Humanities with a Black Focus: Margaret Walker Alexander and the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People, 1968-1979

In 1968, Dr. Margaret Walker Alexander, professor of English at Jackson State College, founded a Black Studies Institute in Jackson, Mississippi. This study is an intellectual, institutional and social movement history that utilizes archival research and textual analysis of Alexander’s writings, poetry, and work as teacher and director of the Institute in the context of the Black Campus Movement (BCM) and Black Freedom Struggle. It pushes the boundaries of historiographical scholarship on BCM that overshadows the epistemological and aesthetic politics of women faculty-activists who ushered forth racialized and gendered analysis as well as developed the foundations of Black Studies

Obstetric anaesthesia at district and regional hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal: human resources, caseloads and the experience of doctors

Objectives: Suboptimal treatment as a result of lack of basic skills in anaesthesia and resuscitation contributes significantly to the continuing increase in anaesthetic-related maternal deaths in South Africa. This study aimed to determine the number of doctors providing obstetric anaesthesia at district and regional hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, their level of experience and caseload, and to identify specific groups that could be targeted for support and training.Design: This was a prospective open cohort observational study of obstetric anaesthetic services in KwaZulu-Natal, which considered the human resources, caseloads and the experience of doctors.Setting and subjects: Two separate questionnaires, directed independently to medical managers and doctors providing operative obstetric services, were sent to 48 district and regional hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal. One third of the hospitals, selected by stratified randomisation, were visited to improve response rates.Outcome measures: Medical managers were asked for caseload and staffing data. Doctors were asked for details of their qualifications, experience and their current workload.Results: Thirty-eight (a 79% response rate) medical managers and 266 doctors (an estimated response rate of 65%) completed questionnaires. Community service medical officers (CSMOs) at rural district hospitals constituted 27% of fulltime staff. CSMOs at all responding district hospitals were expected to provide obstetric anaesthesia independently. Foreign medical graduates provided obstetric anaesthesia in 71% (27/38) of hospitals and constituted 27% of full-time staff at rural district hospitals. Twenty-four doctors (all foreign-trained) reported no anaesthesia training during their internship. District hospitals were more reliant on part-time (sessional) appointments. Fifty-eight per cent of all (22/38) hospitals reported that a number of sessional appointments provided obstetric anaesthesia. In October 2010, 58% (22/38 active during the month) of sessional appointments at district-level hospitals administered only one obstetric anaesthetic, whereas all 15 sessional appointments who were active at regional level administered two or more. Only 24% of responding doctors had more than five years’ experience in their current employment. Only 3% of responding doctors working in rural hospitals had a Diploma in Anaesthesia, compared to 26% in urban hospitals. Only one doctor with more than five years of employment history and a Diploma in Anaesthesia worked at district level.Conclusion: This study highlights the lack of training and experience of doctors in obstetric anaesthesia and documents workload patterns at district hospitals. It also identifies specific target groups for future support and training.Keywords: obstetric anaesthesia, human resources, caseloads, experience of doctorsSouth Afr J Anaesth Analg 2013;19(5):257-26

Maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality of Caesarean delivery in the late first stage and second stage of labour

Objective: To determine whether there is a higher maternal and perinatal morbidity in Caesarean deliveries performed in the late first stage and second stage of labour compared to Caesarean deliveries earlier in the first stage of labour.Design: A case control retrospective study.Setting: Tygerberg Academic Hospital, Cape Town (South Africa).Subject: A cohort of 85 cases and 86 controls was selected from labour ward birth registers and data were collected from patient files. Rates of predefined complications of caesarean sections and perinatal morbidity were analysed using SPSS version 15 (statistical Package for the Social Science).Results: There was no difference between cases and controls for the following variables: age, gravidity, parity, past obstetric history, gestational age, HIV status, cardiotocography (CTG) tracing, labour and anaesthesia. Intra-operative complications rates were higher in cases than control though not statistically significant. Maternal high care/ICU admission and neonatal complications rates were significantly higher in cases than controls.Conclusion: Caesarean deliveries which are performed in the late first stage and second stage of labour are not associated with more maternal intra-operative complications but with significantly higher maternal high care and ICU admissions as well as neonatal complications compared to Caesarean deliveries earlier in the first stage of labour

Detection of Cathinone and Mephedrone in Plasma by LC-MS/MS Using Standard Addition Quantification Technique

Designer drugs are structural analogs of Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Schedule I and II substances. They are synthesized to mimic the effects of illegal drugs of abuse and to bypass the provisions of drug regulations. Despite the increased availability of designer drugs, few studies have focused on specific analytical extraction techniques for their detection and quantification in biological samples. Solid phase extraction (SPE) is the most commonly used technique for sample preparation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extraction efficiency of the various SPE columns with different sorbent materials for two designer drugs, cathinone and mephedrone in sheep plasma using LC-MS/MS as well as to evaluate the standard addition quantification technique. SPE columns used in this study were Phenomenex Strata X-C strong cation mixed mode column, Phenomenex Strata X Drug B strong cation mixed mode column and SupelTM HLB hydrophilic modified styrene polymer column. The Phenomenex Strata X-Drug B strong cation cartridge was found to have the best retention profile for our analytes. Percent recovery of initial cathinone concentration was 137.6, 93.6 and 103.6% for 10, 33 and 100ng/mL cathinone respectively using the standard addition method with the X-intercept and 120.9, 91.1 and 103.2% with calculations based on the Y-intercept. Percent recovery of initial mephedrone concentration was 191.9, 105.7 and 116.7% for 10, 33 and 100ng/mL mephedrone respectively using the standard addition method with the X-intercept and 153.5, 97.1 and 115.1% using the Y-intercept

The effect of a combination of nutrition education, soy and vegetable gardening, and food preparation skill training interventions on dietary intake and diversity in women: a case study from Qwa-Qwa

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine if an integrated food and nutrition intervention, including home gardening, nutrition education and recipe development and training, would improve dietary diversity in women.Design: This was a single-system case study.Setting: The study setting was peri-urban Qwa-Qwa, Free State province, South Africa.Subjects: Fifty randomly selected women were included in the study from three purposively selected tribes.Outcome measures: Three 24-hour recall questionnaires were used to determine dietary intake and nutrient adequacy, a dietary diversity questionnaire to calculate the dietary diversity scores (DDSs), and the Radimer-Cornell Hunger Scale questionnaire to ascertain food insecurity.Results: The median food variety score (FVS) was 23 at baseline, and improved significantly (p-value 0.002) to 29 at follow-up. Micronutrient intake was consistently low, despite the median adequacy ratio (MAR) improving significantly (p-value 0.002) from 0.49 to 0.63 at follow-up. Despite a significantly improved MAR at follow-up, the nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) for only three nutrients met 100% at follow-up, namely dietary iron, phosphate and vitamin B3. A strong significant positive correlation existed between FVS and the food group diversity score (r = 0.617, p-value 0.000). The FVS and DDS were higher in the food-secure group (n = 16, 32%) than in the food-insecure group (n = 34, 68%), but not significantly. Although most food groups were consumed by the women, limited foods from each group were included.Conclusion: Women in this resource-poor community lacked a variety of food in their diet, despite a high overall DDS. Thus, they had inadequate micronutrient intake and adequacy. A combination of nutrition education, soy and vegetable gardening, and food preparation skill training interventions, seemed to positively influence the nutrient adequacy and overall dietary diversity of the women participating in this study

“Safe anaesthesia” for the South African rural obstetric patient in KwaZulu-Natal

Background: The South African National Committee for Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths has shown that anaesthesia-related maternal deaths continue to increase at district hospitals. This has been attributed to substandard anaesthesia care and resuscitation. This study investigated the anaesthesia practices, work circumstances, support structure and access to training by doctors involved in obstetric anaesthesia in KwaZulu-Natal district and regional hospitals.Method: This was an observational study, which included 48 district and regional hospitals offering operative obstetrics in KwaZulu-Natal. Separate questionnaires were given to medical managers and doctors providing obstetric anaesthesia.Results: The authors assessed 254 doctors’ questionnaires.  Ninety-eight per cent were full-time appointments and 75% had been employed for less than five years. Almost all of the doctors routinely used spinal anaesthesia, 96% used uterine displacement and 77% measured blood pressure every 1–2 minutes. Appropriate vasopressors were used by 98% of the doctors to treat post-spinal hypotension. Thirteen per cent (32 of 254) of the doctors “frequently or always”  performed or assisted with surgery after anaesthetising the patient. Only 22% (54 of 248) of the doctors had an anaesthetic-trained nurse as usual assistance. Thirty per cent (35 of 115) of the doctors in the district hospitals reported feeling insecure or having experienced difficulties during general anaesthesia. Nine per cent (22) of the doctors reported not having after-hours supervision and 53% (134 of 253) did not receive any structured training at their base hospitals.Conclusion: The majority of doctors provided safe obstetric anaesthesia according to the indicators used. The unsafe practice of administering anaesthesia and then performing other theatre duties, thus leaving the mother without dedicated medical supervision, must be stopped. Efforts should be made to improve the supervision and support of district hospital doctors. Resources to optimise safe practices need to be improved.Keywords: district and regional hospitals, obstetric anaesthesia, supervision, training opportunitie

Analysis of stayability in South African Angus cattle using a threshold model

The objectives of the study were to estimate genetic parameters for stayability in the South African Angus cattle and to compare the sire and animal threshold models. Data and pedigree information were obtained from the Integrated Registration and Genetic Information System of South Africa. Stayability was defined as a probability that a cow remained in the herd until four (STAY4), five (STAY5), six (STAY6), seven (STAY7) and eight years of age (STAY8), given that she was a dam. Cows that were in the herd by a specific age were assigned a “1” or a “0”, otherwise. The proportions of successful stayability were 0.63, 0.57, 0.49, 0.42, and 0.37 for STAY4, STAY5, STAY6, STAY7 and STAY8, respectively. Estimates of genetic parameters were obtained from sire and animal threshold models using AIREML algorithm. The model included the fixed effect of contemporary group and random effects of sire or animal genetic effect and the residual. Heritability estimates from the sire model were 0.26 ± 0.08, 0.26 ± 0.09, 0.30 ± 0.09, 0.24 ± 0.10 and 0.27 ± 0.11 for STAY4, STAY5, STAY6, STAY7 and STAY8, respectively. Corresponding estimates from the animal model were 0.20 ± 0.11, 0.20 ± 0.11, 0.20 ± 0.12, 0.18 ± 0.13 and 0.20 ± 0.14. Estimates from the sire and animal models were consistent. Results from the current study indicate that direct selection for stayability could be effective. However, the long generation interval required to obtain accurate estimates of genetic merit may slow genetic progress for stayability at older ages

Ain\u27t it Funny : That Easy, Squeezin\u27, Teasy, Pleasin\u27, Ragtime

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/4147/thumbnail.jp