first period of warming saw changes in zooplankton, pelagic fish, and larval fish, including the collapse of an important herring fishery. During later periods of change, shifts in species abundances have been reflected in other assemblages, such as the intertidal zone and the benthic fauna. Many of these changes appear to be related to climate, manifested as temperature changes, acting directly or indirectly. The hypothesis that climate is a forcing factor is widely supported today and has been reinforced by recent studies that show, responses of marine organisms to climatic attributes such as the strength of the North Atlantic Oscillation. The long-term data also yield important insights into the effects of anthropogenic disturbances such as fisheries exploitation and pollution. Comparison of demersal fish hauls over time highlights fisheries effects not only on commercially important species but also on the entire demersal community. The effects of acute ("Torrey Canyon" oil spill) and chronic (tributyltin [TBT] antifoulants) pollution are clearly seen in the intertidal records. Significant advances in diverse scientific disciplines have been generated from research undertaken alongside the long-term data series. Many concepts in marine biological textbooks have originated in part from this work (e.g. the seasonal cycle of plankton, the cycling of nutrients, the pelagic food web trophic interactions, and the influence of hydrography on pelagic communities). Associated projects currently range.from studies of marine viruses and bacterial ecology to zooplankton feeding dynamics and validation of ocean colour satellite sensors. Recent advances in technology mean these long-term programmes are more valuable than ever before. New technology collects data on finer temporal and spatial scales and can be used to capture processes that operate on multiple scales and hell) determine their influence in the marine environment. The MBA has been in the forefront of environmental modelling of sheaf seas since the early 1970s. Future directions being pursued include the continued development of coupled physical-ecosystem models using western English Channel time-series data. These models will include both the recent high-resolution data and the long-term time-series information to predict effects of future climate change scenarios. It, would be beneficial to provide more spatial and high-resolution temporal context to these data, which are fundamental for capturing processes that operate at multiple scales and understanding hoiv they operate within the marine environment. This is being achieved through employment of technologies such as sateillite-derived information and advanced telemetry instruments that pro vide real-time in situ profile data from the water column.

The National Department of Land Affairs received a mandate in 1994 to develop a land reform programme aimed at redressing the legacy of unequal land distribution in South Africa while contributing to national reconciliation, growth and development. The LiNC Viewer is a web-based, spatial information system developed for use by the Department of Land Affairs who plan and manage land reform. The major advantage of the LiNC Viewer to the land reform officials is immediate access to spatial information concerning the location of the property or properties in relation to infrastructure and services, relating to the feasibility of the project. Furthermore, costs and time spent travelling to the areas can be saved. This chapter explains the steps followed to establish the LiNC Viewer, the data that are available in the system, the system’s functionality and the future development plans. In general, the response of users to the system has been positive and this enthusiasm must be exploited in order to make the use of spatial information an integral part of the business of land reform. Difficulties were encountered in developing the LiNC Viewer, as well as in integrating its use into the land reform process. The difficulties are discussed and the steps taken to address these are outlined.