Die China-kwessie in Suid-Afrika se buitelandse beleid

The Mandela government has from the outset been confronted with the dilemma of South Africa's relations with the two Chinese political entities. The new government inherited a long-standing, close and formal relationship between South Africa and the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was a partnership born and bred in the era of apartheid and South Africa's international isolation. White-ruled South Africa did not recognise the People's Republic of China (PRC) and thus had no official ties with the communist state. The incoming government immediately committed itself to establishing formal links with the PRC, but insisted that this would not be done at the expense of existing relations with Taiwan. For over two years the South African government tried this dual approach. In November 1996 President Nelson Mandela unexpectedly announced that South Africa will shift recognition to the PRC by the end of 1997 and abandon Taiwan to the status of a non-state entity. This article examines the reasons for President Mandela's about-turn, placing it in the context of the public debate in South Africa on the so-called China issue

Platform Dependent Verification: On Engineering Verification Tools for 21st Century

The paper overviews recent developments in platform-dependent explicit-state LTL model checking.Comment: In Proceedings PDMC 2011, arXiv:1111.006

Persoonlikheidseienskappe as voorspellers van die loopbaansukses van provinsiale verkeersbeamptes.

The effective selection of competent provincial traffic officers has become an urgent necessity for provincial governments. Due to a lack of relevant research on which selection decisions can be based, a study was conducted on a total of 206 respondents from the Free State Provincial Government to determine whether differences exist between the personality profiles of successful and relatively unsuccessful provincial traffic officers. No statistically significant differences were found between the successful and unsuccessful groups on the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire. Various shortcomings of the study are discussed and recommendations for research suggested

Risky behaviour and psychosocial correlates in adolescents - is there a link with tuberculosis?

Reasons for the increase in incidence of Tuberculosis (TB) in late adolescence are poorly understood. One hypothesis is that psychological and behavioural variables associated with adolescence may increase risk of developing TB. The study aimed to determine whether psychosocial and behavioural variables affect incidence of TB disease in adolescents. Methods: A case control study design was used in adolescents who were participants in a TB epidemiological study. Cases were adolescents diagnosed with TB disease. Approximately half of the controls had no TB disease but a positive TST indicative of latent TB. Half had neither TB disease nor latent TB. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by participants. The questionnaire consisted of a combination of standardised psychosocial instruments. Results: Of 292 participants, 62 were cases, 112 had latent TB and 118 neither TB disease nor latent TB. There were no significant differences in instrument scores between cases and controls. There was a trend for certain adverse life events to be more common in the TB-disease group. Conclusion: In adolescents, a trend for association between TB incidence and psychosocial and behavioural variables was not statistically significant. Given the trend, research with larger samples, and more comprehensive assessment of the relationship between stressors and TB, is warranted

Archive of Darkness:William Kentridge's Black Box/Chambre Noire

Situating itself in histories of cinema and installation art, William Kentridge's Black Box/Chambre Noire (2005) raises questions about screens, exhibition space, site-specificity and spectatorship. Through his timely intervention in a debate on Germany’s colonial past, Kentridge’s postcolonial art has contributed to the recognition and remembrance of a forgotten, colonial genocide. This article argues that, by transposing his signature technique of drawings for projection onto a new set of media, Kentridge explores how and what we can know through cinematic projection in the white cube. In particular, his metaphor of the illuminated shadow enables him to animate archival fragments as shadows and silhouettes. By creating a multi-directional archive, Black Box enables an affective engagement with the spectres of colonialism and provides a forum for the calibration of moral questions around reparation, reconciliation and forgiveness

Evolving Identification of Blood Cells Associated with Clinically Isolated Syndrome: Importance of Time since Clinical Presentation and Diagnostic MRI

It is not clear how the profile of immune cells in peripheral blood differs between patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and healthy controls (HC). This study aimed to identify a CIS peripheral blood signature that may provide clues for potential immunomodulatory approaches early in disease. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected from 18 people with CIS, 19 HC and 13 individuals with other demyelinating conditions (ODC) including multiple sclerosis (MS). Individuals with CIS separated into two groups, namely those with early (≤14 days post-diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); n = 6) and late (≥27 days; n = 12) blood sampling. Transitional B cells were increased in the blood of CIS patients independently of when blood was taken. However, there were two time-dependent effects found in the late CIS group relative to HC, including decreased CD56bright NK cells, which correlated significantly with time since MRI, and increased CD141+ myeloid dendritic cell (mDC2) frequencies. Higher CD1c+ B cells and lower non-classical monocyte frequencies were characteristic of more recent demyelinating disease activity (ODC and early CIS). Analysing cell populations by time since symptoms (subjective) and diagnostic MRI (objective) may contribute to understanding CIS

Open access and open source in chemistry

Scientific data are being generated and shared at ever-increasing rates. Two new mechanisms for doing this have developed: open access publishing and open source research. We discuss both, with recent examples, highlighting the differences between the two, and the strengths of both