A. Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) Publications

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Quest Volume 1 Number 3 2004
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2004) Griffin, Jenny; de Mello Koch, Robert; Meiklejohn, Ian; Mjwara, Philemon; Greyling, Hardus; Ntenteni, Skhumbuzo; Hartley, Matt; Nabarro, Frank; Paul & Elaine, Heemstra; Manchester, Keith; Summer, Paul; van Wilgen, Brian
Contents: Laser light fantastic- Lasers for industry, environment, and health: Tsunamis - Your Questions answered: Animals at risk - Protecting species the global way - Taking a biodiversity line: Penguins feel the heat - Cool nests are best: Kinkle the infrared elephant - Thermography helps to track injuries: Managing fires: the science behind the smoke - Dealing with fires in South Africa: Sydney Brenner: a most distinguished biologist Keith Manchester His part in the DNA and RNA story: Careers - Working with lasers: Science news: Measuring up - Film & noise. beads & honey: Fact file - Understanding DNA: The S& T tourist Veld walk in the city Geology, archaeology, and bush in the Melville Koppies Nature Reserve: Viewpoint interview - Why bother with physics?: Books - Coastal fishes of southern Africa:
Quest Volume 1 Number 1
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2004-03-01) Kemp, Alan & Meg; Ellis, George; Hall, Martin; Clarke, Ron; Jenkins, Trefor; Cooper, John; Roberts, George; van Wilgen, Brian; Whitelock, Patricia
Contents: Crackdown on invasive aliens- The Working for Water success story and a Fact File: Genetics and race - How clear, really, is the biological definition of race?: HIV/AIDS -Getting the numbers right - South Africa 's Plan for treating HIV and AIDS: Quest for our earliest ancestors -the fossil story - News of the 4-million-year-old Sterkfontein homind skeleton: Birding around the world - Save that wanderer: E-learning for a 'new' economy -Virtual universities for Africa?: Flashback to 1904 Centenary year for the South African Journal of Science: The sky's the limit - Discovering the planet
Quest Volume 1 Number 4 2005
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2005) Dippenaar-Schoeman, Ansie; Hoal, Eileen; van Heiden, Paul; Kana, Bavesh; Mizrahi, Valerie; Martin, Dareen; Cunning, David; Adendorff, Kris; Erasmus, Gert; Yadavalli, Sarma; Narayanan, Yegna; Walker, Alex; McGeoch, Melodie; Voigt, Harold; van Jaarsveld, Ernst; Koutnik, Daryl; Pickford, Martin
Contents: Wonderful spiders - Spiders for silk threads and smart hunting: Genomics fights TB - Stopping the spread of TB: Understanding the TB bacterium - How TB works its devastation; Why it's so hard to combat AIDS - Fighting the ever-mutating virus; Elephantine dilemmas - The elephant population debate: Bringing queues into line - Mathematics to control queues: Eat right & live longer - Why not change to a healthy lifestyle?: The Namib's amazing fossil spider webs - Spider secrets in the sand: Fact file TB and HIV - deadly alliance: Science news: Viewpoint Backing the GMO horse: what are the odds?: Careers Engineers in a big industry: Your Questions answered - DNA and taxonomy: The S& T tourist Nature amid the glitz Visit the Pilanesberg's animals and Sun City's botanical gardens:
Quest Volume 2 Number 2
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2005) Buckley, David; Feast, Michael; Charles, Phil; O'Donoghue, Darragh; Whitelock, Patricia; Carinae, Eta; Neumann, Helmut; Laney, David; Block, David; Glass, Ian; Kotze, Pieter; Sutcliffe, Peter; de Jager, Okkie; de Boer, Kim; Meiklejohn, Ian; Meiring, Kobus; Woudt, Patrick
Contents: SALT "gigantic African eye" - How the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere was built: Observing the Universe - Revelations from spectacular skies over southern Africa -The distance scale of the Universe - Light echoes reveal the structure of interstellar space - Borderline between neutron stars and black holes. Phil Charles -the next Galactic supernova?- Clusters and superclusters of galaxies -First science with SALT: Views from space: Earth observation - Satellites and the electromagnetic spectrum: African starlore - Traditions from southern Africa: New era for southern African astronomy - Through SALT to a bright future: What is happening to the Earth's magnetic field? - Space weather, auroras, and the Earth's magnetic shield: The energetic Universe in gamma rays - Supernovas. cosmic rays. and new shapes in the Milky Way: Planning the Karoo Array Telescope - Bold new project for radio astronomy: Fact file SALT: empowering facts - More about SALT • A day in the life of SALT • Astronomy to empower the country: Science news - A South African first for TB research - Lessons from cyclones: Careers In astronomy, the sky's the limit!: Your questions answered - Hurricanes: Viewpoint Interview On project management: The S& T tourist Gateways to the Universe - Visit planetariums - and Sutherland too: Books Africa's Giant Eye: Building the Southern African Large Telescope:
Quest Volume 2 Number 1
(2005) Comins, Darrell; Rubidge, Bruce; Tobias, Phillip; Chinsamy-Turan, Anusuya; Sewell, Trevor; Aronson, James; Blignaut, James; Milton, Sue
Contents: Getting to grips with strong materials - Cutting-edge research advances South African industry now and for the future: Exploring fossils The Karoo - a fossil mecca - Earth's richest fossil deposits: Catastrophism and the history of life - Cataclysms. extinctions, and change: Early birds - Flying high: Treasure from the molecules of life - Discovering protein structures for biotech: Into outer space - Celebrating International Space Week: Fact file - Techniques for investigating strong materials: Science news -Dinosaurs: new South African discoveries - Don't cell-talk while driving; Friends bring longer life; World's oldest dinosaur embryos: Careers Working with strong materials: Your Questions answered Space shuttle -Spider camouflage: The S& T tourist Palaeo-visits - See precious fossils and experience prehistoric worlds: Viewpoint - Unite to save Earth's natural capital: Books - The Story of Earth & Life:
Quest Volume 2 Number 3
(2006) Kemp, Alan & Meg; Matlala, Tsholo; Frost, Philip; Vosloo, Hein; Engelbrecht, Chris; Alberts, Vivian; Greben, Jan; Pickford, Martin; Wilson, Doug; Rijsdijk, Case; Jansen, Jonathan; Reason, Chris; Tennant, Warren
Contents: Save the hornbills - Global threats - and solutions that work: Power to the nation - Making power go further - Getting the most out of what we've got: Protecting transmission - New ways to track fires under power lines: Electricity from the Sun - Affordable power from sunlight: Making solar power feasible - Pioneering South African science: Election-night forecasting - Mathematical models that predict results: A termite tale of climate change - Fossil clues to the ways that savanna turned into desert: Maths and its meanings - The multifaceted world of numbers: What's up in the night sky? - Looking up into the life of stars: Fact file South Africa's energy needs: Science news- Mars rocks; Signs of life on Saturn's moon? The unpredictable curved ball - Galaxy clusters old and far - Greenland's melting glaciers - Responding to the meltdown: US evangelical Christians. Psychology - Take group exercise for health - Where are the data on avian flu?: Careers Work to supply the country's power: Viewpoint - Is evidence overrated: The S&T tourist Pilgrimages to our origins - Go back in time at the Cradle and the new Origins Centre: Your questions answered - Rainy weather: The Drumcafe's Traditional Music of South Africa:
Science-based Improvements of Rural/Subsistance Agriculture
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2006) Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
This forum on Science-based Improvements of Rural/Subsistence Agriculture is the first in a series that are being convened by the ASSAf Forum steering Committee on Science for Poverty Alleviation. During 2005, the Academy engaged in discussions with the Director-General of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and a number of officials of the Department regarding matters of national interest in the national system of innovation. The Director General indicated that studies by the Academy would be welcomed with a view to providing evidence-based advice that could guide policy development, since this was seen as one of the major roles that the Academy should fulfil in the future. The participants in that discussion identified Science for Poverty Alleviation as a broad general framework in which the Academy might initiate a number of studies. Early in 2006, the Council of the Academy agreed to the establishment of a Committee on Science-based Approaches to the Alleviation of Poverty and identified a number of members of the Academy who would be invited to be members of that committee that would take the matter forward on behalf of the Academy. Prof. Sagadevan Mundree was appointed chair of the committee and was instrumental in organising the forum. Workshops such as this one, operate in the ‘forum mode’, which is a system whereby the Academy brings together leading national and, where appropriate, international scholars in the field to assess the empirical evidence that can be used to illuminate solutions to the identified problem, especially those that will lead to the alleviation of poverty. The purpose of this workshop was to bring together a group of experts in the field of agricultural research and to help identify promising scientific and technological strategies for improving agricultural productivity and food security, specifically for small-scale farmers. The people who were invited to attend the forum were individually considered to be able to make a significant contribution to the topic under discussion. The outcome of the forum and the discussions that flowed from it shows that translation of that knowledge into practical recommendations is in many cases feasible and desirable for the improvement of agricultural productivity and food security.
IAP Water Programme: Regional Workshop for Africa. Proceedings Report
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2006) Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Water is a fundamental concern of virtually every nation, playing a diverse and often inter-dependent but vital role in the individual and collective lives of its entire citizenry. A single country like South Africa may well “seek” to solve its water-related problems by itself, but most of these have dimensions that extend beyond the borders, and many lessons learnt elsewhere may well be applicable at home.
Quest Volume 2 Number 4
(2006) Crowe, Tim; Baker, Nigel; Herbert, Dai; Chimimba, Chris; Hamer, Michelle; Lurie, Jos; Muller, Nikite; Villet, Martin; Menzies, John; Balmer, Marlett; Ramsay, Michele; Ouko, Lillian; Froneman, William; Vorwerk, Paul; Khotseng, Benito; Ferrar, Sandy; Engelbrecht, Chris; Kemp, Alan
Contents: Discovering our biodiversity Members of the South African Biosystematics Initiative - Getting to know the living species of South Africa What's new?: A new football for South Africa - A super-symmetrical ball for a winning nation: The six-legged flying squad - Forensic work with bugs and insects: Finding extrasolar planets - Microlensing and the search for distant planets: Low-smoke fires are best - How to cut pollution from household fires: No alcohol if you're pregnant! Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Where river meets ocean - Abundant wealth from estuaries is preventable: Fact file - What do we know?: South Africa's flora, fauna. and microbiota: Science news - The sexes are different; Scorpions help fight cancer - Day flights to reduce climate warming - Don't interrupt; How researchers spend their time - Switch off in a storm - Perilous overconfidence: Careers - Careers in systematics - Work in forensic entomology: Viewpoint - Vision of quality education for all: The S&T tourist Rocks, mines, and daisies - Visit Barberton for the oldest signs of life, the gold rush, and South Africa's most famous daisy: Your questions answered - Is solar energy really a feasible solution?: Francois Levaillant and the Birds of Africa Reviewed by Karoo Veld: Ecology and Management:
Report on a Strategic Approach to Research Publishing in South Africa
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2006) Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Two strands of influence have affected the publication of local scholarly journals in South Africa in the recent past. The first of these was the establishment of the Bureau of Scientific Publications that subsidized the publication of a number of journals that had been established during the 20th century. The ‘Bureau journals’ were an attempt to foster academic publication in South Africa and to make their products available to an international readership – quality of material was to be coupled to quality of production. In this respect the establishment of the Bureau was mimicking a similar development in Australia and could be seen as a mechanism for fostering home-grown talent. The second influence was a new mechanism of funding universities, which rewarded them directly for the academic publications that they produced. Both of these influences had a significant impact on the development of local journals, the behaviour of individuals, the financial sustainability of learned societies that produced the journals, and the institutions that received the ‘output’ subsidy. The Bureau was recently closed, with only one journal, The South Africa Journal of Science, continuing to receive support through the Academy of Science of South Africa on the basis of its international impact. The funding for ‘outputs’ of the tertiary institutions has continued, although in a modified form that includes a reward for completed masters and doctoral degrees. These developments raised two related questions. The first was whether it was appropriate for the state to support the publication of (some) learned journals in the interest of fostering intellectual exchange. The second question was whether all of the articles, published in journals recognized for the output subsidy of universities, deserved to receive recognition, in view of the wide variation in quality of the material produced. The Academy was commissioned in 2001 in this context by the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (now the Department of Science and Technology) to undertake a study to address these two questions, with a view to making recommendations for the optimal development of policy in the future. The effect of globalization on knowledge exchange, which is mediated very largely through scientific journals being published in English, and having their origins in Europe and North America, has resulted in the neglect of regional journals. It has also led to the development of benchmarks based on bibliometric analysis of publication patterns that has resulted in global ranking of tertiary institutions. These trends are being countered in the African context, with its relatively neglected tertiary sector, by a need that is expressed by the African Academies of Science that are members of the Network of African Scientific Academies (NASAC), to consider the publication of high-quality journals that report work of significance to African scientists. The degree to which such a project is feasible, and whether it could be successfully implemented both in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent, needs to be explored after the release of this report. Although the report was prepared at the request of, and with funding from the Department of Science and Technology, in order amongst other matters to address specific questions that had been raised about the subsidy for scholarly outputs, its potential impact both in understanding international trends in scholarly knowledge production and in giving guidance to those who would like to foster the publication of indigenous journals, will be great if careful attention is given to the recommendations that are contained in this study. The report was developed and has been guided to a successful conclusion by Prof Wieland Gevers who initiated it during his tenure as President of the Academy and has now brought it to fruition as the Academy’s Executive Officer, with the invaluable assistance of Dr Xola Mati as study director. He and the authors of the various chapters are thanked for the care and attention with which they have produced a seminal analysis of South African publication patterns. They will receive their reward in full measure through the impact that this report will have on the further development of the National System of Innovation.
Evidence-based Practice: ‘Double Symposium’ Proceedings on Problems, Possibilities and Politics
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2006) Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
The Academy’s Double Symposium that was admirably arranged by Prof. Jonathan Jansen and executed by the staff of the Academy, had objectives that were concisely captured by the Minister of Science and Technology in his address that intervened between the two symposia: “This Double Symposium on the ‘Nature of Evidence’ and ‘Science-based Advice for the Nation’ has an important contribution to make in exploring the urgency and growing importance of evidence as the basis for making informed policy and practical decisions across the world. It also offers the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), which is an independent and authoritative provider of evidence-based advice on a broad range of nationally significant topics and issues, an opportunity to examine its own role in the national science system” Mr M. Mangena, Minister of Science and Technology Robust debate in a democracy can be fostered through the use of evidence where the participants share a common understanding of the nature of evidence. The participants in the first symposium showed that the nature and use of evidence is often divergent in different domains, with the particularly stark contrast being represented by the views of the natural sciences and the law. The discussion during this symposium indicated that a much more nuanced approach to the use of evidence is required, as well as explicit discussion of divergent understandings of the uses of evidence if productive debate and effective decision making is to be achieved. The use of evidence based advice to address topics and issues that affect the well-being of the nation is a significant and daunting role that the Academy wishes to fi ll. In this respect, it will be following the example of other international academies of Science and Arts that have mobilized the intellectual capacity of their membership to perform this function. The second symposium considered the results of studies that had been undertaken by the National Academies of Science of the United States and the Royal Society of London so that the lessons that they have learned may be applied in our context. What was clear from these discussions was that giving advice tends to be nationally embedded. The nature of advice structures in different countries requires that Academies determine their mode of operation and role in relation to these. In this respect the National Academies of Sciences of the US generally have their reports commissioned by government or other organisations, while the Royal Society studies are almost exclusively self-generated. We need to determine in our own context what judicious mixture of commissioned and self-generated reports we need to develop, taking into account our relationships with other advice giving organisations in South Africa. Participants in the symposia came from a range and diversity of organisations, indicating that the Academy was addressing a topical subject with particular resonance in our context at the moment. It is clear that the Academy has at its disposal a resource that can be effectively used to play the role envisaged both in the Minister of Science and Technology’s speech and encapsulated by Mark Orkin in the discussion at the end of the Double Symposium: “ASSAf by contrast has a major role to play in acting as a professional body drawing judiciously on the large pool of intellectual resources at the universities, at the highest level of expertise and in a multi-disciplinary way, to generate advice on big national issues.” The presentations and discussions that are recorded in this volume, show that the Academy has accepted the challenge implicit in the deliberations of the two symposia and wishes to engage actively in its advice giving role.
Quest Volume 3 Number 3
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2007) Henley, Steve and Michelle; Elof, Corne; Morris, Alan; Aanen, Duur; de Beer, Wilhelm; Fourie, Bokkie; van Aarde, Rudi; Jackson, Tim; Kerley, Graham
Contents: Tracking elephants: the path to the satellite era - Remarkable ways of following animals in the wild: Mosaic of satellite data New nationwide hi-res views of - South Africa's land surface: A KhoeSan survival story - How a group of people has evolved and adapted over time: Farming fungi - termites show the way - Termites cultivate mushrooms in air-conditioned nests!: Fact files - Finding out more about elephants Facts about termites: Science news - Revolutionary wireless connections; Helping the blind to see - South Africa's new HIV/AIDS plan - More IPCC reports on climate change - Road safety: Don't phone when you drive; Young people at risk -Discovery of a new Earth-like extrasolar planet: Your questions answered How should we deal with elephant numbers?: The S& T tourist Science Tunnel travels - Keep watching out for great exhibitions: Careers Work in aviation: Water, water everywhere? Unfortunately not!:
Quest Volume 4 Number 1
(2007) Levieux, Candice; Walker -, A.D.M; Ansorge, Isabelle; Rouault, Mathieu; Reason, Chris; Lategan, Bernard; Cilliers, Paul; Hofmeyr, Jannie; Strever, Albert; Charles, Phil; Gillman, Mark; Kotze, Victor; Gevers, Wieland
Contents: International Polar Year - The South African National Antarctic Programme - Addressing the global issues: The 730-day International Polar Year - The history behind IPY: Southern Ocean hotspots - Underwater disturbances and ocean currents: Predicting South African rainfall - It's not easy!: Polar convergence of art and science - A common mission in Antarctica: STIAS - a centre for African solutions- How to build a creative space for the mind: Historical memory and healing? - Looking to the future: Grappling with complexity - Facing diversity - Seeking a common language of life: Biology examines its interactions - The Mostertsdrift experimental vineyard Pinotage gets better all the time: Viewpoint - Bridging the digital divide - In search of cheap, reliable bandwidth: Science news- Meditation go-ahead; Fine-tune those precision instruments - Communication for Africa - Telephone access; EASSy does it; A wireless option - Carbon emissions worse than expected; Computer users be warned; Red List alert; The good news B Careers interview Work in electrical engineering and in space physics - talks with Pierre Cilliers: Biotechnology and Health: The S& T tourist Travelling companions - Getting around with books: Your questions answered - Understanding planets & beating addictions: The quest for high-temperature superconductivity
Quest Volume 3 Number 4
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2007) Tiley-Nel, Sian; Kraan-Korteweg, Renee; Woudt, Patrick; Pretorius, Rudi; Mwale, Monica; James, Nikki; Gwaze, Patience; Eason, Jason; Chemaly, Susan; Magugumela, Danai; Povey, Althea; Combrink, Annette; van Wilgen, Brian
Contents: Ancient artifacts, adornment, and archaeology - Mapungubwe's precious beads and figurines reveal Africa's distant past: Hidden worlds behind the Milky Way - The Zone of Avoidance, where galaxies have hidden since time began: The state of our environment - Monitoring South Africa's natural resources: Life in estuaries - Pipefish survival: Vulnerable organisms indicate - ecosystem health: Fish larvae smell their way to safety - Discovering what signals attract fishes to their nurseries: What's that brown haze over Cape Town?: Urban air pollution that's dangerous to health: Colour without colour -new generation cosmetics: Photonics and optics light up the way forward: The vitamin B12 story - The pioneering science of Dorothy Hodgkin; Special feature: Science for the Classroom: The search for the missing carbon sink - Max Planck Society: Fact files Environmental facts for South Africa - Some Mapungubwe facts - X-ray crystallography and vitamin 812: Science news -Fighting junk food; Talking heads - How elephants run - Ozone threatens carbon sinks; Beware iPods in a thunderstorm - Tips for decision-makers: QUEST interviews Women in engineering Two prominent civil engineers and their road to success: The S& T tourist Mapungubwe National Park - Repository of natural and human heritage: Careers Working with heritage - Studying astrophysics for related careers: Viewpoint Women in science - cresting the wave or wiped out?: Your questions answered - Gums, badgers, and economics: Top woman researchers newly elected to ASSAf:
Quest Volume 3 Number 2
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2007) Dubula, Kholiwe; Myall, Nomtha; Ellis, Peter; Clarke, Craig; Skelton, Paul; May, Peter; Saunders, Hilary; Mwale, Monica; Swartz, Ernst; Coetzer, Willem; Gon, Ofer; Morris, Alan; Rijsdijk, Case; Gess, Sarah; Strydom, Nadine; Skelton, Paul; Nel, Michelle; Dyson, Liesl
Contents: Treasury of fishes - What it takes to set up a fish collection facility and make it accessible to all: Building the new SAIAB Collection Facility - Client, architect, and engineers construct a store for the nation's fishes: Biological barcoding - Check the DNA to discover what fish you're handling: Desktop access to biodiversity Data online and the SAIAB Information Portal: Museum fish collections in South Africa - some highlights - How and where it all began: Human origins and the African connection - A skull newly dated show we did come out of Africa!: Pluto - when is a planet a planet? - Why Pluto lost its status: Looking after wasps and bees Farmers and pollinators need each other: Dangerous times for baby fishes - Survival is tough for larvae in the wild: Fact file -The National Fish Collection - New facts about larvae: Science news - Norway's 'doomsday' seed bank; Mafia boss caught by DNA - The Great Comet of 2007 - Things are hotting up - The problem with air travel: Viewpoint Africa's natural history collections - riches or fool's gold?: The S&T tourist Learn green living in Joubert Park - Green living in downtown Jo'burg: Books The Meaning of the 21st Century • and other title: Letters to QUEST Suggestions from young and older: Your questions answered - Why such floods in Mozambique?:
G8 Statement: Growth and Responsibility: Sustainability, Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection
(G-Science Academies, 2007) G-Science Academies
Quest Volume 4 Number 2
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2007) Eckardt, Frank; Compton, John; Cooper, Antony; du Plessis, Chrisna; de Wit, Maarten; Mccourt, Steve; Durrheim, Ray; Ansorge, Isabelle; de Villiers, Stephanie; Li, Xin; Goodier, Sarah; Cotterill, Woody; Nhleko, Lebogang; Strachan, Leslie; Frost-Killian, Susan; Haldorsen, Sylvi; Grosch, Eugene; Gevers, Wieland; Anderson, John; Mashua, Tebogo; Langerman, Fritha; Vorster, Este; Vorster, Este
Contents: IYPE Out of Africa - South African National Committee for the International Year of Planet Earth - The world celebrates and the Earth sciences get down to business Features: African landscapes from remote sensing - Clear views in 3D: Climate: past changes & future uncertainties - Reading the rock record helps: Megacities - Coping with urbanization: Viewpoint Mineral resources - wealth at a frightening price People and planet pay up: Earth: gigantic recycling machine: How the planet sustains life Africa Array - Seismic stations and geoscientists Ocean crossroad at the tip of Africa: Where the waters move and meet DNA clocks for dating landforms - Animals and landscapes evolve together: Groundwater: managing dwindling reserves - Finding and caring for precious water Geohazards: the risks beneath our feet - Staying safe: Nurturing soil - It's payback time: Healthy foods from Mother Earth - Pioneering dietary guidelines: Art and map-making - Seeing the world in different ways: Africa Alive Corridors - Our continent - our heritage: Fact files - Urban facts -What is soil? - Malnutrition in South Africa: Your questions answered - Why does oceanography matter? What makes oceans salty?: The S&T tourist Water in the iSimangaliso - Wetland Park: Careers Work in geology:
HIV/AIDS, TB and Nutrition: Scientific Inquiry into the Nutritional Influences on Human Immunity with Special Reference to HIV Infection and Active TB in South Africa
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2007) Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
The availability of highly effective drugs to control HIV/AIDS and cure tuberculosis has tended to downplay the potential benefits that may accompany appropriate supportive measures, designed to complement or precede pharmacotherapy, to arrest progression from infection to disease (TB), or to delay the rate of progression of the earlier phases of the illness, before specific medicinal interventions are indicated (HIV). Nutritional support is one such potentially valuable measure. Clearly the clinical efficacy of nutritional intervention is likely to be dependent on the extent to which individual infected subjects suffer from functionally significant nutritional deficiencies prior to nutritional intervention. The same argument is generally pertinent to interventions at population level – populations of infected subjects with a high prevalence of nutritional deficiency, such as those in developing countries, are more likely to benefit from health policies aimed at eradicating or diminishing nutritional deficiencies than are populations in developed countries, from where much of the reported research has emanated. It is important to bear in mind that the pre-antibiotic phase of dealing with TB was characterized by intense concentration on strengthening the immune defenses of infected subjects with diets, improved and altered environmental conditions and every other conceivably helpful measure. After the discovery of effective drugs, this aspect of TB therapy quickly became secondary and largely uncontroversial. Because HIV infection cannot be cured but only controlled, with drugs being applied at particular, serious stages of progressive disease (according to current guidelines, at least) the emphasis in the management of infected people during the phases prior to drug administration is still on general, non-pharmacological support, especially as for many reasons it is highly desirable to postpone the introduction of specific antiretroviral therapy for as long as possible. This background has motivated the current study, which has analyzed the relevant scientific literature, concentrating on regionally relevant studies, with a view to providing the best possible, evidence-based advice for South African policymakers. The over-arching conclusion from this analysis is that there is a lamentable paucity of relevant, solid data on which to base sound policies for this country. Recognizing the dire need to deal optimally, right now, with an existing health crisis, this study has evaluated the current nutritional guidelines from the World Health Organization, the national Department of Health, and the Southern African HIV/AIDS Clinicians Society, in the light of what scientific evidence is available. Broadly, these guidelines are endorsed in the current analysis as being generally close to the best possible in the prevailing circumstances. The study, having identified serious gaps in our knowledge, has compiled a set of critical research questions, guided by evolving understanding of the relevant basic science. The panel urges that the answering of these questions should be given high priority by research policy makers in the hope that the insights thereby gained will provide the kind of solid evidence on which refined policies for the practice of healthcare can safely and effectively be based in future.
Global Health
(G-Science Academies, 2008) G-Science Academies
Teaching Evolution in South African Schools
(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2008) Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)