Social interaction of teenage mothers during and after their pregnancy

Extensive attention has been given to adolescent sexuality and teenage pregnancy in the past 30 years, yet many teenagers still fall pregnant. A teenager who becomes a parent is at a significant disadvantage in becoming a contributing adult, both psychosocially and economically. The objective of the study was to describe the social interaction of teenage mothers at Ga-Rankuwa Hospital during and after their pregnancy. Seventy teenage mothers were interviewed using an interview schedule. Thirty-four of them stayed with both parents, 19 with the mother only and the rest with relatives or their partner's mother. Only one was married (by customary law), and most (59%) had known their partner for 12-24 months. Fifty-two talked to someone when they discovered that they were pregnant, nine were too scared to do so and the other nine were unaware of the pregnancy until it was discovered by a family member. Most (58) wished to return to school within a year, seven wished to find work (after first looking after the baby), and two wished to get married. In conclusion, the majority of teenagers who fall pregnant do so while still at school. Teenagers are at risk of unwanted pregnancies. Few first tell their mothers about the pregnancy, although most talk to someone soon after discovering that they are pregnant. Most, however, retain the support of their families during and after the pregnancy. Keywords: adolescent, pregnancy, social interaction, post-partum For full text, click here: SA Fam Prac 2004;46(2):21-2

Assessing levels of knowledge, compliance with preventive measures and behavioral adjustments to the ‘new normal’ of COVID-19: Empirical evidence from Ghana

Countries have managed COVID-19 infection and mortality differently. Ghana, a resource-constrained country, with a poorer healthcare system, had fewer infections and more recoveries than high-income countries. Although an acculturation framework is commonly discussed in relation to individuals adapting to a new society, we used it to understand how people adapt to rapid changes orchestrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. From pre-pandemic to post-pandemic era, we see a change from the ‘old normal’ to the ‘new normal’. Thus, we sought to understand how people were living their lives under the ‘new normal’. Data was gathered from 416 adults on their attitudes towards obedience to authority, compliance with COVID-19-related activities, and changes in the extent of carrying out these activities three and nine months into the pandemic. COVID-19 acculturation strategies were also assessed. Descriptive and inferential analyses showed that most Ghanaians obeyed authorities and followed the preventive measures. However, after five months of the peak period, compliance dropped, and behavioral fatigue increased significantly. Regarding the acculturation strategies integration, which involves keeping old health care practices and adopting new ones, improved behavioral adjustment the most followed by separation (i.e., rejecting the new health care practices and holding on strongly to the old ones) and assimilation (i.e., rejecting old health care practices and adopting new ones). Marginalization which encompasses rejecting both old and new health care practices was the least. These results suggest that integration strategy had a significant positive impact on behavioral adjustment compared to assimilation and separation strategies.publishedVersio

A Practitioner’s Critique : the One-Stop Shop Regime of the COMESA Competition Commission

The ‘Competition Commission’ for the ‘Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’ has been established as the competition law enforcer of the ‘Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’, an international region of 21 African member states. The ‘Competition Commission’ is a regional body said to enjoy international legal personality. This regional body considers itself to be a ‘one-stop shop’ within the ‘Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’ and hence seeks to exercise its jurisdiction to the exclusion of that of ‘national competition authorities’ within the ‘Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’. However, in practice this ‘one-stop shop’ persona has not been accepted by all member states of the ‘Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’ – leading to jurisdictional confusion, legal uncertainty and enforcement fragmentation. This paper is a consideration of whether the ‘Competition Commission’ has the requisite consent from member states of the ‘Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’ to operate as a ‘one-stop shop’, and, if so, the paper considers what obstacles stand in the way of the effective application of the said ‘one-stop shop’ jurisdiction within the ‘Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’.Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2018.Public LawLLMUnrestricte

Gendering Bodies: Violence as Performance in Ireland’s War of Independence (1919-1921)

This thesis argues that constructs of gender underpinned violence on women in the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921). These acts were not only informed by female victims’ perceived gender, but also performed Crown Force and the Irish Republican Army perpetrators’ view of their own gendered roles and duties, as well as attitudes towards masculinity and war. Using the historiography of the Irish Revolution (1912-1923) as well as gender and performance studies literature – namely Critical Discourse Analysis and the early work of Judith Butler – this paper provides an account of how gender was imagined and experienced by the ‘revolutionary generation’ on the eve of this formative decade in Ireland’s history. Using source material including witness statements, police reports, and military memoranda, this thesis then details how gendered violence on women – physical, psychological and sexual – ‘performed’ the military masculine identities of Crown Forces and the Irish Republican Army respectively. By examining this aspect of Irish women’s experiences during the War of Independence, this thesis seeks to contribute to the ongoing undertaking of gendering the historiography of the Revolution. Keywords: Ireland; War of Independence; Gender; Violence; Performance; Revolution; Sexual Violence

COVID-19, ICT literacy, and Mental Health of University Students: A Three-Country Study

We ran a cross-national project examining the mental health of university students in Ghana, South Africa, and the United States against the backdrop of a surge in the digitalization of teaching at universities in these countries wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic

Monospecific inhibitors show that both mannan-binding lectin-associated serine protease (MASP)-1 and -2 are essential for lectin pathway activation and reveal structural plasticity of MASP-2.

The lectin pathway is an antibody-independent activation route of the complement system. It provides immediate defense against pathogens and altered self-cells, but it also causes severe tissue damage after stroke, heart attack and other ischemia reperfusion injuries. The pathway is triggered by target-binding of pattern recognition molecules leading to the activation of zymogen mannan-binding lectin-associated serine proteases (MASPs). MASP-2 is considered as the autonomous pathway- activator while MASP-1 as an auxiliary component. We evolved a pair of monospecific MASP inhibitors. In accordance with the key role of MASP-2, the MASP-2 inhibitor completely blocks the lectin pathway activation. Importantly, the MASP-1 inhibitor does the same demonstrating that MASP-1 is not an auxiliary but an essential pathway component. We report the first Michaelis- like complex structures of MASP-1 and MASP-2 formed with substrate-like inhibitors. The 1.28 A resolution MASP-2 structure reveals significant plasticity of the protease suggesting that either an induced fit or a conformational selection mechanism should contribute to the extreme specificity of the enzyme

<Original Paper>The Effect of Acid Concentration on the Emission Intensity of Transition Metal Lines in ICP-AES

In order to obtain reliable results by the technique of Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES), it is imperative to avoid or correct for interferences caused by the matrix of the solution samples. Differences in the acid concentration between the samples and the standards can significantly affect the analytical results. This effect has been investigated by analyzing several series of solution samples. The increase in the acid concentration is obviously accompanied by an increase in the viscosity, resulting in an initial decrease of the analytical signal. Further increasing the acid concentration, however, brings about a positive effect, which is largely enhanced by applying higher HCl concentrations in the washing solution and is efficiently reduced by purging the solution feeding line of the system. The positive effect is presumably related to the enhancement of excitation. This interpretation is suggested by the comparison of results obtained by two different instruments and different kinds of acid in the samples. The obtained relative intensity functions are suitable for the mathematical correction of matrix-induced interferences, provided the conditions of washing are standardized

Neuromodulation of astrocytic K+ clearance

Potassium homeostasis is fundamental for brain function. Therefore, effective removal of excessive K+ from the synaptic cleft during neuronal activity is paramount. Astrocytes play a key role in K+ clearance from the extracellular milieu using various mechanisms, including uptake via Kir channels and the Na+-K+ ATPase, and spatial buffering through the astrocytic gap-junction coupled network. Recently we showed that alterations in the concentrations of extracellular potassium ([K+]o) or impairments of the astrocytic clearance mechanism affect the resonance and oscillatory behavior of both the individual and networks of neurons. These results indicate that astrocytes have the potential to modulate neuronal network activity, however, the cellular effectors that may affect the astrocytic K+ clearance process are still unknown. In this study, we have investigated the impact of neuromodulators, which are known to mediate changes in network oscillatory behavior, on the astrocytic clearance process. Our results suggest that while some neuromodulators (5-HT; NA) might affect astrocytic spatial buffering via gap-junctions, others (DA; Histamine) primarily affect the uptake mechanism via Kir channels. These results suggest that neuromodulators can affect network oscillatory activity through parallel activation of both neurons and astrocytes, establishing a synergistic mechanism to maximize the synchronous network activity

Body structural and cellular aging of women with low socioeconomic status in Hungary: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: The health status of an individual is determined not only by their genetic background but also by their physical environment, social environment and access and use of the health care system. The Roma are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in Hungary. The majority of the Roma population live in poor conditions in segregated settlements in Hungary, with most experiencing higher exposure to environmental health hazards. The main aim of this study was to examine the biological health and aging status of Roma women living in low socioeconomic conditions in Hungary. METHODS: Low SES Roma (n: 20) and high SES non-Roma women (n: 30) aged between 35 and 65 years were enrolled to the present analysis. Body mass components were estimated by body impedance analysis, bone structure was estimated by quantitative ultrasound technique. Cellular aging was assessed by X chromosome loss estimation. Data on health status, lifestyle and socioeconomic factors were collected by questionnaires. RESULTS: The results revealed that low SES women are prone to be more obese, have a higher amount of abdominal body fat, and have worse bone structure than the national reference values. A positive relationship was found between aging and the rate of X chromosome loss was detected only in women with low SES. Waist to hip ratio, existence of cardiovascular diseases and the number of gravidities were predictors of the rate of X chromosome loss in women. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that age-adjusted rate of X chromosome loss could be related to the socioeconomic status