HIV/AIDS infected mothers’ experience of a group intervention to enhance their children’s behavior

A secondary study was conducted within a broader National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded longitudinal study on resilience in South African mothers and children affected by HIV/AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a 24-week support group intervention programme, which was designed to enhance adaptive behaviour of latent-phase children affected by maternal HIV/AIDS as reported by the mother participants. The study was embedded in a concurrent nested mixed-method design, with a quasi-experimental and a nested multiple case study approach. The mother and child dyads (n = 139) were purposefully selected from amongst previously identified HIV-positive women (n = 220), with children between the ages of 6 and 10 years at clinics in the Tshwane region, South Africa. Data were collected over a period of five years in multiple waves of intervention implementation. The data collection strategies comprised of mother psychological questionnaires and quality assurance questionnaires. The quantitative data were analysed by means of a paired-sample t-test for within-group comparisons. The qualitative text was analysed for themes to establish defined categories. The findings of the study showed that the mothers reported that the child support group intervention sessions decreased the children’s withdrawal-, social-, attention-, rule-breaking- and aggressive behavioural problems. The findings suggest that the use of support groups should be incorporated into intervention programmes dealing with latent-phase children affected by HIV/AIDS to enhance adaptive behaviour.Keywords: child behavior; group intervention; HIV/AIDS; latency age childre

DISCflex Leadership/Team Performance Model (DLTPM)™

There is an absolute correlation between the DISCflex instrument and the earlier version of the DISC profile which has been validated and proven reliable for more than 50 years. Many empirical studies have been done showing the relationship between successful leadership and the use of emotional intelligence skills which leads to one’s performance. In this work, there is empirical evidence of a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction and performance. Hence, one can logically draw the conclusion that if DISCflex develops emotional intelligence then it also leads one to a place of higher job satisfaction and job performance

Motor deficits in schizophrenia quantified by nonlinear analysis of postural sway.

Motor dysfunction is a consistently reported but understudied aspect of schizophrenia. Postural sway area was examined in individuals with schizophrenia under four conditions with different amounts of visual and proprioceptive feedback: eyes open or closed and feet together or shoulder width apart. The nonlinear complexity of postural sway was assessed by detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). The schizophrenia group (n = 27) exhibited greater sway area compared to controls (n = 37). Participants with schizophrenia showed increased sway area following the removal of visual input, while this pattern was absent in controls. Examination of DFA revealed decreased complexity of postural sway and abnormal changes in complexity upon removal of visual input in individuals with schizophrenia. Additionally, less complex postural sway was associated with increased symptom severity in participants with schizophrenia. Given the critical involvement of the cerebellum and related circuits in postural stability and sensorimotor integration, these results are consistent with growing evidence of motor, cerebellar, and sensory integration dysfunction in the disorder, and with theoretical models that implicate cerebellar deficits and more general disconnection of function in schizophrenia

HIV/AIDS infected mothers’ experience of a group intervention to enhance their children’s behavior

A secondary study was conducted within a broader National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded longitudinal study on resilience in South African mothers and children affected by HIV/AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a 24-week support group intervention programme, which was designed to enhance adaptive behaviour of latent-phase children affected by maternal HIV/AIDS as reported by the mother participants. The study was embedded in a concurrent nested mixed-method design, with a quasi-experimental and a nested multiple case study approach. The mother and child dyads (n = 139) were purposefully selected from amongst previously identified HIV-positive women (n = 220), with children between the ages of 6 and 10 years at clinics in the Tshwane region, South Africa. Data were collected over a period of five years in multiple waves of intervention implementation. The data collection strategies comprised of mother psychological questionnaires and quality assurance questionnaires. The quantitative data were analysed by means of a paired-sample t-test for within-group comparisons. The qualitative text was analysed for themes to establish defined categories. The findings of the study showed that the mothers reported that the child support group intervention sessions decreased the children’s withdrawal-, social-, attention-, rule-breaking- and aggressive behavioural problems. The findings suggest that the use of support groups should be incorporated into intervention programmes dealing with latent-phase children affected by HIV/AIDS to enhance adaptive behaviour.This primary research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant Number: 5R01MH076442).http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.zaam2016Educational Psycholog

Fossil slabs attached to unsubducted fragments of the Farallon plate

As the Pacific–Farallon spreading center approached North America, the Farallon plate fragmented into a number of small plates. Some of the microplate fragments ceased subducting before the spreading center reached the trench. Most tectonic models have assumed that the subducting oceanic slab detached from these microplates close to the trench, but recent seismic tomography studies have revealed a high-velocity anomaly beneath Baja California that appears to be a fossil slab still attached to the Guadalupe and Magdalena microplates. Here, using surface wave tomography, we establish the lateral extent of this fossil slab and show that it is correlated with the distribution of high-Mg andesites thought to derive from partial melting of the subducted oceanic crust. We also reinterpret the high seismic velocity anomaly beneath the southern central valley of California as another fossil slab extending to a depth of 200 km or more that is attached to the former Monterey microplate. The existence of these fossil slabs may force a reexamination of models of the tectonic evolution of western North America over the last 30 My

False-positive HIV DNA PCR testing of infants : implications in a changing epidemic

AIM: To examine false-positive HIV DNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results in children, and the potential implications for the paediatric HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: A review was done of records over a 6-year period of children less than 18 months old at an HIV treatment site in South Africa, to evaluate those with an initial ‘false’-positive HIV DNA PCR result, but later proven to be HIV-uninfected with HIV DNA PCR and/or quantitative HIV RNA PCR tests. We calculated the influence of changing HIV transmission rates on predictive values (PV) of HIV DNA PCR tests in a hypothetical population of all HIV-exposed infants over a 1-year period. (Positive PV: proportion of individuals with a positive test with disease; negative PV: proportion of individuals with negative test and no disease). ReSULTS: Of 718 children, 40 with an initial positive HIV DNA PCR test were subsequently proven to be HIV-uninfected, resulting in a positive PV of 94.4%. Most (75%) uninfected children had PMTCT interventions and were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic (77.5%). Calculations using a test specificity of 99.4%, as reported previously, show a decrease in positive PV using a single-test strategy from 98.6% at 30% HIV transmission rate, to 94.8% at 10% transmission, to 62.5% at 1% transmission. Reduction in test specificity further decreases positive PV at low transmission rates. CONCLUSION: Decreasing mother-to-child HIV transmission rates reduce the positive predictive value of a single HIV DNA PCR test result, necessitating adaptations to diagnostic algorithms to avoid misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment, especially with early initiation of antiretroviral therapy in asymptomatic infants.http://www.samj.org.z