Manifestations of ‘capabilities poverty’ with learners attending informal settlement schools

In this study I use the notion of ‘capabilities poverty’, as theorised by Sen, to examine the experiences of learners attending informal settlement schools in North-West Province, South Africa. Sen distinguishes between functionings (what people do or their ability to do something) and capabilities (various combinations of what people do, their notions of freedom, what life opportunities they may have). The study was based on a sample of respondents from four schools in the Sarafina informal settlement in Ikageng township in the municipal district of Tlokwe (Potchefstroom). It captured some complexities of schooling within South Africa’s democratic educational framework and clearly exposed the manifestations of capabilities poverty. The precise location of capabilities poverty within the plethora of poverty approaches presents educational research with a reality check when looking at informal settlement schools. The study revealed a multiplicity of barriers for informal settlement learners that prevent them from choosing the educational experience they value and contributes to research into the nuanced nature of the interface between poverty and schooling

Re-positioning the competences of beginner teachers in South Africa: A capabilities perspective

On entering the teaching profession, beginner teachers in South Africa are expected to comply with requirements underlying the National Policy Framework for teacher education in South Africa (NPF 2006). These requirements are stipulated as follows: A teacher needs to be a specialist in a particular learning area, subject or phase; a specialist in teaching and learning; a specialist in assessment; a curriculum developer; a leader, administrator and manager; a scholar and lifelong learner; and a professional who plays a community, citizenship, and pastoral role.Recent studies have however revealed that there are many concerns among newly appointed teachers about their readiness to fulfil these roles. This has lead us to do an explorative investigation in an effort to re-position the capabilities of beginner teachers. The qualitative data extrapolated from a literature investigation, teacher education policy and semi-structured interviews will guide us in formulating findings, pertinent to establishing a support strategy in what they deem as the most challenging aspects in and around the classroom. The investigation is underpinned by Sen’s (1980) capabilities approach which offers a yet unexplored lens through which to understand the importance of supporting beginner teachers to think critically and creatively, solve problems, make informed decisions, cope with and manage new situations, and communicate effectively in order to deal with new situations as it may arise in the classroom on a daily basis (Maarman 2009, 321)

Treatment of Gender-Nonconforming Learners in Namibian Schools1

This paper aimed at establishing the treatment of gender-nonconforming learners in Namibian schools. The provision of education in Namibia is based on the principles of non-discrimination and equal access to quality education for all as stipulated in the Namibian constitution. Even though there is growing evidence on the mistreatment of gender-nonconforming learners in schools world wide, there is a paucity of literature on the treatment of gender-nonconforming learners in the Namibian education context. This paper employed a case study design as a transformative research method informed by the social identity perspective. One hundred and eighty-two teachers were randomly sampled into the study, and one deputy Director of Special Programs and Schools, one deputy Director of Diagnostic, Assessment and Training Services, one regional school counsellor and one inclusive education officer at the National Institute for Educational Development were purposively sampled. The findings revealed that societal, religious, and cultural beliefs in schools were determinants of how gender-nonconforming learners were treated in some schools. A supplementary framework for the implementation of inclusive education policy (SFIIEP) was developed from the findings of this study. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture align the SFIIEP to the inclusive education policy implementation to enable open discussion of sex education topics during life skills lessons, creation of supportive learning environments, and establishment of anti-bullying policies with specific measures on curbing homophobic bullying as well as strengthening the psychological support to learners

Variation in HIV prevalence and the population-level effects of antiretroviral therapy in reducing tuberculosis incidence in South Africa

CORRESPONDENCE - No Abstract available

The prevalence of pulmonary hypertension after successful tuberculosis treatment in a community sample of adult patients

There are an estimated 155 million survivors of tuberculosis (TB). Clinical experience suggests that post-pulmonary tuberculosis lung disease (PTLD) is an important cause of group 3 pulmonary hypertension (PH). However, TB is not listed as a cause of PH in most guidelines. A cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted in non-health care seeking adults who had successfully completed TB treatment. Subjects underwent questionnaires, spirometry, a six-minute walk distance test (6MWD) and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Screen probable PH was defined on TTE as an estimated pulmonary artery peak systolic pressure (PASP) of ≥40mmHg. One hundred adults (71 males) were enrolled, with a mean age of 42 years (SD 13.8 years) and a median of one TB episode (IQR: 1 -2). Co-morbidities included hypertension (21%), diabetes (16%), HIV (10%) and asthma/COPD (5%). Only 25% had no residual symptoms after TB. Probable PH was found in 9%, while 7% had borderline raised PASP values (PASP 35-40mmHg). An association was found between PH and the number of previous TB episodes, with each additional episode of TB increasing the odds of PH-post-TB 2.13-fold (CI 1.17-3.88; P=0.013). All of those found to have PH were smokers or ex-smokers yielding an unadjusted odds ratio for PH-post-TB of 3.67 (95%CI 0.77-17.46). There was no statistical difference in spirometry or 6MWD, between those with and without PH. Neither symptoms nor co-morbidities demonstrated significant association with PH. PH after TB was a common finding in this community-based population. Further research is needed to confirm and determine the significance of these findings

Improving retention of community-recruited participants in HIV prevention research through Saturday household visits; findings from the HPTN 071 (PopART) study in South Africa

BACKGROUND: Identifying successful strategies to improve participant retention in longitudinal studies remains a challenge. In this study we evaluated whether non-traditional fieldworker shifts (after hours during the week and weekends) enhanced participant retention when compared to retention during traditional weekday shifts in the HPTN 071 (PopART) population cohort (PC). METHODS: HPTN 071 (PopART) PC participants were recruited and followed up in their homes on an annual basis by research fieldworkers over a 3-4 year period. The average number of successful follow-up visits, where a PC participant was found and retained in the study, was calculated for each of 3 visit schedules (early weekday shift, late weekday shift, and Saturday shift), and standardized to account for variation in fieldwork shift duration. We used one-way univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) to describe differences in mean-successful visits and 95% confidence intervals between the shift types. RESULTS: Data on 16 651 successful visits were included. Successful visit rates were higher when conducting Saturday visits (14.0; 95% CI: 11.3-16.6) compared to both regular (4.5; 95% CI: 3.7-5.3) and late weekday shifts (5.3; 95% CI: 4.7-5.8) overall and in all subgroup analyses (P<0.001). The successful visit rate was higher amongst women than men were during all shift types (3.2 vs. 1.3, p<0.001). Successful visit rates by shift type did not differ significantly by age, over time, by PC round or by community triplet. CONCLUSION: The number of people living with HIV continues to increase annually. High quality evidence from longitudinal studies remains critical for evaluating HIV prevention and treatment strategies. This study showed a significant benefit on participant retention through introduction of Saturday shifts for home visits and these data can make an important contribution to the emerging body of evidence for improving retention in longitudinal research. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PopART was approved by the Stellenbosch University Health Research Ethics Committees (N12/11/074), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (6326) ethics committee and the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) (Protocol ID 11865). PopART was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (registration number NCT01900977 )

From basic mechanisms to clinical applications in heart protection, new players in cardiovascular diseases and cardiac theranostics: meeting report from the third international symposium on "New frontiers in cardiovascular research"

In this meeting report, particularly addressing the topic of protection of the cardiovascular system from ischemia/reperfusion injury, highlights are presented that relate to conditioning strategies of the heart with respect to molecular mechanisms and outcome in patients' cohorts, the influence of co-morbidities and medications, as well as the contribution of innate immune reactions in cardioprotection. Moreover, developmental or systems biology approaches bear great potential in systematically uncovering unexpected components involved in ischemia-reperfusion injury or heart regeneration. Based on the characterization of particular platelet integrins, mitochondrial redox-linked proteins, or lipid-diol compounds in cardiovascular diseases, their targeting by newly developed theranostics and technologies opens new avenues for diagnosis and therapy of myocardial infarction to improve the patients' outcome

Myocardial susceptibility to ischaemia/reperfusion in obesity : a re-evaluation of the effects of age

CITATION: Webster, I., et al. 2017. Myocardial susceptibility to ischaemia/reperfusion in obesity : a re-evaluation of the effects of age. BMC Physiology, 17:3, doi:10.1186/s12899-017-0030-y.The original publication is available at https://bmcphysiol.biomedcentral.comBackground Reports on the effect of age and obesity on myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and ischaemic preconditioning are contradictory. The aim of this study was to re-evaluate the effects of age and diet-induced obesity (DIO) on myocardial I/R injury and preconditioning potential. Methods Four groups of Wistar male rats were used: age-matched controls (AMC) receiving standard rat chow for (i) 16 weeks and (ii) 16 months respectively; DIO rats receiving a sucrose-supplemented diet for (iii) 16 weeks and (iv) 16 months respectively. The ages of groups (i) and (iii) were 22 weeks (“young”) and groups (ii) and (iv) 17 months (“middle-aged”) at time of experimentation. Isolated perfused working hearts were subjected to 35 min regional ischaemia/1 h reperfusion. Endpoints were infarct size (tetrazolium staining) and functional recovery. Hearts were preconditioned by 3 × 5 min ischaemia/5 min reperfusion. Results were processed using GraphPad Prism statistical software. Results Age did not affect baseline heart function before induction of ischaemia and I/R damage as indicated by infarct size and similar values were obtained in hearts from both age groups. Age also had no effect on functional recovery of hearts during reperfusion after regional ischaemia in AMC rats, but cardiac output during reperfusion was better in hearts from middle-aged than young DIO rats. The diet reduced infarct size in hearts from young rats (% of area at risk: AMC: 32.4 ± 3.6; DIO: 20.7 ± 2.9, p < 0.05), with no differences in hearts from middle-aged rats (AMC: 24.6 ± 4.6; DIO: 28.3 ± 13.5, p = NS). Compared to their respective AMC, diet-induced obesity had no significant effect on functional recovery of hearts from both age groups after exposure to regional ischaemia. When exposed to the more severe stress of global ischaemia, the functional recovery potential of middle-aged DIO rats appeared to be impeded compared to hearts of young DIO rats, while age had no effect on the functional recovery of AMC hearts. Preconditioning reduced infarct size in hearts from young control rats and both middle-aged groups, but not from young DIO rats. Age had a significant effect on functional recovery in preconditioning: it was improved in hearts from young control and DIO rats, but depressed in both middle-aged groups. Conclusions The data showed that middle-age and obesity had no effect on baseline myocardial function and did not increase susceptibility to I/R damage upon exposure to regional ischaemia. On the contrary, obesity reduced I/R damage in young rats. Preconditioned aging hearts showed a decreased infarct size, but a reduction in functional recovery.South African National Research Foundationhttps://bmcphysiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12899-017-0030-yPublisher's versio