Murder they cried: Revisiting medicine murders in literature

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 5 August 1996In July 1949 the British Government appointed an anthropologist from Cambridge. G. I. Jones, to inquire into the diretlo murders in the Protectorate of Basutofand. From the report which he compiled, the occurrence of the murders is recorded from 1895, where there were 6 reported cases in that year, rising and declining through the years, until they reached a peak of 20 in 1948 (Jones, 1951:104). According to Jones' report, among a variety of reasons which were responsible for the epidemic political and administrative changes which involved positions of marena (chiefs) and boramotse (headmen) seem to be the uppermost for the practice of diretlo murders. Medicine murder, a concept which is often translated as ritual murder, in Sesotho is dircilo, a cognate of ditlo: According to Jones' definition: "Ditto is the traditional name for flesh and other parts of the body obtained from the body of an enemy killed in the normal course of warfare... diretlo is not obtained from bodies of strangers or enemies, but from a definite person who is thought to possess specific attributes considered essential for the particular medicine being made." We are further informed that a person marked for diretlo is "usually a member of the same community and is frequently a relative of some of the killers. He is killed specifically for this diretlo which has to be cut from his body while he is alive" (1951:14). These diretlo were mixed as an ingredient for a lenaka (horn) medicine. My interest in this phenomenon is limited to the period 1910 and 1960. These dates have no historical significance, but mark the time of the writing or publication of the Sesotho literary texts which deal mainly with diretto murders as a theme. Those which I would like to study in this discussion are: Mofolo's Chaka (1925), Matlosa's Katiba (1950), Mopeli-Paulus' Liretlo (1950) and Khaketla's Mosali a Nkhola (1960). I will also refer to Guma's Morena Mohlomi, Mor'a Monyane (1960), and Ntsane's Nna Stijene Kokobela CID (1963). In critical writings on the literature of Basutoiand so far diretlo has never been addressed as a major theme in these works. Studies generally tend to see this theme as part of the run of the mill Christianity versus Sesotho traditions. This discussion is meant to redress this shortcoming. It also sets out, with reference to the abovementioned texts, to look at the nature of intertextuality - the coreference of texts, and also to study how far given writers could be said to reflect the fears and aspirations of their society, more from an applied than a theoretical perspective. The concept of intertextuality will be broadened so that the social and historical discourse which forms the context of the text will be regarded as text. Bearing the above definition of diretlo in mind, I would like to consider the literary texts in the chronological order of their publication, starting with Mofolo's Chaka. The year 1910 is noted as the time when Mofolo completed the manuscript of this novel

The effect of hypophysectomy on pancreatic islet hormone and insulin-like growth factor I content and mRNA expression in rat

The growth arrest after hypophysectomy in rats is mainly due to growth hormone (GH) deficiency because replacement of GH or insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I, the mediator of GH action, leads to resumption of growth despite the lack of other pituitary hormones. Hypophysectomized (hypox) rats have, therefore, often been used to study metabolic consequences of GH deficiency and its effects on tissues concerned with growth. The present study was undertaken to assess the effects of hypophysectomy on the serum and pancreatic levels of the three major islet hormones insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as on IGF-I. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), in situ hybridization (ISH), radioimmunoassays (RIA), and Northern blot analysis were used to localize and quantify the hormones in the pancreas at the peptide and mRNA levels. IHC showed slightly decreased insulin levels in the β cells of hypox compared with normal, age-matched rats whereas glucagon in α cells and somatostatin in δ cells showed increase. IGF-I, which localized to α cells, showed decrease. ISH detected a slightly higher expression of insulin mRNA and markedly stronger signals for glucagon and somatostatin mRNA in the islets of hypox rats. Serum glucose concentrations did not differ between the two groups although serum insulin and C-peptide were lower and serum glucagon was higher in the hypox animals. These changes were accompanied by a more than tenfold drop in serum IGF-I. The pancreatic insulin content per gram of tissue was not significantly different in hypox and normal rats. Pancreatic glucagon and somatostatin per gram of tissue were higher in the hypox animals. The pancreatic IGF-I content of hypox rats was significantly reduced. Northern blot analysis gave a 2.6-, 4.5-, and 2.2-fold increase in pancreatic insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin mRNA levels, respectively, in hypox rats, and a 2.3-fold decrease in IGF-I mRNA levels. Our results show that the fall of serum IGF-I after hypophysectomy is accompanied by a decrease in pancreatic IGF-I peptide and mRNA but by partly discordant changes in the serum concentrations of insulin and glucagon and the islet peptide and/or mRNA content of the three major islet hormones. It appears that GH deficiency resulting in a "low IGF-I state” affects translational efficiency of these hormones as well as their secretory responses. The maintenance of normoglycemia in the presence of reduced insulin and elevated glucagon serum levels, both of which would be expected to raise blood glucose, may result mainly from the enhanced insulin sensitivity, possibly due to GH deficiency and the subsequent decrease in IGF-I productio

Histomorphological analysis of the urogenital diaphragm in elderly women: a cadaver study

The objective of this study was to describe the histomorphological structure of the urogenital diaphragm in elderly women using a modern morphometric procedure. Biopsies were taken from the posterior margin of the urogenital diaphragm of 22 female cadavers (mean age, 87years) using a 60-mm punch. Hematoxylin/eosin and Goldner sections were analyzed with the Cavalieri estimator. The mean thickness of the urogenital diaphragm was 5.5mm. The main component was connective tissue. All biopsies contained smooth muscle. Eighteen biopsies contained more smooth muscle than striated muscle. In six of 22 biopsies, no striated muscle was found. The ratio of striated to smooth muscle to connective tissue was 1:2.3:13.3. Muscle fibers were dispersed in all parts of the urogenital diaphragm. The urogenital diaphragm of elderly women mainly consists of connective tissue. Smooth muscle was also found but to a lesser extent. The frequently used English term "perineal membrane” for the urogenital diaphragm is justified and well describes our findings in elderly wome

Employees’ perceptions of the employment relationships, work engagement and performance management system in the selected South African National departments

This study examines employees' perceptions regarding employment relationships, work engagement (WE), and performance management systems (PMS) within specific South African National Departments. This subject has not been thoroughly investigated in prior research within a comparable context. Despite extensive research on PMS, employment relationships, and WE, there remains a notable gap in comprehending employees' perceptions of these elements within the chosen South African National departments. This research aims to address the existing gap and provide a thorough understanding of these important aspects. This research is of significant importance and urgency. The research employed quantitative and cross-sectional designs. This study included 400 administrative employees, who were purposively selected from a population of 10,660. The research focused on employees at job levels 1 to 12, specifically those who were permanently employed and possessed a minimum of five years of experience within the department. A structured questionnaire was utilised as the primary instrument for data collection, comprising closed-ended questions. Descriptive statistics were conducted using SPSS to evaluate the reliability of the measurement instrument. The study results revealed mixed perceptions among respondents; nonetheless, there is a predominantly positive view regarding compliance, fairness, good faith, and truth within the selected government departments. The study indicated that respondents exhibited a notably positive perception of vigour, dedication, and absorption in their work. A moderate positive perception was noted regarding the understanding of PMS, PMS alignment, and the focus on performance management. This study presents practical implications, emphasising the importance for managers to prioritise employee attitudes towards the performance management system (PMS), alignment of performance management, organisational culture, and the employee performance review process, rather than solely comprehending the PMS process itself

Sources of suspended load in the upper Orange River, South Africa

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.A lot of work has been done on the upper Orange River but little attention has been given to the source of its suspended sediment load. The source of the suspended load is important because it can provide insight into soil erosion, a major problem in South Africa and globally. In this study the composition of the suspended sediment load of upper Orange River tributaries is related to bed rock geology, topography, soils and land use. Orange River catchment bed rock includes sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup and flood basalts of the Drakensberg Group each with distinct geochemical signatures

Tribute: Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane (1948–2014)

No Abstract

Studying South African Black Gay Men’s Experiences: A First-Time Researcher’s Experience of Reflexivity in a Qualitative Feminist Study

Qualitative research on gay experiences in South African society is slowly gaining momentum. However, it is accompanied by serious ethical implications and positionality dilemmas that should be considered in carrying out such research. Black gay researchers’ discussions of reflexivity in research that focuses on gay identities and realities in South Africa remain minimal. This paper focuses on a first-time gay male researcher’s experience of being reflexive in a qualitative feminist study on the realities of Black gay men in mining workplaces. It highlights the importance of reflexivity and how it is enacted by a gay researcher who studies a gay population that they are in some way a part of, especially in South Africa, where sexuality is still a contentious topic. It is easy for a researcher to alter participants’ narratives when they are a part of the population because they already have certain perceptions based on their personal experiences. This paper posits that the sexual and other intersecting identities and personal experiences of a researcher matter in research on vulnerable sexual minorities and should be a basis for critical reflections in qualitative feminist research

A Bisociated Domain-Based Serendipitous Novelty-Recommendation Technique for Recommender Systems

Traditional recommendation paradigms such as content-based filtering (CBF) tend to recommend items that are very similar to user profile characteristics and item input, resulting in the classical twin problem of overspecialization and concentration bias of recommendations. This twin problem is prevalent with CBF recommender systems due to the utilisation of accuracy metrics to retrieve similar items, and, limiting recommendation computations to single recognized user-centered domains, rather than cross-domains.  This paper proposes a Bisociated domain-based serendipitous novelty recommendation techniques using Bisolinkers exploratory creativity discovery technique. The use of Bisolinkers enables establishing unique links between two seemingly unrelated domains, to enhance recommendation accuracy and user satisfaction. The presence of similar terms in two habitually incompatible domains demonstrates that two seemingly unrelated domains contain elements that are related and may act as a link to connect these two domains. Keywords: recommender systems, novelty, machine learning, outlier detection, bisociation &nbsp