Resilience: Key Factors Associated With Resilience of Older People in Botswana

This study aims to determine key factors that predict resilience in older people. A cross-sectional design and quantitative methods were used for this study. Four districts were selected in Botswana using cluster random sampling. Data on resilience from 378 older adults aged 60 years+ [Mean Age (SD) = 71.1(9.0)] was collected using snowballing technique. Data on socio-demographics, protective and risk factors were also collected from urban and rural areas. CHAID (Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection) analysis was used to predict the strengths of the relationships among resilience and all predictor variables because the data were skewed. Five major predictor variables reached significance to be included in the model: depression, QOL, social impairment, education, and whether participants paid for services or accessed free services, along with high self-esteem (p \u3c .001), security, and self-efficacy (p \u3c .05). The presence of depression symptoms (χ2 = 23.7, p = .001, df = 1) and self-esteem (χ2 = 39.6, p \u3c .001) had the greatest influence on resilience. Older people with no depression symptoms but had low QOL still had social impairment (χ2 = 3.9, p \u3c .05). Older people with no depression symptoms had moderate to high QOL but had low resilience as a result of paying for services (χ2 = 7.4, p \u3c .02). Both protective and risk factors had a significant influence on resilience. Knowledge about the predictors of resilience in older people may assist stakeholders devise effective intervention, especially now with COVID-19 ravaging the country. Additionally, policies and programs inclined to assist older people may be established and implemented

Grandparent Caregivers’ Perceptions and Lived Experiences: Their Health and Wellbeing, Access to Health and State of Health Services in Zimbabwe

The study explored the perceptions and lived experiences of self-rated health, access to health, and state of health services for grandparent caregivers in Zimbabwe. In–depth interviews using semi-structured interview guides were carried out to elicit perceptions of lived experiences from grandparent caregivers (N=31; Mean age= 65.7; SD= 10.7). The data was thematically analysed and the software Nvivo 10 was used to help categorize emergent themes. The study found that grandparent caregivers experienced multiple chronic and complex self-rated health conditions (e.g., High blood pressure (HBP), arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, back pain, and heart problems), which influenced their health and Quality of Life (QOL). They perceived health services as inaccessible without medical insurance and provision of health services in Zimbabwe as appalling and prohibitive, particularly in rural areas. The negative perceptions of health services impacted caregivers’ willingness to seek the services when needed. Some of the caregivers resorted to traditional healers and religious leaders’ services as alternatives to conventional health services for coping with poor physical and mental health. The high prevalence of self-reported chronic illnesses and the crisis in the health sector was lamented by most grandparent caregivers, indicating the need for access to quality health care and/or services, medical insurance, and social protection services

Electroactive Scaffolds to Improve Neural Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious condition caused by damage to the spinal cord through trauma or disease, often with permanent debilitating effects. Globally, the prevalence of SCI is estimated between 40 to 80 cases per million people per year. Patients with SCI can experience devastating health and socioeconomic consequences from paralysis, which is a loss of motor, sensory and autonomic nerve function below the level of the injury that often accompanies SCI. SCI carries a high mortality and increased risk of premature death due to secondary complications. The health, social and economic consequences of SCI are significant, and therefore elucidation of the complex molecular processes that occur in SCI and development of novel effective treatments is critical. Despite advances in medicine for the SCI patient such as surgery and anaesthesiology, imaging, rehabilitation and drug discovery, there have been no definitive findings toward complete functional neurologic recovery. However, the advent of neural stem cell therapy and the engineering of functionalized biomaterials to facilitate cell transplantation and promote regeneration of damaged spinal cord tissue presents a potential avenue to advance SCI research. This review will explore this emerging field and identify new lines of research

Towards respecting children’s rights, obligations and responsibilities : the Zimbabwean case

This article reports on an attempt to demonstrate the importance of putting theory into practice in a way that will impact on the lives of children who are currently being denied their basic rights. Purposive sampling of schools in urban areas in Harare Province, Zimbabwe, was used with data collected from 147 participants (M age¼16.9, SD¼1.38) that was subjected to quantitative analysis. Data were gathered on participants’ views on children’s rights and obligations and their understanding and implementation of the Bills of Rights. Children acknowledged that their rights were being implemented although inadequately; adults living in urban areas were perceived to have knowledge of children’s rights and were said to implement them. To resolve the challenges to the implementation of children’s rights and obligations, a multi-sectoral approach is required.http://spi.sagepub.com/hb201

An unusual feruloyl esterase belonging to family VIII esterases and displaying a broad substrate range

A thermophilic compost metagenomic library constructed in Escherichia coli was functionally screenedfor novel esterases. Of the 110,592 fosmid clones screened, 25 clones demonstrated degradative activ-ity on glyceryl tributyrate (a hit rate of 1:4,423). Four clones displayed ferulic acid esterase activityand were sequenced using 454 Titanium sequencing technology. EstG34, a 410 amino acid protein, wasidentified as having high sequence identity with a number of bacterial -lactamases. EstG34 has theS-X-X-K motif which is conserved in class C -lactamases and family VIII carboxylesterases. Purifiedrecombinant EstG34 had a molecular mass of 42 kDa and displayed hydrolytic activity towards a vari-ety of p-nitrophenyl esters, hydroxycinnamic acid esters and -naphthol acetate. EstG34 represents thefirst family VIII carboxylesterase and -lactamase fold enzyme, able to hydrolyse ferulate and a numberof other hydroxycinnamic acid esters. In addition, EstG34 is the first reported FAE to not adopt the / hydrolase conformation. The sequence similarity and wide substrate utilization capability of this esterasecomplicates its placement within current classification systems, but also draws attention to the enzyme’spotential versatility.The National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), South Africa(Project number PB99/08).http://www.elsevier.com/locate/molcatb2016-08-31hb201

Developing the Silver Economy and Related Government Resources for Seniors: A Position Paper

The precarious rights of senior citizens, especially those who are highly educated and who are expected to counsel and guide the younger generations, has stimulated the creation internationally of advocacy associations and opinion leader groups. The strength of these groups, however, varies from country to country. In some countries, they are supported and are the focus of intense interest; in others, they are practically ignored. For this is reason we believe that the creation of a network of all these associations is essential. The proposed network would act as a support for the already-existing policies of the United Nations' High Commission for Human Rights, of independent experts, and of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People. All three have long ago recommended the creation of a recognized instrument for uniting presently scattered efforts. The proposed network, therefore, will seek to promote the international exchange of relevant expertise, and it will reinforce the commitments and actions that single countries are currently taking to meet these objectives. For example, informative public events can be organised to promote particular support initiatives and to provide an opportunity for new members of the network to be presented. The network will promote health for senior citizens, disease prevention, senior mobility, safe free time for seniors, alimentary education, protection against new risks and dangers, as well as equity in the services necessary for seniors to adopt new information and communication technologies. In the case of retired academic members, the network will promote equality with respect to continuing use of digital technologies (particularly email), continuing access to research libraries, and the guaranteed ability for seniors to fund their own research programs and to deliver free seminars

Developing the Silver Economy and Related Government Resources for Seniors: A Position Paper

The precarious rights of senior citizens, especially those who are highly educated and who are expected to counsel and guide the younger generations, has stimulated the creation internationally of advocacy associations and opinion leader groups. The strength of these groups, however, varies from country to country. In some countries, they are supported and are the focus of intense interest; in others, they are practically ignored. For this is reason we believe that the creation of a network of all these associations is essential. The proposed network would act as a support for the already-existing policies of the United Nations’ High Commission for Human Rights, of independent experts, and of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People. All three have long ago recommended the creation of a recognized instrument for uniting presently scattered efforts. The proposed network, therefore, will seek to promote the international exchange of relevant expertise, and it will reinforce the commitments and actions that single countries are currently taking to meet these objectives. For example, informative public events can be organised to promote particular support initiatives and to provide an opportunity for new members of the network to be presented. The network will promote health for senior citizens, disease prevention, senior mobility, safe free time for seniors, alimentary education, protection against new risks and dangers, as well as equity in the services necessary for seniors to adopt new information and communication technologies. In the case of retired academic members, the network will promote equality with respect to continuing use of digital technologies (particularly email), continuing access to research libraries, and the guaranteed ability for seniors to fund their own research programs and to deliver free seminars

The critical learning experiences that shape youth entrepreneurial success : evidence from African prize winners

In this paper, we report on the Critical Learning experiences that shape Youth Entrepreneurial Success. The findings in our research show that the individual learning experiences that motive youth into entrepreneurship are also able to shape the success and development of an entrepreneurial venture. The is significant as through understanding the different experiences that pull young people towards entrepreneurship, policy makers might create great support and incentives for entry into entrepreneurship by young people. In addition we have found that your current publication has done a number of quantitative studies on youth and young entrepreneurs, however very little have used a qualitative approach to gain greater insights of the lived experience of young entrepreneurs.Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2020.Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)MBAUnrestricte