Staff/bed and staff/patient ratios in South African public sector mental health services

Objectives. To document staff/bed and staff/patient ratios in public. sector mental health services in South Africa.Design. Cross-sectional survey.Method. Aquestionnaire was distributed to provincial mental health co-ordinators requesting numbers of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff who provide mental health care at all service levels; numbers of psychiatric beds; and numbers of patients who attend outpatient departments, clinics and community health centres. The information was supplemented by consultations with mental health coordinators in each of the nine provinces.Results. The staff/bed ratio for the country as a whole was 0.3 staff per bed. For the provinces, the staff/bed ratios were as follows: Eastern Cape 0.30, Free State 0.50, Gauteng 0.22, KwaZulu-Natal 0.34, Mpumalanga 0.89, North-West 0.27, Northern Cape 0.26, Northern Province 0.26, and Western Cape 0.59. For the country as a whole, the staff/bed ratios for each category of staff were as follows: total nursing staff 0.25, occupational therapists 0.01, occupational therapy assistants 0.01, social workers 0.01, community health workers 0.00, psychologists 0.00, intern psychologists 0.00, psychiatrists 0.00, psychiatric registrars O.Dl, and medical officers 0.00. The ratio of ambulatory psychiatric service staff to daily patient visits (DPV) for the country as a whole was 0.6.Conclusions. Staff/bed ratios in South African mental health care are low relative to developed countries. Staff/DPV ratios highlight both the need to develop ambulatory care personnel for mental health care, and problems associated with monitoring the delivery and utilisation of mental health services within an integrated health system at primary level

Staff/population ratios in South African public sector mental health services

Objective. To document existing staff/population ratios per 100 000 population in South African public sector mental health services.Design. Cross-sectional survey.Method. A questionnaire was distributed to provincial mental health co-ordinators requesting them to provide the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff responsible for mental health care at all service levels. These data were supplemented by consultations with mental health coordinators in each of the nine provinces. Population data were obtained from preliminary findings of the 1996 census.Results. The overall staff/population ratio per 100 000 population was 19.5, with an interprovincial range of 5.7 - 31.5. The staff/population ratios per 100 000 population for selected personnel categories (with the interprovincial ranges in brackets) were as follows: total nursing staff 15.6 (4.4 - 28.4), occupational therapists 0.4 (0.1 - 0,8), occupational therapy assistants 0.5 (O.O - 1.3), social workers 0.5 (0.1 - 0.9), community health workers 0.3 (0,0 - 1,0), psychologists 0.3 (0.0 - 0.7), intern psychologists 0.3 (0.0-- 0.7), psychiatrists 0.4 (0.1 - 0.8), psychiatric registrars 0.4 (0.0 - 1.2), medical officers 0.4 (0.2 - 1.3), pharmacists 0.2 (Q.1 - 1.1), and pharmacy assistants 0.2 (0.0 - 0.6).Conclusions. Relative to international settings, there are low levels of mental health staff provision in South Africa, and there is a large amount of variability between provinces. There are considerable challenges in monitoring mental health staff resources within an integrated health service

PCA and K-Means decipher genome

In this paper, we aim to give a tutorial for undergraduate students studying statistical methods and/or bioinformatics. The students will learn how data visualization can help in genomic sequence analysis. Students start with a fragment of genetic text of a bacterial genome and analyze its structure. By means of principal component analysis they ``discover'' that the information in the genome is encoded by non-overlapping triplets. Next, they learn how to find gene positions. This exercise on PCA and K-Means clustering enables active study of the basic bioinformatics notions. Appendix 1 contains program listings that go along with this exercise. Appendix 2 includes 2D PCA plots of triplet usage in moving frame for a series of bacterial genomes from GC-poor to GC-rich ones. Animated 3D PCA plots are attached as separate gif files. Topology (cluster structure) and geometry (mutual positions of clusters) of these plots depends clearly on GC-content.Comment: 18 pages, with program listings for MatLab, PCA analysis of genomes and additional animated 3D PCA plot

Guest Editorial

Intellectual disability in South Africa: Addressing a crisis in mental health service

Identification of protein coding genes in genomes with statistical functions based on the circular code

A new statistical approach using functions based on the circular code classifies correctly more than 93 % of bases in protein (coding) genes and non-coding genes of human sequences. Based on this statistical study, a research software called "Analysis of Coding Genes" (ACG) has been developed for identifying protein genes in the genomes and for determining their frame. Furthermore, the software ACG also allows an evaluation of the length of protein genes, their position in the genome, their relative position between themselves, and the prediction of internal frames in protein genes

Cladding strategies for building-integrated photovoltaics

Photovoltaic cladding on the surfaces of commercial buildings has the potential for considerable reductions in carbon emissions due to embedded renewable power generation displacing conventional power utilization. In this paper, a model is described for the optimization of photovoltaic cladding densities on commercial building surfaces. The model uses a modified form of the ‘fill factor’ method for photovoltaic power supply coupled to new regression-based procedures for power demand estimation. An optimization is included based on a defined ‘mean index of satisfaction’ for matched power supply and demand (i.e., zero power exportation to the grid). The mean index of satisfaction directly translates to the reduction in carbon emission that might be expected over conventional power use. On clear days throughout the year, reductions of conventional power use of at least 60% can be achieved with an optimum cladding pattern targeted to lighting and small power load demands

Novel designs for Penning ion traps

We present a number of alternative designs for Penning ion traps suitable for quantum information processing (QIP) applications with atomic ions. The first trap design is a simple array of long straight wires which allows easy optical access. A prototype of this trap has been built to trap Ca+ and a simple electronic detection scheme has been employed to demonstrate the operation of the trap. Another trap design consists of a conducting plate with a hole in it situated above a continuous conducting plane. The final trap design is based on an array of pad electrodes. Although this trap design lacks the open geometry of the traps described above, the pad design may prove useful in a hybrid scheme in which information processing and qubit storage take place in different types of trap. The behaviour of the pad traps is simulated numerically and techniques for moving ions rapidly between traps are discussed. Future experiments with these various designs are discussed. All of the designs lend themselves to the construction of multiple trap arrays, as required for scalable ion trap QIP.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

Mental health is integral to public health: a call to scale up evidence-based services and develop mental health research

The Global Burden of Disease studies documented the challenges posed by mental illness. Mental illness comprised an estimated 12% of the global burden of disease in 2000, and is predicted to rise to 15% by 2020. Mental disorders comprise 5 of the 10 leading causes of health disability; it is predicted that, by 2030, unipolar depression will be the world's second most disabling health condition

Dynamics of axialized laser-cooled ions in a Penning trap

We report the experimental characterization of axialization - a method of reducing the magnetron motion of a small number of ions stored in a Penning trap. This is an important step in the investigation of the suitability of Penning traps for quantum information processing. The magnetron motion was coupled to the laser-cooled modified cyclotron motion by the application of a near-resonant oscillating quadrupole potential (the "axialization drive"). Measurement of cooling rates of the radial motions of the ions showed an order-of-magnitude increase in the damping rate of the magnetron motion with the axialization drive applied. The experimental results are in good qualitative agreement with a recent theoretical study. In particular, a classical avoided crossing was observed in the motional frequencies as the axialization drive frequency was swept through the optimum value, proving that axialization is indeed a resonant effect.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure