The Meaning of ‘Self-Starvation’ in Impoverished Black Adolescents in South Africa

Recent surveys in South Africa have demonstrated that disordered eating is equally common among black and white female students. Self-report measures have been used in these surveys to establish levels of disordered eating. One study in Tanzania, where a two-stage design was implemented, showed that upon interview the majority of participants did not present with disordered eating. The absence of two-stage studies in South Africa brings into question some of the findings from these surveys. In the present study, we surveyed a sample of black and white high school students in South Africa to establish the prevalence of disordered eating. In the second phase of this study, we attempted to interview those black students from one particular school who scored high on the eating disorder measures. This process proved both challenging and elucidating. While a significant number of young black females endorsed eating disorder symptoms on self-report, interviews with some participants showed that self-starvation and related symptoms had a different meaning from what we would typically expect from someone with an eating disorder. Consequently, this study highlights the need to revisit the methods typically employed in cross-cultural research in eating disorders. Careful consideration of a variety of cultural factors that may alter the meaning of standard measures is called for.     

Whither ‘non-racialism’: the ‘new’ South Africa turns twenty-one

This brief essay reflects on the meaning and significance of ‘non-racialism’ in South Africa's recent past and present. I consider the version of non-racialism that shaped the transition from apartheid to a constitutional democracy as having had dual dimensions, ethical and strategic. Ethically, non-racialism has signified a principle of human recognition that exceeds the mere tolerance of difference. Strategically, non-racialism has afforded ways of managing and disciplining the historical realities of racial differences. The politicization of race in recent years has rendered the project of non-racialism more precarious: both its ethical and strategic dimensions merit further scrutiny, if the project is to be revitalized.     

A mixed-age classed ‘pelycosaur’ aggregation from South Africa: earliest evidence of parental care in amniotes?

Living species of mammals, crocodiles and most species of birds exhibit parental care, but evidence of this behaviour is extremely rare in the fossil record. Here, we present a new specimen of varanopid 'pelycosaur' from the Middle Permian of South Africa. The specimen is an aggregation, consisting of five articulated individuals preserved in undisturbed, close, lifelike, dorsal-up, subparallel positions, indicating burial in 'life position'. Two size classes are represented. One is 50% larger than the others, is well ossified, has fused neurocentral sutures and is distinguished by a coat of dermal ossifications that covers the neck and shoulder regions. We regard this individual to be an adult. The remaining four skeletons are considered to be juveniles as they are approximately the same size, are poorly ossified, have open neurocentral sutures and lack dermal ossifications. Aggregates of juvenile amniotes are usually siblings. Extant analogues of adult and juvenile groupings suggest that the adult is one of the parents, leading us to regard the aggregation as a family group. The Late Middle Permian age of the varanopid family predates the previously known oldest fossil evidence of parental care in terrestrial vertebrates by 140 Myr.     

‘Anthropologists Are Talking’: About Anthropology and Post-Apartheid South Africa

In 2010, South Africa hosted the first World Cup in soccer ever to take place on the African continent. Twenty years after the fall of Apartheid, South Africa presents a series of fractured and contradictory images to the outside world. It is, on the one hand, an economic powerhouse in sub-Saharan Africa, but on the other hand a society in which socio-economic inequalities have continued to flourish and increase. What can anthropology tell us about contemporary South Africa? As part of an ongoing series in public anthropology, Professor Thomas Hylland Eriksen and Postdoctoral Fellow Sindre Bangstad sat down for a public conversation with Professors John L. and Jean Comaroff in The House of Literature in Oslo, Norway, on 28 September 2010.     

The impact of commercial harvesting on Warburgia salutaris (‘pepper-bark tree’) in Mpumalanga, South Africa

Commercialisation often increases the difficulty in managing harvested plant populations sustainably. The bark of the popular medicinal species, Warburgia salutaris (Bertol.f.) Chiov. (Canellaceae) (pepper-bark tree), is widely traded throughout southern Africa. The impact of commercial harvesting on this Red Data species was assessed by comparing commercially harvested populations with populations growing on private land or in protected areas (termed protected populations) in Mpumalanga and Limpopo Province, South Africa. The basal diameters and heights of stems in commercially harvested populations were significantly lower than those of the protected populations. The density of young/small plants was low in all populations. W. salutaris is usually resilient to high levels of bark harvesting. In this study, 75% of heavily harvested stems (>10% of the stem below 2 m) coppiced (resprouted). However, individuals that had been affected by regular fires, or repeatedly harvested, appeared prone to a fungal disease and had high percentage mortality. The populations occurring on private land appeared the most vigorous. Habitat in one protected area had been reduced through the construction of a dam. In another, small W. salutaris populations exhibited a shrubby growth form, probably due to frequent fires. Our current knowledge for this species supports a global IUCN status of EN A4acd. Plant conservation needs to become a higher priority both within and outside protected areas. Commercially harvested populations should be better managed through improved harvesting techniques and monitoring. Cultivation levels urgently need to be increased. Further research should be conducted on factors limiting regeneration, including the most appropriate fire regime.     

The Social Construction of PTSD: The Case of the ‘Old Guard’ Policemen After South African Democracy

Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry - Often, we assume the traumatic nature of first response work has inevitable repercussions. This can lead to assumptions about trauma being the reason for...     

Environmental and anthropogenic determinants of the spread of alien plant species: insights from South Africa’s quaternary catchments

Alien plants invasion has negative impacts on the structure and functionality of ecosystems. Understanding the determinants of this process is fundamental for addressing environmental issues, such as the water availability in South Africa’s catchments. Both environmental and anthropogenic factors determine the invasion of alien species; however, their relative importance has to be quantified. The aim of this paper was to estimate the importance of 32 explanatory variables in predicting the distribution of the major invasive alien plant species (IAPS) of South Africa, through the use of Species Distribution Models. We used data from the National Invasive Alien Plants Survey, delineated at a quaternary catchment level, coupled with climatic, land cover, edaphic, and anthropogenic variables. Using two-part generalized linear models, we compared the accuracy of two different sets of variables in predicting the spatial distribution of IAPS; the first included environmental correlates alone, and the second included both environmental and anthropogenic variables. Using Random Forest, we explored the relative importance of the variables in producing a map of potential distribution of IAPS. Results showed that the inclusion of anthropogenic variables did not significantly improve model predictions. The most important variables influencing the distribution of IAPS appeared to be the climatic ones. The modeled potential distribution was analyzed in relation to provinces, biomes, and species’ minimum residence time.     

Five glycosides from the chinese drug ‘tong-guang-san’: The stems of marsdenia tenacissima

Five new glycosides were isolated from the Chinese crude drug ‘Tong-guang-san’: the stems of Marsdenia tenacissima (Roth.) Wight et Arn. (Asclepiadaceae). The structures of tenacissosides A-E were deduced on the basis of chemical and spectral evidence as tenacigenin B-I 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-3-O-methyl-6-deoxy-β-D- allopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-D-oleandropyranoside, tenacigenin B-II 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 →4)-3-O-methyl-6-deoxy- β-Dallopyranosyl-(1 →4)-β-D-oleandropyranoside, tenacigenin B-III 3-O-β-Dglucopyranosyl-(1→4)-3-O-methyl-6- deoxy-β-D-allopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-β-D-oleandropyranoside, tenacigenin B-IV 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 →4)-3-O- methyl-6-deoxy-β-D-allopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-β-D-oleandropyranoside and tenacigenin B-V 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl- (1 → 4)-3-O-methyl-6-deoxy-allopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-β-D-oleandropyranoside, respectively.     

The GAMY Project: young people’s attitudes to genetics in the South Wales valleys

This paper explores young people’s attitudes to genetics. It describes a qualitative study involving a group of teenagers in a deprived South Wales valley town over a period of 18 months. The GAMY (Genetics and Merthyr Youth) Project involved a series of interactions with participants, including 2 interviews, 4 group days and 4 genetics tasks through which these young people learned about, and then reflected upon, issues relating to genetics and health. We have gathered data about the informed attitudes of teenagers to genetics based on deliberative learning and reflection over a long period of time, and as such this paper provides useful insights into the underlying values that are guiding young people’s views and the factors that are shaping their responses to new genetic technologies. Attitudes to genetics are complex and not easily generalisable. There were low levels of familiarity with, and knowledge of, genetics from the outset. Most young people did not have pre-existing attitudes towards genetics and had given little or no thought to the topic before the project began. However, levels of awareness and general genetic literacy increased as the project progressed. This study suggests that over time young people can develop an awareness of genetics that makes sense to them; they demonstrate that they can think creatively about genetics, and they are able to engage in considering genetic and other risk factors when thinking about health and disease.     

Micropropagation of ‘Holy Basil’ (Ocimum sanctum Linn.) from young inflorescences of mature plants

In vitro micropropagation of holy basil (Ocimum sanctum L.), an Indian medicinal herb, has been accomplished on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium utilizing young inflorescence explants. MS supplemented with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) or thidiazuron (TDZ) produced only non-morphogenetic callus. Direct multiple shoots differentiated within 2--3 weeks when explants were cultured on MS containing 6-benzyl aminopurine (BAP). Of the various levels of BAP tested, MS + BAP (1.0 mgl^–1) produced the maximum number of shoots. Incorporation of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) (0.05 mgl^–1) along with BAP (1.0 mgl^–1) in the culture medium showed a marked increase in the number of shoots. About 92% of the in vitro regenerated shoots rooted on MS hormone-free medium within 2--3 weeks of culture and 85% of the micropropagated plantlets could be successfully established in soil, where they grew normally.     

The Scientific Discovery of ‘Natural Capital’: The Production of Catalytic Antibodies

Modern science has undoubtedly become one the principal engines of economic growth, even though the epistemological status of scientific knowledge has been continuously contested. Leaving the philosophical problem of knowledge aside, this paper examines how scientific discovery contributes to the production of wealth. The analysis focuses on a recent achievement at the crossroads of chemistry, immunology and biotechnology: antibody catalysis. For this purpose, we develop a model of entrepreneurial work to explain how the discovery of natural products and processes generates new economic opportunities. The proposed model is based on the assumption that scientists believe that the natural environment is a repository of ‘natural capital’. Natural capital includes goods that are not made by humans but can be used to produce other goods and services. The belief in natural capital induces scientists to search for and identify a natural property that, in the specific cultural context of their work, is recognized as a valuable resource. The selection of such a property forms the initial phase of the discovery process. Certain research methods are then deployed to create novel empirical conditions within which the selected property is transformed into a specific good. The discovery of natural capital thus comprises a historically accountable entrepreneurial endeavour.     

First afrosoricid out of Africa: an example of Pliocene ‘tourism’ in Europe

The afrosoricids are an endemic order exclusively from Africa with a very scarce fossil record. In this work, we present the first record outside this continent. The “otter shrew” Europotamogale melkarti n. gen. n. sp. was found in the Moreda 3 karstic fill site in Granada (Spain), of MN15 age (mid-Pliocene). This new taxon confirms the semiaquatic faunal interchange between Europe and Africa. We hypothesize that this tenrecid, representative of a family frequently present in the Central African faunas, migrated to the north of the continent via the Sahabi river system that connected North and Central Africa. Europotamogale n. gen. is the first known afrosoricid that migrated between the two continents. It was present in Europe for a very short time (as a ‘tourist genus’). To date, this phenomenon has only been described in genera of European origin, such as the pika Prolagus or the mouse Apodemus.