The profile of disability grant applicants in Bishop Lavis, Cape Town

Background: Disability grants in South Africa increased from 600 000 in 2000 to almost 1.3 million in 2004. This rise can be attributed to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, South Africa’s high rate of unemployment and possibly an increased awareness of constitutional rights. The Western Cape, which hasa disability prevalence of 3.8%, has also experienced an influx of applications. The study was conducted at Bishop Lavis Community Health Centre (BLCHC) in the Cape Town Metropole, Western Cape.The primary aim of this study was to establish the profile of adults applying for disability grants at Bishop Lavis. The secondary aim was thedetermination of the degree of activity limitation and participation restriction by means of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) shortlist of activity and participation domains.Methods: A descriptive study was conducted with emphasis on identifying and quantifying the relevant factors. The population studied included allprospective adult (18–59-year-old females and 18–64-year-old males) disability grant applicants in Bishop Lavis over a two-month period (April–May 2007). A structured, self-compiled questionnaire was administered during face-to-face interviews with applicants. The questionnaire included the demographic details of the applicants, disability/chronic illness/condition, educational level and social/living conditions. The second part of the questionnaire was based on the ICF shortlist of activity and participation.Results: There were 69 respondents over the period of data collection. Of the 69 applicants who participated in the study, 45 (65%) receiveda temporary disability grant, 6 (8%) received a permanent grant and 18 (26%) applications were rejected. The results demonstrated that mostapplicants were females over the age of 50, were poorly educated with chronic medical conditions and were living in formal accommodation withgood basic services but with minimal or no disposable income. The ICF questionnaire responses showed that the majority of respondents had nodifficulty in most domains, except for the general tasks and demands (multiple tasks), mobility (lifting and carrying, fine hand use and walking) and domestic tasks domains, which showed high percentages of severe to complete difficulty. However, further statistical analysis showed no association between degree of difficulty in the above domains and eventual outcome of type of grant received.Conclusions: This study confirmed that unemployment and a lack of income are the factors influencing patients to seek assistance in the formof disability grants. Most applicants had a chronic medical condition and reported functional restrictions but only received a temporary grant. Thismay be an indication that most patients require further evaluation before a final decision can be made. There is a need for a standardised, objectiveassessment tool for disability grant applications. A campaign to educate patients about disability grants could save patients and hospital medicalservices time and money

Access to health care for persons with disabilities in rural South Africa

BACKGROUND: Global research suggests that persons with disabilities face barriers when accessing health care services. Yet, information regarding the nature of these barriers, especially in low-income and middle-income countries is sparse. Rural contexts in these countries may present greater barriers than urban contexts, but little is known about access issues in such contexts. There is a paucity of research in South Africa looking at "triple vulnerability" - poverty, disability and rurality. This study explored issues of access to health care for persons with disabilities in an impoverished rural area in South Africa. METHODS: The study includes a quantitative survey with interviews with 773 participants in 527 households. Comparisons in terms of access to health care between persons with disabilities and persons with no disabilities were explored. The approach to data analysis included quantitative data analysis using descriptive and inferential statistics. Frequency and cross tabulation, comparing and contrasting the frequency of different phenomena between persons with disabilities and persons with no disabilities, were used. Chi-square tests and Analysis of Variance tests were then incorporated into the analysis. RESULTS: Persons with disabilities have a higher rate of unmet health needs as compared to non-disabled. In rural Madwaleni in South Africa, persons with disabilities faced significantly more barriers to accessing health care compared to persons without disabilities. Barriers increased with disability severity and was reduced with increasing level of education, living in a household without disabled members and with age. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that access to health care in a rural area in South Africa for persons with disabilities is more of an issue than for persons without disabilities in that they face more barriers. Implications are that we need to look beyond the medical issues of disability and address social and inclusion issues as well

The influence of soil communities on the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration

Soil respiration represents a major carbon flux between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere, and is expected to accelerate under climate warming. Despite its importance in climate change forecasts, however, our understanding of the effects of temperature on soil respiration (RS) is incomplete. Using a metabolic ecology approach we link soil biota metabolism, community composition and heterotrophic activity, to predict RS rates across five biomes. We find that accounting for the ecological mechanisms underpinning decomposition processes predicts climatological RS variations observed in an independent dataset (n = 312). The importance of community composition is evident because without it RS is substantially underestimated. With increasing temperature, we predict a latitudinal increase in RS temperature sensitivity, with Q10 values ranging between 2.33 ±0.01 in tropical forests to 2.72 ±0.03 in tundra. This global trend has been widely observed, but has not previously been linked to soil communities

The influence of online resources on student–lecturer relationship in higher education: a comparison study

The internet has become a key resource for students’ higher education studies due to both its availability and currency. Previously within higher education, lectures, books and course materials were the only sources of information. This change, to more open access to information and more online materials being accessed outside of those provided by lecturers, and indeed institutions, is likely to accelerate and change the way students are learning. This study aims to help institutions understand better the impact of these changes on the student–lecturer relationship by exploring students’ perceptions of their studies in terms of power and students’ academic engagement in the classroom. The importance of the internet (online learning resources) to students’ achievements, the importance of lecturers and the student–lecturer relationship have all been widely investigated. However, limited research has been undertaken examining the impact of students’ use of the internet on the student–lecturer relationship, or comparing this across different countries and cultures. To address this, data were collected via semi- structured questionnaires distributed to undergraduate students from three countries: United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Kenya. Quantitative data were analysed using a simple statistical analysis approach and qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The results showed that students’ use of the internet has improved students’ academic self-confidence, academic self-reliance and student– lecturer connectedness, but students’ use of the internet has increased the gap in the student–lecturer expert relationship and referent relationship. The impact and rea- sons for this differed between the countries involved in this study

Community-based rehabilitation and disability-inclusive development: On a winding path to an uncertain destination

The majority of people with disabilities who live in developing countries, predominantly in the global South, do not receive any formal disability or rehabilitation services. In those countries or regions where at least some disability services are provided, the community-based rehabilitation (CBR) approach, or some form of it, is likely to be the only approach available (Evans et al. 2001)

Direct evidence for shock-powered optical emission in a nova

Classical novae are thermonuclear explosions that occur on the surfaces of white dwarf stars in interacting binary systems1. It has long been thought that the luminosity of classical novae is powered by continued nuclear burning on the surface of the white dwarf after the initial runaway2. However, recent observations of gigaelectronvolt γ-rays from classical novae have hinted that shocks internal to the nova ejecta may dominate the nova emission. Shocks have also been suggested to power the luminosity of events as diverse as stellar mergers3, supernovae4 and tidal disruption events5, but observational confirmation has been lacking. Here we report simultaneous space-based optical and γ-ray observations of the 2018 nova V906 Carinae (ASASSN-18fv), revealing a remarkable series of distinct correlated flares in both bands. The optical and γ-ray flares occur simultaneously, implying a common origin in shocks. During the flares, the nova luminosity doubles, implying that the bulk of the luminosity is shock powered. Furthermore, we detect concurrent but weak X-ray emission from deeply embedded shocks, confirming that the shock power does not appear in the X-ray band and supporting its emergence at longer wavelengths. Our data, spanning the spectrum from radio to γ-ray, provide direct evidence that shocks can power substantial luminosity in classical novae and other optical transients

Cytogenetical studies in five Atlantic Anguilliformes fishes

The order Anguilliformes comprises 15 families, 141 genera and 791 fish species. Eight families had at least one karyotyped species, with a prevalence of 2n = 38 chromosomes and high fundamental numbers (FN). The only exception to this pattern is the family Muraenidae, in which the eight species analyzed presented 2n = 42 chromosomes. Despite of the large number of Anguilliformes species, karyotypic reports are available for only a few representatives. In the present work, a species of Ophichthidae, Myrichthys ocellatus (2n = 38; 8m+14sm+10st+6a; FN = 70) and four species of Muraenidae, Enchelycore nigricans (2n = 42; 6m+8sm+12st+16a; FN = 68), Gymnothorax miliaris (2n = 42; 14m+18sm+10st; FN = 84), G. vicinus (2n = 42; 8m+6sm+28a; FN = 56) and Muraena pavonina (2n = 42; 6m+4sm+32a; FN = 52), collected along the Northeastern coast of Brazil and around the St Peter and St Paul Archipelago were analyzed. Typical large metacentric chromosomes were observed in all species. Conspicuous polymorphic heterochromatic regions were observed at the centromeres of most chromosomes and at single ribosomal sites. The data obtained for Ophichthidae corroborate the hypothesis of a karyotypic diversification mainly due to pericentric inversions and Robertsonian rearrangements, while the identification of constant chromosome numbers in Muraenidae (2n = 42) suggests a karyotype diversification through pericentric inversions and heterochromatin processes

Litter mixture interactions at the level of plant functional types are additive.

It is very difficult to estimate litter decomposition rates in natural ecosystems because litters of many species are mixed and idiosyncratic interactions occur among those litters. A way to tackle this problem is to investigate litter mixing effects not at the species level but at the level of Plant Functional Types (PFTs). We tested the hypothesis that at the PFT level positive and negative interactions balance each other, causing an overall additive effect (no significant interactions among PFTs). Thereto, we used litter of four PFTs from a temperate peatland in which random draws were taken from the litter species pool of each PFT for every combination of 2, 3, and 4 PFTs. Decomposition rates clearly differed among the 4 PFTs (Sphagnum spp. < graminoids = N-fixing tree < forbs) and showed little variation within the PFTs (notably for the Sphagnum mosses and the graminoids). Significant positive interactions (4 out of 11) in the PFT mixtures were only found after 20 weeks and in all these combinations Sphagnum was involved. After 36 and 56 weeks of incubation interactions were not significantly different from zero. However, standard deviations were larger than the means, indicating that positive and negative interactions balanced each other. Thus, when litter mixture interactions are considered at the PFT level the interactions are additive. From this we conclude that for estimating litter decomposition rates at the ecosystem level, it is sufficient to use the weighted (by litter production) average decomposition rates of the contributing PFTs. © 2009 The Author(s)

Biomineralisation by earthworms: an investigation into the stability and distribution of amorphous calcium carbonate

Background Many biominerals form from amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC), but this phase is highly unstable when synthesised in its pure form inorganically. Several species of earthworm secrete calcium carbonate granules which contain highly stable ACC. We analysed the milky fluid from which granules form and solid granules for amino acid (by liquid chromatography) and functional group (by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy) compositions. Granule elemental composition was determined using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and electron microprobe analysis (EMPA). Mass of ACC present in solid granules was quantified using FTIR and compared to granule elemental and amino acid compositions. Bulk analysis of granules was of powdered bulk material. Spatially resolved analysis was of thin sections of granules using synchrotron-based μ-FTIR and EMPA electron microprobe analysis. Results The milky fluid from which granules form is amino acid-rich (≤ 136 ± 3 nmol mg−1 (n = 3; ± std dev) per individual amino acid); the CaCO3 phase present is ACC. Even four years after production, granules contain ACC. No correlation exists between mass of ACC present and granule elemental composition. Granule amino acid concentrations correlate well with ACC content (r ≥ 0.7, p ≤ 0.05) consistent with a role for amino acids (or the proteins they make up) in ACC stabilisation. Intra-granule variation in ACC (RSD = 16%) and amino acid concentration (RSD = 22–35%) was high for granules produced by the same earthworm. Maps of ACC distribution produced using synchrotron-based μ-FTIR mapping of granule thin sections and the relative intensity of the ν2: ν4 peak ratio, cluster analysis and component regression using ACC and calcite standards showed similar spatial distributions of likely ACC-rich and calcite-rich areas. We could not identify organic peaks in the μ-FTIR spectra and thus could not determine whether ACC-rich domains also had relatively high amino acid concentrations. No correlation exists between ACC distribution and elemental concentrations determined by EMPA. Conclusions ACC present in earthworm CaCO3 granules is highly stable. Our results suggest a role for amino acids (or proteins) in this stability. We see no evidence for stabilisation of ACC by incorporation of inorganic components

Resource limitation drives spatial organization in microbial groups.

Dense microbial groups such as bacterial biofilms commonly contain a diversity of cell types that define their functioning. However, we have a limited understanding of what maintains, or purges, this diversity. Theory suggests that resource levels are key to understanding diversity and the spatial arrangement of genotypes in microbial groups, but we need empirical tests. Here we use theory and experiments to study the effects of nutrient level on spatio-genetic structuring and diversity in bacterial colonies. Well-fed colonies maintain larger well-mixed areas, but they also expand more rapidly compared with poorly-fed ones. Given enough space to expand, therefore, well-fed colonies lose diversity and separate in space over a similar timescale to poorly fed ones. In sum, as long as there is some degree of nutrient limitation, we observe the emergence of structured communities. We conclude that resource-driven structuring is central to understanding both pattern and process in diverse microbial communities