scholarly journals Microbial diversity in grape musts from Austrian and South African grape varieties and regions

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 02028
Author(s):  
B. Bagheri ◽  
C. Philipp ◽  
M. Horacek ◽  
F.F. Bauer ◽  
M.E. Setati
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Microbial Diversity ◽  
Fungal Community ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Intergenic Spacer ◽  
Wine Flavour ◽  
Community Fingerprint ◽  
Active Dry Yeast ◽  
Grape Varieties ◽  
Future Work

Vitis vinifera is one of the most widely planted crops and holds important economic value in South Africa and Austria. Grapes obtained from this plant harbour a complex fungal community which plays a crucial role in the wine fermentation process and influences wine flavour and aroma. For many years the contributions of the natural yeasts has been eclipsed by the use of active dry yeast (ADY) inoculant, mainly of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, recent studies show a growing interest in deciphering the natural microbial diversity and in promoting its persistence during fermentation in order to enhance wine typicity. The current preliminary study aims to provide a first broad assessment of the fungal community fingerprint of different grape varietals from different wine producing areas in Austria and South Africa through Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA). The ARISA profiles separated the samples according to country of origin, and suggested some regional and varietal separation within each country. Future work will evaluate the contribution of these fungal communities to wine chemical composition and sensorial distinctness.

scholarly journals Toward economic evaluation of the value of vaccines and other health technologies in addressing AMR

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (51) ◽  
pp. 12911-12919 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Sevilla ◽  
David E. Bloom ◽  
Daniel Cadarette ◽  
Mark Jit ◽  
Marc Lipsitch
Keyword(s):  
Economic Value ◽  
Decision Rules ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
General Point ◽  
Value For Money ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Future Work

We discuss the need to make economic evaluations of vaccines antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-sensitive and ways to do so. Such AMR-sensitive evaluations can play a role in value-for-money comparisons of different vaccines within a national immunization program, or in comparisons of vaccine-centric and non-vaccine-centric technologies within an anti-AMR program. In general terms, incremental cost-effectiveness ratios and rates of return and their associated decision rules are unaltered by consideration of AMR-related value. The decision metrics need to have their various health, cost, and socioeconomic terms disaggregated into resistance-related subcategories, which in turn have to be measured carefully before they are reaggregated. The fundamental scientific challenges lie primarily in quantifying the causal impact of health technologies on resistance-related health outcomes, and secondarily in ascertaining the economic value of those outcomes. We emphasize the importance of evaluating vaccines in the context of other potentially complementary and substitutable nonvaccine technologies. Complementarity implies that optimal spending on each set of interventions is positive, and substitutability implies that the ratio of spending will depend on relative value for money. We exemplify this general point through a qualitative discussion of the complementarities and (especially the) substitutability between pneumococcal conjugate vaccines and antimicrobial stewardship and between research and development (R&D) of a gonorrhea vaccine versus R&D of a gonorrhea antibiotic. We propose a roadmap for future work, which includes quantifying the causal effects of vaccination and other health technologies on short-term and long-term resistance-related outcomes, measuring the health-sector costs and broader socioeconomic consequences of resistance-related mortality and morbidity, and evaluating vaccines in the context of nonvaccine complements and substitutes.

scholarly journals Commercialization Potential of Six Selected Medicinal Plants Commonly Used for Childhood Diseases in South Africa: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Peter Tshepiso Ndhlovu ◽  
Abiodun Olusola Omotayo ◽  
Wilfred Otang-Mbeng ◽  
Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Datura Stramonium ◽  
Childhood Diseases ◽  
Scientific Databases ◽  
Wide Range

Globally, the potential of medicinal plants is increasingly being recognized due to their relative availability, particularly in rural areas. This review explored the ethnobotanical and economic values of six selected medicinal plants widely used to treat and manage childhood diseases in South Africa. Acalypha glabrata, Aloe maculata, Datura stramonium, Gomphocarpus fruticosus, Rhoicissus tridentata and Vachellia karroo were selected based on their high relative frequency of citations for treating a wide range of diseases. Information was obtained from various scientific databases and ethnobotanical books. In addition to being popular for treating childhood diseases, the selected medicinal plants possess diverse applications in traditional medicine for other age groups, highlighting their general therapeutic values. This translates to extensive harvesting, trading and consumption of these plants in order to meet demands on local levels. Currently, empirical data on the economic value of the selected plants remain poorly reported. Even though South Africa has many laws to conserve and promote indigenous knowledge and medicinal plants, their commercialization remains low. Particularly the cultivation of the selected plants needs to be promoted under a participatory management action plan to stimulate the economy of the disadvantaged. A collaborative research framework for the inclusive transformation of indigenous medicinal plants is recommended to reveal their concealed beneficial properties.

scholarly journals Cover Crop Impact on Soil Organic Carbon, Nitrogen Dynamics and Microbial Diversity in a Mediterranean Semiarid Vineyard

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Novara ◽  
Valentina Catania ◽  
Marco Tolone ◽  
Luciano Gristina ◽  
Vito Armando Laudicina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Microbial Diversity ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Intergenic Spacer ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Nitrate Content ◽  
Relevant Effect ◽  
Management Protocol

Cover crop (CC) management in vineyards increases sustainability by improving soil chemical and biological fertility, but knowledge on its effects in semiarid soils is lacking. This study evaluated the effect of leguminous CC management on soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration, soil nitrate content and microbial diversity in a semiarid vineyard, in comparison to conventional tillage (CT). SOC and nitrate were monitored during vine-growing season; soil respiration, determined by incubation experiments, microbial biomass and diversity was analyzed after CC burial. The microbial diversity was evaluated by bacterial and fungal automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) and high-throughput sequencing of 16SrDNA. CC increased nitrate content and, although it had no relevant effect on SOC, almost doubled its active microbial component, which contributes to SOC stabilization. An unexpected stability of the microbial communities under different soil managements was assessed, fungal diversity being slightly enhanced under CT while bacterial diversity increased under CC. The complete nitrifying genus Nitrospira and plant growth-promoting genera were increased under CC, while desiccation-tolerant genera were abundant in CT. Findings showed that temporary CC applied in semiarid vineyards does not optimize the provided ecosystem services, hence a proper management protocol for dry environments should be set up.

scholarly journals Future Work

1971 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 653-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Gehrels
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
The Past ◽  
Statistical Studies ◽  
Extended Program ◽  
Future Work

In the past decade the question has been raised, at IAU meetings, as to whether more asteroids should be discovered, and the answer now is: “Yes, indeed, do discover as many comets and asteroids as possible.” Marsden gives strong encouragement to search for “lost” comets and asteroids. The more ephemerides known the better physical and statistical studies we can make. We have completion of the asteroids now to about 14 mag. With existing patrol instruments of about 25 cm opening, for instance at Indiana and in South Africa, the limiting magnitude for an extended program is about 16.

scholarly journals Microbial Diversity in Engineered Haloalkaline Environments Shaped by Shared Geochemical Drivers Observed in Natural Analogues

2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (15) ◽  
pp. 5026-5036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talitha C. Santini ◽  
Lesley A. Warren ◽  
Kathryn E. Kendra
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Microbial Diversity ◽  
Fungal Community ◽  
Soda Lakes ◽  
Bauxite Residue ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Total Alkalinity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Natural Analogues ◽  
Bauxite Residues

ABSTRACTMicrobial communities in engineered terrestrial haloalkaline environments have been poorly characterized relative to their natural counterparts and are geologically recent in formation, offering opportunities to explore microbial diversity and assembly in dynamic, geochemically comparable contexts. In this study, the microbial community structure and geochemical characteristics of three geographically dispersed bauxite residue environments along a remediation gradient were assessed and subsequently compared with other engineered and natural haloalkaline systems. In bauxite residues, bacterial communities were similar at the phylum level (dominated byProteobacteriaandFirmicutes) to those found in soda lakes, oil sands tailings, and nuclear wastes; however, they differed at lower taxonomic levels, with only 23% of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) shared with other haloalkaline environments. Although being less diverse than natural analogues, bauxite residue harbored substantial novel bacterial taxa, with 90% of OTUs nonmatchable to cultured representative sequences. Fungal communities were dominated byAscomycotaandBasidiomycota, consistent with previous studies of hypersaline environments, and also harbored substantial novel (73% of OTUs) taxa. In bauxite residues, community structure was clearly linked to geochemical and physical environmental parameters, with 84% of variation in bacterial and 73% of variation in fungal community structures explained by environmental parameters. The major driver of bacterial community structure (salinity) was consistent across natural and engineered environments; however, drivers differed for fungal community structure between natural (pH) and engineered (total alkalinity) environments. This study demonstrates that both engineered and natural terrestrial haloalkaline environments host substantial repositories of microbial diversity, which are strongly shaped by geochemical drivers.

14. SOCIAL CHANGE AND LANGUAGE SHIFT: SOUTH AFRICA

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 225-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Language Maintenance And Shift ◽  
History Of

Studies of social change and language maintenance and shift have tended to focus on minority immigrant languages (e.g., Fishman, 1991; Gal, 1979; Milroy, 2001; Stoessel, 2002). Very little is known about language shift from a demographically dominant language to a minority but economically dominant one (e.g., Bowerman, 2000; de Klerk, 2000; Kamwangamalu, 2001, 2002a,b, & in press; Reagan, 2001). This chapter contributes to such research by looking at the current language shift from majority African languages such as Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu to English in South Africa. In particular, it examines to what extent the sociopolitical changes that have taken place in South Africa (i.e., the demise of apartheid and its attendant structures) have impacted everyday linguistic interaction and have contributed to language shift from the indigenous African languages to English, especially in urban Black communities. It argues that a number of factors, among them the economic value and international status of English, the perceived lower status of the indigenous African languages, the legacy of apartheid-based Bantu education, the new multilingual language policy, the linguistic behaviors of language policy makers, etc., interact in complex ways to accelerate language shift in urban Black communities. In conclusion, the chapter explores ways in which the observed language shift can be curbed to prevent what Skutnabb-Kangas (2000) has termed “linguistic genocide,” particularly in a country that has a well-documented history of this phenomenon (Lanham, 1978; Prabhakaran, 1998).

scholarly journals Microbial Diversity in Milled Rice as Revealed by Riosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seishi Ikeda ◽  
Shin-ichi Fuji ◽  
Toshiro Sato ◽  
Hiromitsu Furuya ◽  
Hideki Naito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Diversity ◽  
Intergenic Spacer ◽  
Milled Rice

scholarly journals Determining the type locality and collector of Nylander’s South African lichens

Bothalia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian D. Medeiros
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Type Locality ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Future Work

Background: In 1868, Nylander described 15 new lichen taxa from collections made near Durban, South Africa. The locality was not specified and the collector was identified only as ‘Miss Armstrong’.Objectives: To identify the collector and type locality of Nylander’s species.Method: Scientific literature, maps, letters, notebooks and genealogical sources were consulted to reconstruct the provenance of the specimens.Results: ‘Miss Armstrong’ was likely Olivia Armstrong; she collected in the Karkloof area of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.Conclusion: This investigation facilitates future work to determine whether the species described and reported by Nylander are still extant in the same locality.

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