BACKGROUND: Biokinetics is a South African (SA) health profession within the private health care sector. Biokineticists register with the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA). OBJECTIVES: To describe the demographic trends of HPCSA registered biokineticists from 2000 to 2020 to understand the supply and status of human resources for health within the profession. METHODS: The following data were collected and analysed: i) health personnel category, ii) geographical location, iii) age, iv) sex, and v) population category. RESULTS: The number of HPCSA registered biokineticists grew from 136 in 2000, to 1831 in January 2020 (67.8% women, 32.2% men). There was a sharp decline in numbers after the age of 45 years. The Western Cape (5.8) and Gauteng (5.1) provinces had the most biokineticists per 100 000 of the population, whilst smaller provinces like Kwazulu-Natal (1.6), Mpumalanga (1.6), North-West (1.6) and Limpopo (0.9) lagged. The demographic profile of registered Biokineticists changed steadily from 2000 to 2020. Registered biokineticists classified as White decreased from 91.6% to 80.4%, whilst substantial increases were observed among Black (5.0% to 8.3%), Coloured (0.02% to 5.3%) and Indian/Asian (0.02% to 6.0%) biokineticists. Thirteen tertiary institutions offered Biokinetics programmes in 2022. Seven offered the 3+1-year (Honours) programme and six have migrated to a 4-year professional degree. CONCLUSION: The profession is well established, growing, and dominated by women. The demographic profile has transformed steadily; however, the need to transform the profession remains strong. Strengthening investments aimed at the employment of biokineticists in the public health sector may serve as a key turning point for healthcare workforce planning.

The potential effect of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) emitted from video display terminals (VDTs) to elicit biological response is a major concern for the public. The software professionals are subjected to cumulative EMFs in their occupational environments. This study was undertaken to evaluate DNA damage and incidences of micronuclei in such professionals. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first attempt to carry out cytogenetic investigations on assessing bioeffects in personal computer users. The study subjects (n = 138) included software professionals using VDTs for more than 2 years with age, gender, socioeconomic status matched controls (n = 151). DNA damage and frequency of micronuclei were evaluated using alkaline comet assay and cytochalasin blocked micronucleus assay respectively. Overall DNA damage and incidence of micronuclei showed no significant differences between the exposed and control subjects. With exposure characteristics, such as total duration (years) and frequency of use (minutes/day) sub-groups were assessed for such parameters. Although cumulative frequency of use showed no significant changes in the DNA integrity of the classified sub-groups, the long-term users (> 10 years) showed higher induction of DNA damage and increased frequency of micronuclei and micro nucleated cells.

The Himalaya covering 20-38° N latitude and 70-98° E longitude, is one of the most seismo-tectonically active and vulnerable regions of the world. Visual inspection of the temporal earthquake frequency pattern of the Himalayas indicates the nature of the tectonic activity prevailing in this region. However, the quantification of this dynamical pattern is essential for constraining a model and characterizing the nature of earthquake dynamics in this region. We examine the temporal evolution of seismicity (M > 4) of the Central Himalaya (CH), Western Himalaya (WH) and Northeast Himalaya (NEH), for the period of 1960-2003 using artificial neural network (ANN) technique. We use a multilayer feedforward artificial neural network (ANN) model to simulate monthly resolution earthquake frequency time series for all three regions. The ANN is trained using a standard back-propagation algorithm with gradient decent optimization technique and then generalized through cross-validation. The results suggest that earthquake processes in all three regions evolved on a high dimensional chaotic plane akin to "self-organized" dynamical pattern. Earthquake processes of NEH and WH show a higher predictive correlation coefficient (50-55%) compared to the CH (30%), implying that the earthquake dynamics in the NEH and WH are better "organized" than in the CH region. The available tectonogeological observations support the model predictions.

Los Himalayas entre los 20 y 38 grados de latitud N y los 70 a 98 grados de longitud E están entre las regiones más activas y vulnerables a los temblores en el mundo. Se examina la evolución de la sismicidad en el tiempo (M > 4) en los Himalayas centrales, occidentales y del Noreste para el intervalo de 1960-2003 utilizando el método de redes neuronales artificiales (ANN). El modelo de capas múltiples sirve para simular la frecuencia de sismos con una resolución mensual. Para el entrenamiento del ANN se utiliza un algoritmo de propagación en reversa con optimización de gradiente, y se generaliza el resultado con validación cruzada. Se concluye que las tres regiones se caracterizan por procesos que evolucionan en un plano multidimensional caótico similar a una dinámica auto-organizada. El sector central posee un coeficiente de correlación más bajo que las otras dos regiones, que parecen estar mejor "organizadas", lo que es consistente con la información geológica y tectónica disponible.