A comparative study of educational administration in Jamaica and in the United States of America.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Alumni perceptions of registered psychological counsellor training at a South African university

In this article the strengths, caveats and suggestions for improvement of a BEd Hons programme in Educational Psychology presented at a traditional South African university from the viewpoint of 10 alumni students who were part of the 2016 cohort, are explored. The programme under investigation has been running since 2003 and is aimed at training mid-level psychological counsellors who have to pass the Health Professions Council of South Africa’s (HPCSA) board examination for Psychology to formally qualify as registered counsellors. The HPCSA instituted the category of registered counsellor early in the 2000s to provide a route to basic psychological support for the majority of citizens without access to registered psychologists. In order to achieve the aim of this research, qualitative individual telephone interviews were conducted in 2017 to gather data from the counsellor alumni of the 2016 cohort. In total, 10 of a possible 26 participants voluntarily participated in the study. The perceptions of the participants were analysed, and findings suggest that the BEd Hons programme has the following strengths: weekly supervision by experienced lecturers enabled knowledge obtained through theoretical coursework to be applied during the practicum; various professional skills were also gained during the practicum, enabling students to feel competent in the workplace. A very strong focus on clients from disadvantaged communities was also seen as a particular strength. Some caveats were inadequate information about the psychological and job-related implications of the programme. Suggestions indicated that the organisation of the theoretical and practicum components could be reconsidered so as to optimise the programme in future. Furthermore, it was found that transformation in this type of higher education programme is needed on a theoretical and practical level by ensuring broadened access to the programme and listening to the voices of the students regarding the curriculum

Experiences in porting mini-applications to OpenACC and OpenMP on heterogeneous systems

This article studies mini-applications—Minisweep, GenASiS, GPP, and FF—that use computational methods commonly encountered in HPC. We have ported these applications to develop OpenACC and OpenMP versions, and evaluated their performance on Titan (Cray XK7 with K20x GPUs), Cori (Cray XC40 with Intel KNL), Summit (IBM AC922 with Volta GPUs), and Cori-GPU (Cray CS-Storm 500NX with Intel Skylake and Volta GPUs). Our goals are for these new ports to be useful to both application and compiler developers, to document and describe the lessons learned and the methodology to create optimized OpenMP and OpenACC versions, and to provide a description of possible migration paths between the two specifications. Cases where specific directives or code patterns result in improved performance for a given architecture are highlighted. We also include discussions of the functionality and maturity of the latest compilers available on the above platforms with respect to OpenACC or OpenMP implementations

Comparative advantage of potato production in seven regions of South Africa

The focus of this research was to investigate the comparative advantage of the potato industry in seven potato production regions in South Africa. Potatoes are the most important vegetable crop produced in South Africa. In 2008 it contributed more than 40% to the total production of vegetables in South Africa and it accounted for more than 20% of the value of all fresh produce sold on all the major national fresh produce markets. This study uses the Resource Cost Ratio (RCR) methodology that provides an explicit indication of the efficiency with which production alternatives uses domestic resources to generate or save foreign exchange. The Nominal Protection Ratio (NPR) and Effective Protection Coefficient (EPC) were also calculated. The results show that current policies that affects the input market for potato production in South Africa is constraining the potato industry. This was confirmed by the results obtained from the NPR and EPC analysis, and the size of the policy distortions was shown through the calculation of market and economic profitability. If current policies prevail potato production in the Eastern Free State will not have a comparative advantage, but in the absence of such policies all production regions have a comparative advantage.Crop Production/Industries,

The effect of the initial months of the COVID-19 national lockdown on MMed training activities at the University of the Free State, South Africa

Background. Shortly after the first case of SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) had been reported in South Africa, a national lockdown was declared. Subsequently, the University of the Free State (UFS) changed from a contact delivery mode to remote multimodal teaching, learning and assessment. Objectives. To determine the effect of the initial months of the COVID-19 lockdown on MMed training activities at the UFS, specifically the demographic and health profile of students, research progress, academic activities and the clinical training environment. Methods. A cross-sectional study using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire was used. All registered MMed students at the UFS were eligible to participate. Results. A response was obtained from 134 (51.9%) of 258 registrars, most of whom were included in the analysis (n=118; 45.7%). Significant associations between the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on day-to-day clinical work and the ability to work on MMed research (p<0.01) and self-directed learning time (p<0.01) were noted. Changes in domestic circumstances affecting MMed research were reported by 26.9% of respondents. Worsening or new symptoms of stress were reported by 40.0% of respondents. Conclusion. The initial months of the COVID-19 lockdown might have far-reaching implications for registrars’ academic progress. Registrars experienced adverse psychosocial consequences that might impede their academic progress

Antimicrobial resistance patterns in outpatient urinary tract infections – the constant need to revise prescribing habits

Background. There is a global emergence of resistance against commonly prescribed antibiotics. Empirical antibiotic prescribing should be guided by local antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Aim. To identify organisms and determine antibiotic susceptibility in urinary tract infections (UTIs) at 3 Military Hospital, Bloemfontein. Methods. All urine samples collected during 2008 were analysed. The first positive urine culture per patient collected from the casualty, gynaecology, internal medicine and surgical outpatient departments were included. Only adult patients (>12 years old) were included. Prior use of antibiotics and underlying conditions were determined from electronic and paper-based patient and pharmacy records. Results. Positive cultures (N=65) were divided into uncomplicated (N=28) and complicated (N=37) UTIs. Escherichia coli (E. coli) was the most common uropathogen in uncomplicated (75%) and complicated (59%) UTIs. In uncomplicated UTIs, trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) (54%) and amoxicillin (46%) had the highest rates of resistance. Nitrofurantoin and ciprofloxacin had sensitivity rates of 89%. Co-amoxiclav was most commonly prescribed (36%). In complicated UTIs, TMP-SMX (68%) and amoxicillin (65%) had the highest resistance rates, followed by ciprofloxacin (41%). Nitrofurantoin had a sensitivity rate of 73%. Ciprofloxacin was prescribed most often (35%). All E. coli UTI isolates were sensitive to nitrofurantoin. Conclusion. E. coli remains the most common uropathogen. TMPSMX and amoxicillin are of no value in this population with UTIs. Uncomplicated UTIs can be treated effectively with nitrofurantoin; this will lead to cost savings and sparing quinolones as a class of antibiotics known to induce resistance. In this setting, ciprofloxacin should not be used empirically for complicated UTIs

How cheap is primary health care? Cost per script at the Heidedal Community Health Centre and National District Hospital in Bloemfontein

Background: It is essential to manage and budget for primary health care in order to deliver a sustainable, accessible and quality health service to the majority of the population. The aim of the study was to establish the cost per script at the Heidedal Community Health Centre (HCHC) and at the National District Hospital (NDH) in Bloemfontein and to evaluate prescribing patterns, the protocols and use of the Essential Drug List (EDL) and Standard Treatment Guidelines (STGs) and to budget more accurately for medicine. Methods: During a two-month period, every fifth script dispensed at HCHC and NDH was included in the study and analysed until we had included 1 000 scripts from each facility. Results: The mean number of items per script at the CHC was 3.3 and at the DH was 4.1, and the mean cost was R14.66 versus R64.69 respectively. At HCHC, 62 025 prescriptions were dispensed and at NDH 56 312 were dispensed at an estimated total value of R4.5 million during 2002. Conclusion: Many problem areas and incorrect prescribing patterns were identified and need to be addressed. Although the cost per script at primary care level is not high, the number of patients that need treatment is enormous. Primary health care is actually very expensive and good quality control is necessary.South African Family Practice Vol. 47(7) 2005: 37-4

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Measurement of Dust Optical Properties in Coalsack

We have used FUSE and Voyager observations of dust scattered starlight in the neighborhood of the Coalsack Nebula to derive the optical constants of the dust grains. The albedo is consistent with a value of $0.28 \pm 0.04$ and the phase function asymmetry factor with a value of $0.61 \pm 0.07$ throughout the spectral range from 900 -- 1200 \AA, in agreement with previous determinations as well as theoretical predictions. We have now observed two regions (Ophiuchus and Coalsack) with intense diffuse background radiation and in both cases have found that the emission is due to light from nearby hot stars scattered by a relatively thin foreground cloud, with negligible contribution from the background molecular cloud.Comment: Total 19 pages, Figures 9, Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa