Journal articles on the topic 'South African Airways'

Case overview This case focuses on the business rescue of South African Airlines. SAA, four times rated the best airline in Africa (SAA, 2019), was already insolvent when in early 2020 COVID-19 decimated the world. The state-owned airline, which had last made profits in 2011, continued to lose millions of passengers to competitors over the next decade and, despite bailouts of more than R40bn, entered Business Rescue in December 2019, still owing creditors more than R26bn. To the surprise of many, Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan was determined to rescue the airline. In May 2021, the business rescue practitioners handed SAA back to the interim board and Thomas Kgokolo (CA) (MBA) was appointed interim CEO. In June 2021, Gordhan announced a “born again” SAA, “almost ready to take off” and promised no more bailouts. But, with several billion rand outstanding to complete the rescue plan, a grounded fleet, unresolved labour problems, an critical but unnamed “strategic-equity partner” and a largely unvaccinated country entering its third COVID wave – what were the chances? Expected learning outcomes Within the framework of a country desperately in need of jobs and short of capital, the case raises questions about ethics, accountability, responsibility, management, economics and strategy. Should retrenched workers in airlines feel the consequences of their unfortunate career choices? Ought government’s bail-out already failed industries? Should governments run airlines? What sources of funds are available? Have all the necessary requirements for “restructuring” to succeed been satisfied? Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy. Study level/applicability MBA, Exec-ed.

Aviation in Southern Africa was subject throughout the 1980s to increasingly intense political pressures. As ever, the cause was protests about apartheid. The severe blow that black African countries dealt to South African Airways (S.A.A.), the Republic's state-owned national airline, in the 1960s by withdrawing overflying rights was magnified by similar action from a wider spectrum of non-African governments. In the mid-1980s, Australia and the United States of America, for example, revoked S.A.A.'s landing rights, and forbad airlines registered in their countries from flying to South Africa. Other carriers, such as Air Canada, closed their offices and then terminated representation in South Africa.

DEFINING THE LIMITS OF PERMISSIBLE EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PERSONS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS IN SOUTH AFRICA: HOFFMAN V. SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS [2000] 12 BLLR 1365.Perhaps the most positive and exciting aftermath of the apartheid era is the construction of the new South Africa upon the foundation of a Constitution and other legal instruments that are unanimous and unambiguous in two respects. The first is in their proscription of unfair discrimination and the second is in their permission of statutory and other measures aimed at eliminating the effects of past discrimination on those groups of persons who were at the receiving end of same. The provisions of these instruments as well as their tenor and spirit reveal an unmistakable national resolve to break from a culture of racial discrimination to a constitutionally protected culture of human rights for South Africans of all ages, classes and colours. Without doubt, the most important of those provisions is the equality clause of the Bill of Rights contained in the second chapter of the Constitution. This probably follows from a realization of the fact that equality is fundamental to “the maintenance and propagation of human rights in a democratic body politic, particularly in an acutely divided society” such as South Africa.

The prevalence of asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in highly trained endurance athletes is rising. The type of training (i.e. endurance, or speed and power) seems to influence the airway symptoms. High-intensity exercise and training might contribute to the development of asthma or AHR in athletes previously unaffected by these airway disorders. Repeated hyperventilation of unconditioned air, as well as air containing irritants and/or allergens has been suggested to cause thermal, mechanical, or osmotic airway trauma resulting in damage to the airway epithelium. Subsequent airway inflammatory responses may be responsible for the development of atopy-related symptoms in endurance athletes such as those observed in asthma and AHR. Eosinophils and neutrophils are the inflammatory cells that have been frequently observed to be elevated in the airways of endurance athletes. The trafficking of these cells to the airways may possibly be regulated by TH2 cytokines that are expressed in the airways in response to epithelial cell damage. In addition, these airway inflammatory responses may lead to airway remodelling similar to that which occurs in asthma. The effect of the exercise challenge itself may initiate airway atopy-related and inflammatory responses in endurance athletes. While the literature seems to support the role of local airway conditions and/or events in inducing atopy-related symptoms in athletes, it is proposed that alterations in the hormonal and/or cytokine milieu with intense competition and/or training may also play a role. South African Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 18 (2) 2006: pp. 46-51

The prevalence of asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in highly trained endurance athletes is rising. The type of training (i.e. endurance, or speed and power) seems to influence the airway symptoms. High-intensity exercise and training might contribute to the development of asthma or AHR in athletes previously unaffected by these airway disorders. Repeated hyperventilation of unconditioned air, as well as air containing irritants and/or allergens has been suggested to cause thermal, mechanical, or osmotic airway trauma resulting in damage to the airway epithelium. Subsequent airway inflammatory responses may be responsible for the development of atopy-related symptoms in endurance athletes such as those observed in asthma and AHR. Eosinophils and neutrophils are the inflammatory cells that have been frequently observed to be elevated in the airways of endurance athletes. The trafficking of these cells to the airways may possibly be regulated by TH2 cytokines that are expressed in the airways in response to epithelial cell damage. In addition, these airway inflammatory responses may lead to airway remodelling similar to that which occurs in asthma. The effect of the exercise challenge itself may initiate airway atopy-related and inflammatory responses in endurance athletes. While the literature seems to support the role of local airway conditions and/or events in inducing atopy-related symptoms in athletes, it is proposed that alterations in the hormonal and/or cytokine milieu with intense competition and/or training may also play a role. South African Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 18 (2) 2006: pp. 46-51

The basis of this article is an article published by Thomas (2012) whose objective was to track over a two-year period the performance of five strategic South African state-owned enterprises with regards to issues of governance. These enterprises were ESKOM, South African Airways (SAA), South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Telkom, and Transnet. The paper revealed that there were serious transgressions in these entities and recommendations were made to address these. The aim of this article therefore was to establish whether or not the transgressions reported by Thomas are still happening within these entities. The data was collected from the 2014/2015, 2015/2016, 2016/2017, and 2017/2018 financial reports of these entities. The study revealed that the transgressions are still taking place. With regards to issues of sustainability SAA and SABC continue to make loses, with SAA continuing to be bailed out by the South African government against the will of the South African general public. Fruitless and wasteful expenditure increased in all the five entities mentioned above and no serious action has been taken by the South African government to hold the people responsible accountable. While Telkom, Transnet and Eskom were making profits these profits are not at the envisaged level.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a small group of antiapartheid activists, led by the American Committee on Africa and chair of the House Subcommittee on Africa Rep. Charles Diggs Jr., launched a campaign against South African Airways' new flights into the United States. Using the legal and political strategies of the American civil rights movement, and the fragmentation of power within the American political system, activists tried to turn South African apartheid into an American civil rights problem that American government institutions could address. The strategy was indebted to the political and legal strategies of the civil rights movement, but framing demands around existing civil rights law necessarily limited what activists could ask for and what domestic institutions could provide. In practice, the campaign's successes were limited and legalistic; where domestic civil rights law directly conflicted with apartheid law, airlines could comply with the former without really challenging the latter. And the foreign policy context meant more failures than successes, as domestic legal institutions were reluctant to involve themselves with foreign policy concerns. Their successes and failures nonetheless tell us much about legal mobilization and institutional behavior in a period of globalization where sovereignty and jurisdictional lines were overlapping and conflicting.

The purpose of this study was to examine the recent spate of suspensions, resignations and interim chief executive appointments at the helm of the national airline, South African Airways. This challenge in the instability of management and leadership has resulted in low stakeholder confidence in the country, as it portrays an image of economic instability and political interference, particularly when the underlying reasons for the various suspensions and acting appointments are examined. This paper is purely qualitative in nature, and gives presents a critical analysis and perspective the challenges and impact of political interference in South African state owned enterprises. The study contributes not only to governance and accountability in the public sector, but also how politics can cause reputational risk for itself and CEOs in state owned enterprises and other key Government departments which are considered to be of national importance.

Subject area Finance, entrepreneurship, general management. Study level/applicability MBA/Postgraduate. Case overview This case is about Precision Air Services, a small profitable airline in Tanzania, which is in the middle of a changing airline industry. In less than ten years, Mr Michael Ngaleku Shirima, the founder and then holding two-thirds of the shares together with an option to buy the remaining one-third, had seen the airline grow to a major player in the domestic market. His plans to expand to regional routes were still on the drawing board when he received a US$2 million cash offer from Kenya Airways, a much larger airline, for a 49 percent equity stake. At the same time, South African Airways – another heavyweight in the African airline industry, was in the process of acquiring a controlling stake in the state-owned Air Tanzania Corporation. To Mr Shirima, giving up a significant stake in an airline he created from scratch was a dilemma. But if that was to be, he was also interested to see that he is getting the right price for his efforts. Expected learning outcomes This case can be used to teach elements of merger and acquisition, business valuation, negotiation, strategy (corporate, international, growth), strategic scoping and planning. Supplementary materials Teaching notes.

Purpose This paper aims to identify drivers of efficiency and their influence on airline performances in South Africa. Unfortunately, the methods currently used to measure airline efficiency fail to address the heterogeneity problem, which blurs inefficiency. Design/methodology/approach To remedy the heterogeneity problem, this paper adopts the meta-frontier framework to identify drivers of efficiency. The interesting feature of the model is that it ensures that heterogeneous airlines are compared based on one homogeneous technology. The model is tested using a panel data sample of nine South African airlines, which operated from 2015 to 2018. Findings The paper demonstrates that structural drivers, namely, “aircraft size”, and “airline ownership” and one executional driver, namely, “the cost structure” significantly influence (p < 0.05) airline efficiency thereby corroborating evidence from some prior studies. Research limitations/implications First, because of the small size of the industry, fewer airlines and a lack of detailed data, the study could not consider other important factors such as optimal routing and network structure. Second, a more rigorous analysis over a period of time would yield better understanding about the growth of the industry in South Africa and recognise the variation in the influence of drivers of efficiency on airline performances over time. Practical implications The results have potential policy implications. First, as the market in South Africa is too small to operate with a smaller aircraft probably, for airlines that operate with smaller aircraft to operate efficiently they should first identify niche markets where they can have a route monopoly. Second, while all state-owned airlines are perfect statehood symbols that define and represent countries, most state carriers in South Africa are highly inefficient. The researcher recommends policymakers to privatise state airlines or seek equity partners. Many nationalised airlines have turned losses to profits in the run-up to privatisation. British Airways, once a large burden on the British taxpayer, is now one of the world’s most efficient airlines. After the privatisation of Air France and Iberia, all two turned from loss-making concerns into profitable airlines. It, therefore, makes no sense for the South African government to expect state carriers to pursue a commercial mandate with such political interference. The very notion of efficiency itself is at risk. Originality/value This paper is a first attempt to identify drivers of operational efficiency using a bootstrapped meta-frontier approach in the airline industry in South Africa. By applying the meta-frontier approach the paper ensures that all heterogeneous airlines are assessed based on their distance from a common and identical frontier.

Introduction The aim of this comparative study of gunshot wounds (GSWs) and stab wounds (SWs) to the neck was to quantify the impact of the mechanism of injury on the outcome and management of penetrating neck injury (PNI). Methods A prospective trauma registry was interrogated retrospectively. Data were analysed pertaining to demographics and injury severity score (ISS), physiology on presentation, anatomical site of wounds and injuries sustained, investigations, management, outcome and complications. Results There were 452 SW and 58 GSW cases over the 46 months of the study. Patients with GSWs were more likely to have extracervical injuries than those with SWs (69% vs 63%). The incidence of a ‘significant cervical injury’ was almost twice as high in the GSW cohort (55% vs 31%). For patients with transcervical GSWs, this increased to 80%. The mean ISS was 17 for GSW and 11 for SW patients. Those in the GSW cohort presented with threatened airways and a requirement for an emergency airway three times as often as patients with SWs (24% vs 7% and 14% vs 5% respectively). The incidence among GSW and SW patients respectively was 5% and 6% for airway injuries, 12% and 8% for injuries to the digestive tract, 21% and 16% for vascular injuries, 59% and 10% for associated cervical injuries, 36% and 14% for maxillofacial injuries, 16% and 9% for injuries to the head, and 35% and 45% for injuries to the chest. In the GSW group, 91% underwent computed tomography angiography (CTA), with 23% of these being positive for a vascular injury. For SWs, 74% of patients underwent CTA, with 17% positive for a vascular injury. Slightly more patients with GSWs required operative intervention than those with SWs (29% vs 26%). Conclusions Patients with GSWs to the neck have a worse outcome than those with injuries secondary to SWs. However, the proportion of neck injuries actually requiring direct surgical intervention is not increased and most cases with PNI secondary to GSWs can be managed conservatively with a good outcome. Imaging should be performed for all GSWs to the neck.

This note discusses and critically analyses the judgment in Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse v Myeni [2020] 3 All SA 578 (GP), in which the court declared a director delinquent for her lifetime in terms of s 162(5) of the Companies Act 71 of 2008. The basis of the application related to the director’s conduct while she was a nonexecutive director and chairperson of South African Airways SOC Ltd. The judgment is commendable for its strict stance against errant directors of state-owned companies. It is the first delinquency application brought by a party acting in the public interest, and the first judgment to impose a lifelong delinquency declaration on a director.

Globally, states use state-owned companies (SOCs) or public corporations to provide public goods, limit private and foreign control of the domestic economy, generate public funds for the fiscus, increase service delivery and encourage economic development and industrialisation. Particularly given its unique socio-political and economic dynamics, a country such as South Africa clearly needs this type of strategic enterprise. Yet, that does not mean that everything at our SOCs is as it should be. The beleaguered South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has recently seen the resignation of board members, shareholder interference in its operational affairs, and a high turnover of chief accounting officers and other executive management members. Due to non-performance, it has also received several cash injections from its shareholder to enable it to continue to deliver its services. In addition, the shareholder minister took it upon herself to amend the SABC's memorandum of incorporation, conferring upon herself the authority to appoint, suspend or even dismiss key executive members. South African Airways (SAA), in turn, has had seven CEOs in less than four years, has had to be bailed out at a cost of R550 million, and has in addition been granted a R5 billion guarantee by the shareholder for a restructuring exercise. Other SOCs such as Eskom, the Post Office and Telkom have also experienced high board and executive management turnover, perennial underperformance necessitating regular bailouts, and challenges regarding the division of power between their boards and the various shareholder ministers. Another issue that seems to plague South Africa's SOCs is the appointment of board members and executive officials with questionable qualifications. By critically examining the corporate governance challenges besetting the SABC, SAA and Eskom in particular, this article seeks to explore the root causes of the corporate governance deficiencies of SOCs, and how their corporate governance can be enhanced. It is concluded that the challenges faced by the country's SOCs are twofold: firstly, the SOCs boards' lack of appreciation of the cardinal corporate governance rules, and secondly, the role of government as a single or dominant shareholder, which results in substantial political interference in the running of the SOCs. This dual problem requires a dual solution. To arrest the problem of poor corporate governance in SOCs, government as the shareholder should firstly appoint fit and proper directors, having followed a sound due-diligence process. Once it has established such properly skilled and competent boards, however, government should adopt an arm's-length approach to the affairs of the SOCs as a way of insulating these corporations from political interference

Section 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 provides that everyone has the right to fair labour practices. Section 9 of the Constitution prohibits unfair discrimination directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including among others disability. In terms of section 6(1) of the Employment Equity Act (EEA), no person may unfairly discriminate, directly or indirectly, against an employee, in any employment policy or practice, on one or more grounds, including among others disability or on any other arbitrary ground. Section 6(1) applies to employees, which includes applicants; but it is only limited to conduct occurring within the scope of an “employment policy or practice”. In Marsland v New Way Motor & Diesel Engineering (2009) 30 ILJ 169 (LC), the court concluded that discrimination based on the fact that a person suffers from a mental health problem, has the potential to impair the fundamental dignity of that person as a human being, or to affect them in a comparably serious manner. Consequently, discrimination based on mental illness must be treated as a prohibited ground of discrimination. However, as it was pointed out in Hoffmann v South African Airways 2001 (1) SA 1 (CC), it may in some instances be justified to discriminate on the ground of mental illness, if it is proved that the discrimination is based on an inherent requirement of a job. Section 15 of the EEA requires that, when the employer implements affirmative action measures, he/she must make reasonable accommodation for people from designated groups, in order to ensure that they enjoy equal opportunities and are equitably represented in the workforce of a designated employer. Section 1 defines “reasonable accommodation” as “any modification or adjustment to a job or to the working environment that will enable a person from a designated group to have access to or participate or advance in employment”. Section 6(3) of the EEA provides that harassment is a form of discrimination and is prohibited among others on the ground of disability or any other arbitrary ground. Harassment is also a form of misconduct. The employer is required to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment and failure to do so, the employer is liable for such harassment. Where an employee who has a mental illness, commits an act of harassment against another employee, the employer should take into account its duty to reasonably accommodate the offending employee, the duty to take steps to prevent harassment and the fact that it may be automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for misconduct which was committed because of mental illness.

The development, manufacturing and deployment of a South African engineered Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Ventilator is described. The CSIR L.I.F.E. (Lung Inspiratory Flow Enabler) Ventilator was developed during the COVID Pandemic in response to the need for a ventilator solution to assist patients suffering from respiratory distress. A supply chain was created resulting in a near fully locally sourced product of which 18,000 units were manufactured and distributed to hospitals throughout South Africa.

In this issue of the journal, we publish our first case report which focuses on airway management of a traumatic brain injury case.1 While perhaps not traditionally enjoying the recognition of original research, case reports comprise an important component of the content mix in this journal reminding us that of the all-important link between scholarly activities and clinical practice. The case reported in this issue originates from a clinical context outside of South Africa, but where many South African emergency care providers currently work. We welcome reports of interesting or unique cases from any locale with characteristics similar to those in South Africa (whether this be with regard to burden of disease, scope of practice or qualifications) but we also urge local colleagues to send us their own case reports for consideration.

The South African social transition was accompanied by widespread media reform. Communityradio stations were for the first time, set up to empower communities previously without access tothe media. More than a hundred radio stations were licensed, and further provision was made forcommunity television, even if it was nearly a decade later before there was any discernible movementin the area of community television. The paper addresses concerns about media, politics and identitystruggles, viewed through the lens of community radio. While there is a wealth of literature analysingthe development of various aspects of the South African media over the last decade, few, if any,studies specifically consider the role of community media. Set up after elections in 1994, expresslyto create spaces for the articulation of marginal or “disadvantaged” groups, the community radiosector in South Africa has mushroomed, with nearly a hundred stations currently licensed.This paper will explore the ways in which community radio has facilitated the construction of newidentities. Adopting a case-study approach, the paper considers community radio station BushRadio, discussing how the station interpellates diverse identities through its programming. In thePink, for example, creates a space for the articulation of various gay identities, while the Children’sRadio Education Workshop becomes a mediated space for youth in the new political dispensationto form a generational consciousness. The intersection of class, culture and language at BushRadio, and on its airwaves, often results in the constant (re)negotiation of identities.Furthermore, the paper also reflects on the religious or community-of-interest community radiostations, and argues that these stations further serve the purpose of identity building. The resultantlistener loyalty results in increased sustainability; they serve the purpose of therapy or confession,giving listeners an outlet for frustrations; and finally, religious community radio stations becomea virtual church, transcending physical boundaries and resulting in instantaneous religiouscommunity building.

Itinerant traditional surgeons work throughout sub-Saharan Africa and perform many procedures including: tooth extraction, abortion, injections, incising and draining abscesses, uvulectomy, circumcision, inguinal hernia surgery, non-invasive cataract luxation, and surgery on closed and open fractures. Cutting and injection equipment are not cleaned and are used on a rapid succession of up to 10 patients in a single clinic session. These procedures cause haemorrhage, septicaemia, tetanus, gangrene, contractures, abscesses, airway obstruction, keloids, iatrogenic fistulae, lacerations of vital organs, loss of limbs, and death. Recent work suggesting that many cases of HIV infection may be caused by medical exposure lend a new urgency to researching the work of traditional surgeons. Collaborative programmes for re-training and re-shaping the work of these practitioners is more likely to be effective in reducing the morbidity than attempts to suppress their work.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) established nine African language radio stations ostensibly to cater for the diverse linguistic and cultural needs of the African communities in the country. In reality, however, these stations acted as a government mouthpiece and means through which a monopoly over the airwaves was asserted. Through these stations the government promoted ethnic compartmentalisation and popularised the ethnic ‘homelands’ created from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. One of these stations was Radio Ndebele, established in 1983, with a clear mandate to reinforce Ndebele ethnic nationalism. This article seeks to explore the history of this radio station, using both oral sources and documentary material, though privileging the former. The article makes a two-pronged argument: Firstly, Radio Ndebele came into existence not only because of the government’s mission but because of pressure from Ndebele-speaking people who needed radio programming in their own language. Secondly, this radio station helped turn a spoken language that was on the throes of extinction into a vibrant written language that found its way into the schooling system, particularly in areas with a large concentration of Ndebele-speaking people.

Soldier crabs, Mictyris longicarpus Latreille, inhabit intertidal sand-flats of Eastern Australia. Their gill chambers are modified for both water circulation and air-breathing. Water circulates through the lower gill compartments. The upper regions of the gill chambers are air-filled and function as lungs. The deep vascular parenchyma lining the upper gill chambers, or lungs, is penetrated by a regular series of fine branching airways. Scanning electron micrographs of lung architecture are shown. Measurements relating to lung structure were made on plastic casts. Because of the lung's design, water circulating through the lower gill compartments does not interfere with lung function. The airways are blind-ended and nonanastomosing, acting in effect as air-filled capillary tubes sealed at one end. A mathematical model and explanation show how the air trapped within this lung structure substantially reduces water penetration, despite surface tension (capillary) processes. This same lung design also facilitates the shedding of the lung cuticle at each moult. Note: Present address: Department of Physiology, Medical School, University of Witwatersrand, Parktown, Johannesburg, South Africa 2193.

Human exposure to indoor pollution is one of the most well-established ways that housing affects health. We conducted a review to document evidence on the morbidity and mortality outcomes associated with indoor household exposures in children and adults in South Africa. The authors conducted a scientific review of the publicly available literature up to April 2022 using different search engines (PubMed, ProQuest, Science Direct, Scopus and Google Scholar) to identify the literature that assessed the link between indoor household exposures and morbidity and mortality outcomes in children and adults. A total of 16 studies with 16,920 participants were included. Bioaerosols, allergens, dampness, tobacco smoking, household cooking and heating fuels, particulate matter, gaseous pollutants and indoor spray residue play a significant role in different morbidity outcomes. These health outcomes include dental caries, asthma, tuberculosis, severe airway inflammation, airway blockage, wheeze, rhinitis, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, phlegm on the chest, current rhinoconjunctivitis, hay fever, poor early life immune function, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational hypertension, and increased incidence of nasopharyngeal bacteria, which may predispose people to lower respiratory tract infections. The findings of this research highlight the need for more initiatives, programs, strategies, and policies to better reduce the negative consequences of indoor household exposures.

Rhinoscleroma is a rare infection in developed countries; although, it is reported with some frequency in poorer regions such as Central Africa, Central and South America, Eastern and Central Europe, Middle East, India and Indonesia. Nowadays, rhinoscleroma may be erroneously diagnosed as mucocutaneos leishmaniasis, leprosy, paracoccidioidomycosis, rhinosporidiasis, late syphilis, neoplasic diseases or other upper airway diseases. From 1996 to 2003, we diagnosed rhinoscleroma in eight patients attended in the Dermatologic and Transmitted Diseases service of "Cayetano Heredia" National Hospital, in Lima, Peru. The patients presented airway structural alterations producing nasopharyngeal, oropharyngeal and, in one patient, laryngeal stenosis. Biopsy samples revealed large vacuolated macrophages (Mikulicz cells) in all patients. Ciprofloxacin 500 mg bid for four to 12 weeks was used in seven patients and oxytetracycline 500 mg qid for six weeks in one patient. After follow-up for six to 12 months the patients did not show active infection or relapse, however, all of them presented some degree of upper airway stenosis. These cases are reported because of the difficulty diagnosing the disease and the success of antibiotic treatment.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to investigate the price and non-price determinants of demand for air passenger transport among selected airlines.Methodology: The study target population was airlines across the World. The study used a sample of 10 airlines across the World. The airlines included; British Airways, Ethiopian Airways, Emirates , Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, South Africa Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Kenya Airways, Egypt air and Air France. Secondary data of the selected airlines was collected from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for the period from 2005 to 2014. The data collected was analyzed using STATA software to generate descriptive, trends and inferential statistics which were used to derive conclusions and generalizations regarding the population. The panel data regression model was used to determine the relationship between study variables.Results: Based on the findings, the study concluded that both domestic and global interest rates have a negative and significant effect on demand for air passenger transport. Further, the study concluded that GDP growth (domestic), GDP growth (global) and GDP per capita have a positive and significant effect on demand for air passenger transport.Recommendations: Based on the findings, the study recommended that, at a macro level, airlines should consider adjusting their travel prices using the directional movements of the above mentioned variables as a guideline. Based on the findings, the study recommended that governments should use the study of demand drivers to forecast their capital investment plan for the improvement of the air transportation systems in their respective countries and design policies that require use of the demand drivers observed in this study for planning of aviation infrastructure expansion.

Background: Acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are contagious diseases of the upper airways, but they are self-limiting in nature. Therefore, antimicrobial-use for the majority of the URTIs is considered inappropriate. Unfortu- nately, globally, antimicrobials are still being prescribed for the treatment of URTIs, especially in children. However, there is insufficient evidence on the causes of this phenomenon in South Africa. Objective: To investigate whether the parents/guardians accompanying children with URTIs expected/influenced physi- cians and/or nurses to prescribe antibiotics. Methods: This was a prospective descriptive and explorative questionnaire-based study. Participants were guardians who accompanied children aged five years and below, diagnosed with acute URTIs. Findings: Three hundred and six parents/guardians participated in this study. Seventy six percent (n=233) of participants received antibiotics for URTIs for their children, and 67% (n=156) of these did not make requests for antimicrobial therapy. On overall, there was a statistically significant (p < 0.0001) chance (with OR of 5.9; 95% CI, 2.4 – 14.2) for receiving antibi- otics for URTIs without a request. Conclusion: Physicians and other healthcare providers need education on rational prescribing of antimicrobials, and to implement evidence-based standard treatment guidelines, to reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics in children with self-lim- iting URTIs. Keywords: Antibiotics; antimicrobials; prescribing; upper respiratory tract infections; children.

Asthma affects over 330 million people worldwide, with relatively higher disease burdens in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the Middle East, and South America. The symptoms associated with asthma were reported to be prevalent in children from the period of 1993 to 2013, in many low- and middle-income countries, due to changes in environmental conditions, such as domestic lifestyle, and urban and industrial developments. (1) Background: Several studies have also shown that children are prone to a severe type of asthma, because of their narrow respiratory airways and susceptibility to irritation from environmental agents. This study aimed to assess the association between environmental exposure and asthma among children in King Williams Town, South Africa. (2) Methodology: This study adopted a cross-sectional design method, with an estimated sample size of 262 participants. The eligible study participants were enrolled while attending Grey hospital in King Williams Town, for asthma management. Information will be collected from eligible, stable participants, on asthma treatment, through in-person interviewing in 2021. A semi-structured questionnaire will be administered to the participants. However, as a result of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, data may be abstracted from the asthma medical record of the eligible participants. Multivariate regression will be utilized, to describe the correlation between the variables, and the odds ratio will be calculated as well. (3) Discussion and conclusion: The study will objectively identify the local environmental agents that are associated with asthma among children in King Williams Town, in order to reprioritize treatment and preventative strategies. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Johannesburg.

It was the first Gulf War in 1991 which led to the satellite television explosion in the Arab world. Arabs then knew about Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait through CNN. Today, Arab satellite channels reach almost every Arab capital and many Middle Eastern and African nations — from Mauritania on the Atlantic coast to Iran in the east, from Syria in the north to Djibouti in the south. This battle for the airwaves and boom in satellite channels in the Arab world has become both a tool for integration and dispersion. It is raising a glimpse of hope that the flow of information will no longer be pouring from the West to the East, but from the East to the West. Questions, however, remain about the credibility of news coverage by Arabic networks like the maverick Qatar-based al-Jazeera and whether Arab journalists adhere to journalistic norms upheld in the West.

BackgroundAcute pollutant-related lung function changes among children varies across pollutants and lag periods. We examined whether short-term air pollutant fluctuations were related to daily lung function among a panel of children and whether these effects are modified by airway hyperresponsiveness, location and asthma severity.MethodsStudents from randomly selected grade 4 classrooms at seven primary schools in Durban, participated, together with asthmatic children from grades 3–6 (n=423). The schools were from high pollutant exposed communities (south) and compared with schools from communities with lower levels of pollution (north), with similar socioeconomic profiles. Interviews, spirometry and methacholine challenge testing were conducted. Bihourly lung function measurements were performed over a 3-week period in four phases. During all schooldays, students blew into their personal digital monitors every 1.5–2 hours. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrogen oxide (NO), sulphur dioxide and particulate matter (<10 μm diameter) (PM10) were measured at each school. Generalised estimating equations assessed lag effects, using single-pollutant (single or distributed lags) models.ResultsFEV1 declines ranged from 13 to 18 mL per unit increase in IQR for NO and 14–23 mL for NO2. Among the 5-day average models, a 20 mL and 30 mL greater drop in FEV1 per IQR for NO2 and NO, respectively, among those with airway hyperresponsiveness compared with those without. Effects were seen among those with normal airways.ConclusionsThis first panel study in sub-Saharan Africa, showed significant declines in lung function, in response to NO and NO2 with effects modified by airway hyperresponsiveness or persistent asthma.

Objective To investigate the outcomes of critically ill obstetric patients managed in a obstetric critical care unit in South Africa. Methods Patients with severe maternal morbidity managed in the labor ward of Tygerberg Hospital were studied over three months before the establishment of the obstetrician-led obstetric critical care unit. One year later, patients managed in the obstetric critical care unit were studied using the same methods. The primary outcome measures were maternal morbidity and mortality. Results In the before-obstetric critical care unit prospective audit 63 patients met criteria for obstetric critical care. During the second period 60 patients were admitted to the obstetric critical care unit. There were no significant differences between the groups in baseline characteristics, admission indications or Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation scores. Continuous positive airway pressure ( p < 0.01) was utilized more in the second group. Seven deaths occurred in the first, but none in the second group ( p = 0.01). Conclusion The establishment of an obstetrician-led obstetric critical care unit facilitated a decrease in maternal mortality. Trial registration: Not applicable.

Rhinoscleroma is a chronic, infectious, granulomatous disease that may present with mass lesions in the respiratory tract anywhere from the nose to the trachea. The nose is involved in 95–100 per cent of cases. There are three stages of the disease: catarrhal-atrophic, granulomatous (also known as hypertrophic) and sclerotic. The diagnosis is made either by positive Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis culture or from the classic histological findings of Mikulicz cells and transformed plasma cells with Russell bodies. Rhinoscleroma is endemic to areas of Africa, South-East Asia, Mexico, Central and South America, and Central and Eastern Europe, and it has been associated with low socioeconomic status. In the past, rhinoscleroma was infrequent in the US population but, with current trends in migration, the incidence of rhinoscleroma may be on the rise. There is often a delay in diagnosis in non-endemic areas such as the US due to unfamiliarity with the disease, the stage-dependent clinical and histological manifestations of disease, and the fact that only 50–60 per cent of cultures are positive for K rhinoscleromatis. Such late diagnosis leads to increased morbidity in the form of nasal and airway obstruction and nasal deformity from erosive processes. Rhinoscleroma is difficult to cure and prone to recur. Currently, the recommended treatment consists of a combination of surgical debridement and long-term antibiotic therapy. We present a case report of a culture-positive diagnosis of rhinoscleroma, and we review the existing literature.

Asthma, a chronic inflammatory condition of the airways, is a global public health concern. In southern Africa the prevalence of asthma has increased over the last few decades. In the current study, all 10-year-old learners from three of the schools (one each in Sasolburg, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging) that participated in the 1990 Vaal Triangle Air Pollution and Health Study, were selected as the study population for a cross-sectional study conducted in 2010. Both the 1990 and 2010 studies investigated several exposure factors but focussed on respiratory illnesses as main health outcomes. Although the overall ethnicity profile in 2010 was different from that of 1990, the socioeconomic status of the study populations were very similar – the reason being that the same schools were used and the participating children were from the same immediate environment. The results of the 2010 study were then compared to the results of all 10-year-olds, from the same three schools, who participated in the 1990 study. The results showed the difference in prevalence of asthma during the two study years was statistically significant. The difference in the percentage of children who had ever been diagnosed with asthma and were reportedly on medication in 1990 and 2010 was, however, not statistically significant, indicating that although the prevalence of asthma increased, the demand for medication to control the condition may not have increased as well.

Hydatid disease is mainly caused by infection with the larval stage of the dog tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. Infestation by hydatid disease in humans most commonly occurs in the liver (55- 70%) followed by the lung (18- 35%); the two organs can be affected simultaneously in about 5-13% of cases. Hydatid disease is endemic in many parts of the world, including India, Africa, South America, New Zealand, Australia, Turkey and Southern Europe. Hydatid disease is more prevalent in rural areas where there is a closer contact between people and dogs and various domestic animals which act as intermediate vectors. Hydatid disease remains frequent in JUMLA. In Karnali Academy of Health sciences 26 surgeries for hydatid cyst was done between 2016-2018. Hydatid cyst of liver in a child is a challenge to anesthesiologist in a remote city such as Jumla. Anaphylactic and anaphylactoid reactions during anesthesia are a major cause of concern for anesthesiologists. During the perioperative period, any symptomatology relating to sudden onset hemodynamic collapse or increased airway pressures during certain surgical procedures should raise suspicion of anaphylaxis. We report a case of intraoperative sudden anaphylaxis and its management.

Postmortem recovery of epididymal spermatozoa and their preservation in Biological Resource Banks is a convenient source of germplasm, providing a possible future conservation resource for selected endangered wildlife species. It is necessary to gain knowledge of the biology of the gametes of the different species, in order to define effective protocols for cryopreservation and future assisted reproductive technology application. A pilot study on the changes in blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and blesbok (Damaliscus dorcas phillipsi) epididymal sperm was carried out in order to provide some insight into the effects of incubation at 37°C. Chemicals were aquired from Sigma (South Africa), except JC-1 (Molecular Probes, Leiden, The Netherlands). Sperm was obtained by flushing the vas deferens and cauda epididymis of 6 adult blue wildebeests and 4 adult blesbok after the breeding season using 1 mL of Biladyl (fraction A; Minitüb, Tiefenbach, Germany). Cells were washed and resuspended in buffered medium (20 mM HEPES, 197 mM NaCl, 10 mM glucose, 2.5 mM KOH). Part of each sample was analyzed and part was incubated for 1 h at 37°C, and then analyzed. Analysis consisted of: motility (% of motile sperm, TM; and % of linear sperm, LM), vitality (fluorescent dye propidium iodide, 7 μM; % of unstained cells noted after 10 min at RT: vital, VIT), mitochondrial status (fluorescent dye JC-1, 7.5 μM; % of cells with orange midpiece noted after 30 min at 37°C: active mitochondria, MIT), and induction of acrosome reaction (15 min at 37°C in buffered medium complemented with 3 mM CaCl; % of intact acrosomes noted in control: splits no ionophore, ACR, and test: splits 1 μM calcimycin, ION). Samples were assessed using phase contrast microscopy (×400; ×200 for motility). Results are showed in Table 1. No significant differences (Wilcoxon Rank Sign test) were detected, possibly due to the low number of samples. However, LM appeared to decrease after incubation. Incubaton may increase the sensitivity of blue wildebeest sperm to ionophore (ION). Motility was least for blesbok, and the decrease of LM after incubation was more apparent. This treatment may induce different physiologycal changes between the species (different LM variation). The rest of the parameters suggest that the treatment did not induce extensive cell damage. Further research must be carried out to confirm these findings. Table 1. Median values for the analyzed parameters Sponsors of this project include Vodacom, Joan St. Leger Lindburgh Charitable Trust, Tony and Lizette Lewis Foundation, Department Science and Technology (South Africa), British Airways, IMV Technologies/CBS (France), NECSA, Zeiss Microscopes, AEC-Amersham, CryoLogic (Australia), Cook Veterinary (Australia), Mazda Wildlife Fund, The Scientific Group, Genaust (Australia), and SCI – Chesapeake Chapter.

The Mikania glomerata Spreng is a specie found in Europe, Africa, North and South America and is commonly known as “guaco” and “guaco climber”. Many scientific studies confirm the bactericidal, anti-ophidic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, and bronchodilator pharmacological activities. These studies aim to contribute to new research, report the phytotherapy aspects and describe the therapeutical properties of Mikania glomerata. This study is an integrative review with a descriptive approach. Were found during the study that the guaco therapeutical properties are diverse, such as: antiasthmatic, tonic, antipyretic, expectorant, appetite stimulant, anti-influenza, antirheumatic, soothing, healing, diuretic, emollient, fluidizing, bacterial growth inhibitor, antiallergic, antifungal, antioxidant, anthelmintic. Thereby, the analyzed texts show, besides the properties mentioned above, an expressive performance on duodenal and stomach ulcers, infectious diseases such as tonsillitis and oropharyngeal inflammation, influenzas, and upper airway infections (UAI), usually known as cold. Thus, is essential to highlight the value of the medicinal use of this compound, in a way to accentuate their benefits for the clinical improvement of various conditions that currently affect patients. However, given the data that were shown previously, as well as the limited number of studies, it is fundamental to carry out more research to define more safely the therapeutic properties of the M. glomerata, in addition to showing the long-term effects of the use of your phytotherapic and safe doses, such as side effects.

Rhinoscleroma is a rare chronic granulomatous disease caused by Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis, which is a Gram-negative bacilli. Scleroma primarily affects the upper respiratory airway, preferably the nasal cavity, but the pharynx and larynx may also be involved. The term scleroma is preferred over the term rhinoscleroma because this disease affects not only the nose. Scleroma is endemic in countries of East Europe, Africa, South-East Asia and in sporadic areas worldwide. Scleroma usually begins at the nose and may progress to involve the larynx, pharynx or other regions of the neck. Scleroma generally progresses in three stages: the catarrhal or exudative phase, the proliferative or granulomatous phase, the sclerotic stage. Diagnosis of Rhinoscleroma depends on identification of the pathognomonic Mickulicz cells which is most prominent during granulomatous phase but spares or absent during catarrhal or sclerotic phases of the disease. We report a case of 11-year-old girl with the sclerotic stage of scleroma. This diagnose was proved by Mikulich cells histological detecting. We review the history, epidemiology, pathology, diagnosis, and treatment of scleroma. We report the case of a 11-year-old girl, hospitalize in our institute, diagnosed with rhinoscleroma in the context of recurrent breathlessness, wheezes and cough. The diagnosis difficulty caused by changes of nasal laryngeal mucous membrane after septoplasty 3 months ago and bronchial asthma diagnosed 2 years ago. The patient was given a six-month regimen of ciprofloxacin, and a dramatic improvement was observed.

It was the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan who first introduced the term ‘global village’ into the lexicon, almost fifty years ago. He was referring to the phenomenon of global interconnectedness of which we are all too aware today. At that time, we were witnessing the world just opening up. In 1946, British Airways had commenced a twice weekly service from London to New York. The flight involved one or two touch downs en-route and took a scheduled 19 hours and 45 minutes. By the time McLuhan had published his book “Understanding media; the extensions of man”, there were regular services by jet around the globe. London to Sydney was travelled in just under 35 hours. Moving forward to a time immediately pre-covid, there were over 30 non-stop flights a day in each direction between London and New York. The travel time from London to Sydney had been cut by a third, to slightly under 22 hours, with just one touchdown en-route. The world has well and truly ‘opened up’. No place is unreachable by regular services. But that is just one part of the picture. In 1962, the very first live television pictures were transmitted across the Atlantic, via satellite. It was a time when sports’ fans would tune in besides a crackling radio set to hear commentary of their favourite game relayed from the other side of the world. Today of course, not only can we watch a live telecast of the Olympic Games in the comfort of our own homes wherever the games are being held, but we can pick up a telephone and talk face to face with friends and relatives in real time, wherever they may be in the world. To today’s generation – generation Z – this does not seem in the least bit remarkable. Indeed, they have been nicknamed ‘the connected generation’ precisely because such a degree of human interconnectedness no longer seems worth commenting on. The media technology and the transport advances that underpin this level of connectedness, have become taken for granted assumptions to them. This is why the global events of 2020 and the associated public health related reactions, have proved to be so remarkable to them. It is mass travel and the closeness and variety of human contact in day-to-day interactions, that have provided the breeding ground for the pandemic. Consequently, moving around and sharing close proximity with many strangers, have been the activities that have had to be curbed, as the initial primary means to manage the spread of the virus. This has caused hardship to many, either through the loss of a job and the associated income or, the lengthy enforced separation from family and friends – for the many who find themselves living and working far removed from their original home. McLuhan’s powerful metaphor was ahead of its time. His thoughts were centred around media and electronic communications well prior to the notion of a ‘physical’ pandemic, which today has provided an equally potent image of how all of our fortunes have become intertwined, no matter where we sit in the world. Yet it is this event which seems paradoxically to have for the first time forced us to consider more closely the path of progress pursued over the last half century. It is as if we are experiencing for the first time the unleashing of powerful and competing forces, which are both centripetal and centrifugal. On the one hand we are in a world where we have a World Health Organisation. This is a body which has acted as a global force, first declaring the pandemic and subsequently acting in response to it as a part of its brief for international public health. It has brought the world’s scientists and global health professionals together to accelerate the research and development process and develop new norms and standards to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and help care for those affected. At the same time, we have been witnessing nations retreating from each other and closing their borders in order to restrict the interaction of their citizens with those from other nations around the world. We have perceived that danger and risk are increased by international travel and human to human interaction. As a result, increasingly communication has been carried out from the safety and comfort of one’s own home, with electronic media taking the place of personal interaction in the real world. The change to the media dominated world, foreseen by McLuhan a half century ago, has been hastened and consolidated by the threats posed by Covid 19. Real time interactions can be conducted more safely and more economically by means of the global reach of the internet and the ever-enhanced technologies that are being offered to facilitate that. Yet at a geopolitical level prior to Covid 19, the processes of globalism and nationalism were already being recognised as competing forces. In many countries, tensions have emerged between those who are benefitting from the opportunities presented by the development of free trade between countries and those who are invested in more traditional ventures, set in their own nations and communities. The emerging beneficiaries have become characterised as the global elites. Their demographic profile is one associated with youth, education and progressive social ideas. However, they are counter-balanced by those who, rather than opportunities, have experienced threats from the disruptions and turbulence around them. Among the ideas challenged, have been the expected certainties of employment, social values and the security with which many grew up. Industries which have been the lifeblood of their communities are facing extinction and even the security of housing and a roof over the heads of self and family may be under threat. In such circumstances, some people may see waves of new immigrants, technology, and changing social values as being tides which need to be turned back. Their profile is characterised by a demographic less equipped to face such changes - the more mature, less well educated and less mobile. Yet this tension appears to be creating something more than just the latest version of the generational divide. The recent clashes between Republicans and Democrats in the US have provided a very potent example of these societal stresses. The US has itself exported some of these arenas of conflict to the rest of the world. Black lives Matter and #Me too, are social movements with their foundation in the US which have found their way far beyond the immediate contexts which gave them birth. In the different national settings where these various tensions have emerged, they have been characterised through labels such as left and right, progressive and traditional, the ‘haves’ versus the ‘have nots’ etc. Yet common to all of this growing competitiveness between ideologies and values is a common thread. The common thread lies in the notion of competition itself. It finds itself expressed most potently in the spread and adoption of ideas based on what has been termed the neoliberal values of the free market. These values have become ingrained in the language and concepts we employ every day. Thus, everything has a price and ultimately the price can be represented by a dollar value. We see this process of commodification around us on a daily basis. Sports studies’ scholars have long drawn attention to its continuing growth in the world of sport, especially in situations when it overwhelms the human characteristics of the athletes who are at the very heart of sport. When the dollar value of the athlete and their performance becomes more important than the individual and the game, then we find ourselves at the heart of some of the core problems reported today. It is at the point where sport changes from an experience, where the athletes develop themselves and become more complete persons experiencing positive and enriching interactions with fellow athletes, to an environment where young athletes experience stress and mental and physical ill health as result of their experiences. Those who are supremely talented (and lucky?) are rewarded with fabulous riches. Others can find themselves cast out on the scrap heap as a result of an unfair selection process or just the misfortune of injury. Sport as always, has proved to be a mirror of life in reflecting this process in the world at large, highlighting the heights that can be climbed by the fortunate as well as the depths that can be plumbed by the ill-fated. Advocates of the free-market approach will point to the opportunities it can offer. Figures can show that in a period of capitalist organised economies, there has been an unprecedented reduction in the amount of poverty in the world. Despite rapid growth in populations, there has been some extraordinary progress in lifting people out of extreme poverty. Between 1990 and 2010, the numbers in poverty fell by half as a share of the total population in developing countries, from 43% to 21%—a reduction of almost 1 billion people (The Economist Leader, June 1st, 2013). Nonetheless the critics of capitalism will continue to point to an increasing gap between the haves and don’t haves and specifically a decline in the ‘middle classes’, which have for so long provided the backbone of stable democratic societies. This delicate balance between retreating into our own boundaries as a means to manage the pandemic and resuming open borders to prevent economic damage to those whose businesses and employment depend upon the continuing movement of people and goods, is one which is being agonised over at this time in liberal democratic societies around the world. The experience of the pandemic has varied between countries, not solely because of the strategies adopted by politicians, but also because of the current health systems and varying social and economic conditions of life in different parts of the world. For many of us, the crises and social disturbances noted above have been played out on our television screens and websites. Increasingly it seems that we have been consuming our life experiences in a world dominated by our screens and sheltered from the real messiness of life. Meanwhile, in those countries with a choice, the debate has been between public health concerns and economic health concerns. Some have argued that the two are not totally independent of each other, while others have argued that the extent to which they are seen as interrelated lies in the extent to which life’s values have themselves become commodified. Others have pointed to the mental health problems experienced by people of all ages as a result of being confined for long periods of time within limited spaces and experiencing few chances to meet with others outside their immediate household. Still others have experienced different conditions – such as the chance to work from home in a comfortable environment and be freed from the drudgery of commuting in crowded traffic or public transport. So, at a national/communal level as well as at an individual level, this international crisis has exposed people to different decisions. It has offered, for many, a chance to recalibrate their lives. Those who have the resources, are leaving the confines of the big capital cities and seeking a healthier and less turbulent existence in quieter urban centres. For those of us in what can be loosely termed ‘an information industry’, today’s work practices are already an age away from what they were in pre-pandemic times. Yet again, a clear split is evident. The notion of ‘essential industries’ has been reclassified. The delivery of goods, the facilitation of necessary purchase such as food; these and other tasks have acquired a new significance which has enhanced the value of those who deliver these services. However, for those whose tasks can be handled via the internet or offloaded to other anonymous beings a readjustment of a different kind is occurring. So to the future - for those who have suffered ill-health and lost loved ones, the pandemic only reinforces the human priority. Health and well-being trumps economic health and wealth where choices can be made. The closeness of human contact has been reinforced by the tales of families who have been deprived of the touch of their loved ones, many of whom still don’t know when that opportunity will be offered again. When writing our editorial, a year ago, I little expected to be still pursuing a Covid related theme today. Yet where once we were expecting to look back on this time as a minor hiccough, with normal service being resumed sometime last year, it has not turned out to be that way. Rather, it seems that we have been offered a major reset opportunity in the way in which we continue to progress our future as humans. The question is, will we be bold enough to see the opportunity and embrace a healthier more equitable more locally responsible lifestyle or, will we revert to a style of ‘progress’ where powerful countries, organisations and individuals continue to amass increased amounts of wealth and influence and become increasingly less responsive to the needs of individuals in the throng below. Of course, any retreat from globalisation as it has evolved to date, will involve disruption of a different kind, which will inevitably lead to pain for some. It seems inevitable that any change and consequent progress is going to involve winners and losers. Already airline companies and the travel industry are putting pressure on governments to “get back to normal” i.e. where things were previously. Yet, in the shadow of widespread support for climate activism and the extinction rebellion movement, reports have emerged that since the lockdowns air pollution has dropped dramatically around the world – a finding that clearly offers benefits to all our population. In a similar vein the impossibility of overseas air travel in Australia has resulted in a major increase in local tourism, where more inhabitants are discovering the pleasures of their own nation. The transfer of their tourist and holiday dollars from overseas to local tourist providers has produced at one level a traditional zero-sum outcome, but it has also been accompanied by a growing appreciation of local citizens for the wonders of their own land and understanding of the lives of their fellow citizens as well as massive savings in foregone air travel. Continuing to define life in terms of competition for limited resources will inevitably result in an ever-continuing run of zero-sum games. Looking beyond the prism of competition and personal reward has the potential to add to what Michael Sandel (2020) has termed ‘the common good’. Does the possibility of a reset, offer the opportunity to recalibrate our views of effort and reward to go beyond a dollar value and include this important dimension? How has sport been experiencing the pandemic and are there chances for a reset here? An opinion piece from Peter Horton in this edition, has highlighted the growing disconnect of professional sport at the highest level from the communities that gave them birth. Is this just another example of the outcome of unrestrained commodification? Professional sport has suffered in the pandemic with the cancelling of fixtures and the enforced absence of crowds. Yet it has shown remarkable resilience. Sport science staff may have been reduced alongside all the auxiliary workers who go to make up the total support staff on match days and other times. Crowds have been absent, but the game has gone on. Players have still been able to play and receive the support they have become used to from trainers, physiotherapists and analysts, although for the moment there may be fewer of them. Fans have had to rely on electronic media to watch their favourites in action– but perhaps that has just encouraged the continuing spread of support now possible through technology which is no longer dependent on personal attendance through the turnstile. Perhaps for those committed to the watching of live sport in the outdoors, this might offer a chance for more attention to be paid to sport at local and community levels. Might the local villagers be encouraged to interrelate with their hometown heroes, rather than the million-dollar entertainers brought in from afar by the big city clubs? To return to the village analogy and the tensions between global and local, could it be that the social structure of the village has become maladapted to the reality of globalisation? If we wish to retain the traditional values of village life, is returning to our village a necessary strategy? If, however we see that today the benefits and advantages lie in functioning as one single global community, then perhaps we need to do some serious thinking as to how that community can function more effectively for all of its members and not just its ‘elites’. As indicated earlier, sport has always been a reflection of our society. Whichever way our communities decide to progress, sport will have a place at their heart and sport scholars will have a place in critically reflecting the nature of the society we are building. It is on such a note that I am pleased to introduce the content of volume 43:1 to you. We start with a reminder from Hoyoon Jung of the importance of considering the richness provided by a deep analysis of context, when attempting to evaluate and compare outcomes for similar events. He examines the concept of nation building through sport, an outcome that has been frequently attributed to the conduct of successful events. In particular, he examines this outcome in the context of the experiences of South Africa and Brazil as hosts of world sporting events. The mega sporting event that both shared was the FIFA world cup, in 2010 and 2014 respectively. Additional information could be gained by looking backwards to the 1995 Rugby World Cup in the case of South Africa and forward to the 2016 Olympics with regard to Brazil. Differentiating the settings in terms of timing as well as in the makeup of the respective local cultures, has led Jung to conclude that a successful outcome for nation building proved possible in the case of South Africa. However, different settings, both economically and socially, made it impossible for Brazil to replicate the South African experience. From a globally oriented perspective to a more local one, our second paper by Rafal Gotowski and Marta Anna Zurawak examines the growth and development, with regard to both participation and performance, of a more localised activity in Poland - the Nordic walking marathon. Their analysis showed that this is a locally relevant activity that is meeting the health-related exercise needs of an increasing number of people in the middle and later years, including women. It is proving particularly beneficial as an activity due to its ability to offer a high level of intensity while reducing the impact - particularly on the knees. The article by Petr Vlček, Richard Bailey, Jana Vašíčková XXABSTRACT Claude Scheuer is also concerned with health promoting physical activity. Their focus however is on how the necessary habit of regular and relevant physical activity is currently being introduced to the younger generation in European schools through the various physical education curricula. They conclude that physical education lessons, as they are currently being conducted, are not providing the needed 50% minimum threshold of moderate to vigorous physical activity. They go further, to suggest that in reality, depending on the physical education curriculum to provide the necessary quantum of activity within the child’s week, is going to be a flawed vision, given the instructional and other objectives they are also expected to achieve. They suggest implementing instead an ‘Active Schools’ concept, where the PE lessons are augmented by other school-based contexts within a whole school programme of health enhancing physical activity for children. Finally, we step back to the global and international context and the current Pandemic. Eric Burhaein, Nevzt Demirci, Carla Cristina Vieira Lourenco, Zsolt Nemeth and Diajeng Tyas Pinru Phytanza have collaborated as a concerned group of physical educators to provide an important international position statement which addresses the role which structured and systematic physical activity should assume in the current crisis. This edition then concludes with two brief contributions. The first is an opinion piece by Peter Horton which provides a professional and scholarly reaction to the recent attempt by a group of European football club owners to challenge the global football community and establish a self-governing and exclusive European Super League. It is an event that has created great alarm and consternation in the world of football. Horton reflects the outrage expressed by that community and concludes: While recognising the benefits accruing from well managed professionalism, the essential conflict between the values of sport and the values of market capitalism will continue to simmer below the surface wherever sport is commodified rather than practised for more ‘intrinsic’ reasons. We conclude however on a more celebratory note. We are pleased to acknowledge the recognition achieved by one of the members of our International Review Board. The career and achievements of Professor John Wang – a local ‘scholar’- have been recognised in his being appointed as the foundation E.W. Barker Professor in Physical Education and Sport at the Nanyang Technological University. This is a well-deserved honour and one that reflects the growing stature of the Singapore Physical Education and Sports Science community within the world of International Sport Studies. John Saunders Brisbane, June 2021

From its beginning, mankind suffered injuries through falling, fire, drowning and human aggression [1]. Although the frequency and the kinetics modifiy over millennia, trauma continues to represent an important cause of morbidity and mortality even in the modern society [1]. Significant progresses in the trauma surgery were due to military conflicts, which next to social sufferance came with important steps in injuries’ management, further applied in civilian hospitals. The foundation of modern trauma systems was started by Dominique Jean Larrey (1766-1842) during the Napoleonic Rin military campaign from 1792. The wounded who remained on the battlefield till the end of the battle to receive medical care, usually more than 24 hours, from that moment were transported during the conflict with flying ambulances to mobile hospitals. Starting with the First World War, through the usage of antiseptics, blood transfusions, and fracture management, the mortality decreased from 39% in the Crimean War (1853–1856) to 10%. One of the most preeminent figures of the Second World War was Michael DeBakey, who created the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH), concept very similar to the Larrey’s unit. In 1941, in England, Birmingham Accident Hospital was opened, specially designed for injured people, this being the first trauma center worldwide. During the Golf War (1990–1991) the MASH were used for the last time, being replaced by Forward Surgical Teams, very mobile units satisfying the necessities of the nowadays infantry [1]. Nowadays, trauma meets the pandemic criteria, everyday 16,000 people worldwide are dying, injuries representing one of the first five causes of mortality for all the age groups below 60 [2]. A recent 12-month analysis of trauma pattern in the Emergency Hospital of Bucharest revealed 141 patients, 72.3% males, with a mean age of 43.52 ± 19 years, and a mean New Injury Severity Score (NISS) of 27.58 ± 11.32 [3]. The etiology was traffic related in 101 (71.6%), falls in 28 (19.9%) and crushing in 7 (5%) cases. The overall mortality was as high as 30%, for patients with a mean NISS of 37.63 [3]. At the scene, early recognition of severe injuries and a high index of suspicion according to trauma kinetics may allow a correct triage of patients [4]. A functional trauma system should continuously evaluate the rate of over- and under-triage [5]. The over-triage represents the transfer to a very severe patient to a center without necessary resources, while under-triage means a low injured patient referred to a highly specialized center. If under-triage generates preventable deaths, the over-triage comes with a high financial and personal burden for the already overloaded tertiary centers [5]. To maximize the chance for survival, the major trauma patients should be transported as rapid as possible to a trauma center [6]. The initial resuscitation of trauma patients was divided into two time intervals: ten platinum minutes and golden hour [6]. During the ten platinum minutes the airways should be managed, the exsanguinating bleeding should be stopped, and the critical patients should be transported from the scene. During the golden hour all the life-threatening lesions should be addressed, but unfortunately many patients spend this time in the prehospital setting [6]. These time intervals came from Trunkey’s concept of trimodal distribution of mortality secondary to trauma, proposed in 1983 [7]. This trimodal distribution of mortality remains a milestone in the trauma education and research, and is still actual for development but inconsistent for efficient trauma systems [8]. The concept of patients’ management in the prehospital setting covered a continuous interval, with two extremities: stay and play/treat then transfer or scoop and run/ load and go. Stay and play, usually used in Europe, implies airways securing and endotracheal intubation, pleurostomy tube insertion, and intravenous lines with volemic replacement therapy. During scoop and run, used in the Unites States, the patient is immediately transported to a trauma center, addressing the immediate life-threating injuries during transportation. In the emergency department of the corresponding trauma center, the resuscitation of the injured patients should be done by a trauma team, after an orchestrated protocol based on Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS). The modern trauma teams include five to ten specialists: general surgeons trained in trauma care, emergency medicine physicians, intensive care physicians, orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, radiologists, interventional radiologists, and nurses. In the specially designed trauma centers, the leader of the trauma team should be the general surgeon, while in the lower level centers this role may be taken over by the emergency physicians. The implementation of a trauma system is a very difficult task, and should be tailored to the needs of the local population. For example, in Europe the majority of injuries are by blunt trauma, while in the United States or South Africa they are secondary to penetrating injuries. In an effort to analyse at a national level the performance of trauma care, we have proposed a national registry of major trauma patients [9]. For this registry we have defined major trauma as a New Injury Severity Score higher than 15. The maintenance of such registry requires significant human and financial resources, while only a permanent audit may decrease the rate of preventable deaths in the Romanian trauma care (Figure 1) [10]. Figure 1 - The website of Romanian Major Trauma Registry (http://www.registrutraume.ro). USA - In the United States of America there are 203 level I centers, 265 level II centers, 205 level III or II centers and only 32 level I or II pediatric centers, according to the 2014 report of National Trauma Databank [11]. USA were the first which recognized trauma as a public health problem, and proceeded to a national strategy for injury prevention, emergency medical care and trauma research. In 1966, the US National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council noted that ‘’public apathy to the mounting toll from accidents must be transformed into an action program under strong leadership’’ [12]. Considerable national efforts were made in 1970s, when standards of trauma care were released and in 1990s when ‘’The model trauma care system plan’’[13] was generated. The American College of Surgeons introduced the concept of a national trauma registry in 1989. The National Trauma Databank became functional seven years later, in 2006 being registered over 1 million patients from 600 trauma centers [14]. Mortality from unintentional injury in the United States decreased from 55 to 37.7 per 100,000 population, in 1965 and 2004, respectively [15]. Due to this national efforts, 84.1% of all Americans have access within one hour from injury to a dedicated trauma care [16]. Canada - A survey from 2010 revealed that 32 trauma centers across Canada, 16 Level I and 16 Level II, provide definitive trauma care [18]. All these centers have provincial designation, and funding to serve as definitive or referral hospital. Only 18 (56%) centers were accredited by an external agency, such as the Trauma Association of Canada. The three busiest centers in Canada had between 798–1103 admissions with an Injury Severity Score over 12 in 2008 [18]. Australia - Australia is an island continent, the fifth largest country in the world, with over 23 million people distributed on this large area, a little less than the United States. With the majority of these citizens concentrated in large urban areas, access to the medical care for the minority of inhabitants distributed through the territory is quite difficult. The widespread citizens cannot be reached by helicopter, restricted to near-urban regions, but with the fixed wing aircraft of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, within two hours [13]. In urban centers, the trauma care is similar to the most developed countries, while for people sparse on large territories the trauma care is far from being managed in the ‘’golden hour’’, often extending to the ‘’Golden day’’ [19]. Germany - One of the most efficient European trauma system is in Germany. Created in 1975 on the basis of the Austrian trauma care, this system allowed an over 50% decreasing of mortality, despite the increased number of injuries. According to the 2014 annual report of the Trauma Register of German Trauma Society (DGU), there are 614 hospitals submitting data, with 34.878 patients registered in 2013 [20]. The total number of cases documented in the Trauma Register DGU is now 159.449, of which 93% were collected since 2002. In the 2014 report, from 26.444 patients with a mean age of 49.5% and a mean ISS of 16.9, the observed mortality was 10% [20]. The United Kingdom - In 1988, a report of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, analyzing major injuries concluded that one third of deaths were preventable [21]. In 2000, a joint report from the Royal College of Surgeons of England and of the British Orthopedic Association was very suggestive entitled "Better Care for the Severely Injured" [22]. Nowadays the Trauma Audit Research network (TARN) is an independent monitor of trauma care in England and Wales [23]. TARN collects data from hospitals for all major trauma patients, defined as those with a hospital stay longer than 72 hours, those who require intensive care, or in-hospital death. A recent analysis of TARN data, looking at the cost of major trauma patients revealed that the total cost of initial hospital inpatient care was £19.770 per patient, of which 62% was attributable to ventilation, intensive care and wards stays, 16% to surgery, and 12% to blood transfusions [24]. Global health care models Countries where is applied Functioning concept Total healthcare costs from GDP Bismarck model Germany Privatized insurance companies (approx. 180 nonprofit sickness funds). Half of the national trauma beds are publicly funded trauma centers; the remaining are non-profit and for-profit private centers. 11.1% Beveridge model United Kingdom Insurance companies are non-existent. All hospitals are nationalized. 9.3% National health insurance Canada, Australia, Taiwan Fusion of Bismarck and Beveridge models. Hospitals are privatized, but the insurance program is single and government-run. 11.2% for Canada The out-of-pocket model India, Pakistan, Cambodia The poorest countries, with undeveloped health care payment systems. Patients are paying for more than 75% of medical costs. 3.9% for India GDP – gross domestic product Table 1 - Global health care models with major consequences on trauma care [17]. Traumas continue to be a major healthcare problem, and no less important than cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and access to dedicated and timely intervention maximizes the patients’ chance for survival and minimizes the long-term morbidities. We should remember that one size does not fit in all trauma care. The Romanian National Trauma Program should tailor its resources to the matched demands of the specific Romanian urban and rural areas.

Purpose: In the light of the South African Airways (SAA) (and Heathrow airport) strike in July 2005, an opportunity exists to evaluate the situation in order to address related problems in the future. The role of labour and specifically labour relations in the air travel industry highlights some important factors related to the industry. This paper aims to highlight the specific factors that will address possible reasons for poor workplace relations in SAA. Furthermore, a workable labour relations model for the organisation and other air travel organisations is proposed. In allowing a strike of the magnitude of the SAA strike of 2005 (e.g. a loss of income of R25 million per day), serious labour relations problems in the organisation are obvious. In order to prevent this action, an in-depth study of workplace relations is necessary to focus on the real problems and to adapt and make changes. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper is an exploratory exercise based on literature that provides an overview of scholarship in the air travel industry through an analysis of trends and debates, telephonic interviews with role players in the industry and discussions with academics in the tourism industry and in labour relations. Findings: Taking into account that the air travel industry is technologically advanced, highly labour intensive, very sensitive towards external influences and very competitive, it is therefore important for every employer (including SAA) to design a labour relations system that is fit for the organisation. A suggested labour relations model for SAA is about the ability to build and sustain relationships characterised by shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect. Implications: The effects of strikes and other labour actions in the air travel industry have far reaching impacts on the air travel industry, the tourism industry, as well as the national economy. Originality/Value: This study highlights the importance of sound labour relations in the industry.

While airline profitability has remained a challenge over several years, the weakest performance identified by IATA reports was from airlines in Africa and Latin America. The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of leverage, liquidity, and asset tangibility on firm profitability of flag carriers in Africa. Stratified random sampling technique adopted reduced the working population of 23 firms to 4 firms namely Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airways, Air Mauritius and South African Airways. Data was collected from each airline’s website over a thirteen-year period between 2005–2017. The findings were that leverage had a significant effect that was either positive or negative depending on whether debt is financed by equity or by assets implying that airline managers should endeavour to target cost-efficient sources of capital. Liquidity and asset tangibility were observed to have no significant effect and had little to no explanatory power on financial performance in the selected African airlines. The study recommends implementing a collaborative effort using a tri-partite debt covenant between airline managers, lenders of capital and government. African governments and local lenders should step in to support their Flag carriers by reducing the gaps and costs associated with acquisition of debt and other sources of capital. Airline managers on their part should manage resources efficiently and be held accountable with periodic audits to ensure they are invested in sustainable levels of their airline’s profitability.