Parents/caregivers' views on early intervention services in audiology in Johannesburg.

Early identification of hearing loss followed by a timely and effective intervention programme for children with hearing loss is necessary to minimise the negative effects of hearing loss on the development of cognition, psychosocial and verbal communication skills. Such early intervention programmes need to be multidisciplinary, technologically sound and most important, it should take cognisance of the specific context (community, country) in which the child and family function. The main aim of this study is to obtain accurate and reliable baseline information regarding current status of the early intervention process for children with hearing loss in Johannesburg, a Metropolitan City in a developing country. Self-administered questionnaires were handed out to obtain information from 19 hearing impaired childrens’ parents regarding the ages of suspicion of hearing loss, diagnosis and commencement of aural habilitation. The nature of diagnosis and the management of these children are also described. The findings indicate that children in the study were diagnosed and began habilitation late (mean age 24 months and 36months respectively) and that the management process is fragmented. The strengths in the current identification and follow-up process namely, parental involvement and established early intervention service structure are highlighted. Parents’ perceptions of the success and failures of the early intervention services were resolved. Key words: childhood hearing loss, parents/caregivers views, age of diagnosis, age of intervention, developing countr

A study on the automatic analysis of fluorescent in-situ hybridization images in the diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukaemia

In this research report, algorithms for automatic real-time detection of FISH images of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) cases were explored. The use of a MATLAB environment was adopted for development. Two techniques, the first using watershed segmentation and the other using an existing colour filter, were implemented. Both aimed to segment the required CML colour image using different colour filtering techniques in order to analyse the images. The project was extended by combining the strengths of the two to develop an overall algorithm. This final designed prototype was tested on 100 images. For the purpose of this study, the problem was simplified by excluding superimposed chromosomes. The results were compared to the diagnosis made by a trained cytogeneticist operating a currently installed professional system, which was treated as the reference method. The results on this limited dataset showed a sensitivity of 0.86 and a specificity of 0.97. This study suggests that an image processing approach of the type developed in this project may be feasible. However this would need to be refined and developed further to allow, for example, its extension to include causes of false positives that were excluded for the purpose of this study. Suggestions for enhancements and future developments which could approach the performance of existing systems and achieve the required performance for diagnostic use, are discussed in light of these finding

Effects of some processing methods on the toxic components of African breadfruit (Treculia africana)

A variety of breadfruit (Var africana) was evaluated for the presence of some anti-nutrients. It was found to contain some hydrogen cyanide (26.45 mg/kg), tannin (184.10 mg/g), starchyose (1.8%) andrafffinose (1.01%). Different methods of processing such as fermentation, boiling, autoclaving and germination was found to have effect on the anti-nutritional factors. Fermentation for 48 h reducedhydrogen cyanide activity to 0.01 mg/kg, tannin to 6.42 mg/g, haemagglutinin to 6.80 Hu/g, phytate to 0.80 mg/g, starchyose and raffinose to 0.32% and 0.01%, respectively. Boiling for 120 min reduced hydrogen cyanide activity to 4.40 mg/kg, tannin to 6.2 mg/g, haemagglutinin to 3.6 Hu/g, phytate to 0.56 mg/g, starchyose and raffinose to 0.44% and 0.02%, resppectively, while autoclaving for 60 min markedly reduced HCN to 3.40 mg/kg, tannin to 4.42 mg/g, haemagglutininin to undetectable, phytate to 0.42 mg/g, starchyose in traces and raffinose to undetectable. Finally, germination for 120 h reduced the HCN to 4.68 mg/kg, tannin to 18.16 mg/g, haemagglutininin to 10.0 Hu/g, phytate to 0.78 mg/g,starchyose to 0.24% and raffinose to 0.01%. From this research work, any of the processes could be employed in detoxifying the anti-nutritional factors in breadfruit. However, autoclaving was found to be best in the elimination of haemagglutinin, starchyose and raffinose while fermentation was effective in the reduction of hydrogen cyanide

Social Responsibility Perceptions of Community Flood Resilience in Nigeria

Flooding is a severe threat to livelihoods and socioeconomic development in Ogbaru riverine communities of Anambra State, Nigeria. Limited success in the traditional approach of using predominantly structural measures, such as flood channels, to manage floods makes it imperative to explore nonstructural resilience initiatives that would potentially better protect vulnerable flood-prone communities. This study contributes to addressing the problems of ineffective flood management by developing vital social responsibility (SR) data and information that can enhance community flood resilience through individual and collective responsibilities for resilient action. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to explore SR perceptions of flood resilience and their relationships with sociodemographic factors of gender, flood experience, age, and educational attainment. The theoretical frameworks were the protective action decision model and the punctuated equilibrium theory. The snowball sampling method was used to recruit 120 participants who were members of Ogbaru communities and the telephone survey method used for data collection. Statistical analysis indicated that postsecondary and secondary education were the strongest predictors of SR perception, followed by age groups of 35 years and above. The findings imply that demographies that were weak predictors would benefit from targeted flood-related educational programs that will promote resilient-enhancing behaviors. The study will potentially enable the development of integrated and sustainable flood management and may also strengthen institutional capacity for effective flood policies. It will also lead to social change by enhancing the livelihood sustenance and sociocultural well-being of the community members

Comparative study of cervical-vaginal microbial flora changes in women using Cu-T380A contraceptive device and LNG-IUS in Ibadan: a two-centre clinical COHORT study

Background: Intrauterine devices cause various changes in the female genital tract which might result in altered microbial flora and risk of genital infections. The aim of this study was to determine the change in bacterial flora of women using Copper-bearing T380A and levonorgestrel intrauterine system and the risk of genital infections.Methods: This was a two-center clinical cohort study of women using Cu-T380A IUD and LNG-IUS in Ibadan, Nigeria. The study was conducted from March to August, 2016 and it involved 130 women (66 Cu-T380A and 64 LNG-IUS) at 2 family planning clinics in Ibadan, Nigeria. The clients were clinically assessed before admission into the study and high vaginal and endocervical swabs were taken before insertion of the devices, and at 3 and 6months after insertion.Results: Fifty-seven clients with LNG and 63 with copper T380A completed the study. The mean age in LNG-IUS was 34.4years (SD= 6.3) and Cu-T380A was 35.4 years (SD=5.6). All participants had one sexual partner. There was no previous or current STIs/PID at recruitment. The organisms isolated included coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CNS), Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp, Escherichia coli, Candida spp, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Klebsiella spp. Cu-T380A women had an increase or persistence of CNS, Staphylococci, Klebsiella and Candida at 3 months while in the LNG-IUS group only CNS increased. The HVS revealed that participants with Cu-T380A had higher risks (33.3%) for asymptomatic genital infections than the LNG-IUS (5.3%) group at 6 months (p value <0.001).Conclusions: Cu-T380A has a higher likelihood of altering the microbial flora in the cervix and vagina and therefore encouraging the growth of a variety of other organisms compared to LNG-IUS

Systematic Review of Prognostic Factors for Return to Work in Workers with Sub Acute and Chronic Low Back Pain

Morgan, John (2012)Teaching Secondary Geography as if the Planet MattersLondres: Routledge, 165 p.ISBN 978-0-415-56387-1Morgan, John (2012)Teaching Secondary Geography as if the Planet MattersLondres: Routledge, 165 p.ISBN 978-0-415-56387-1Morgan, John (2012)Teaching Secondary Geography as if the Planet MattersLondres: Routledge, 165 p.ISBN 978-0-415-56387-1Morgan, John (2012)Teaching Secondary Geography as if the Planet MattersLondres: Routledge, 165 p.ISBN 978-0-415-56387-

Riverine communities and waterborne diseases in South Eastern Nigeria

Waterborne diseases (WBDs) have continued to be a major health threat to people living in many underdeveloped countries due to absence of basic infrastructure, especially water and health care facilities. In this study we report the findings of an investigation into waterborne diseases amongst the riverine communities in Anambra State, South Eastern Nigeria. A survey of 1200 heads of household using a questionnaire and 600 hospital records were reviewed. A major concern of the study was to identify socio-economic and cultural factors that drive the epidemiology of such diseases. Findings revealed significant differences in the prevalence of waterborne diseases within and between the communities, implicating education levels of the head of household, occupation, and source of water used. The study recommends the provision of community health education through trained community health workers and provision of functional and accessible health care services as a primary means of combating water borne diseases

A study of the outcomes of graduate medical training in social pediatrics

The mission of the Residency Program in Social Pediatrics (RPSP) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine is to train physicians for underserved communities. This investigation studied graduates\u27 perceptions of RPSP outcomes. Of 147 (80%) respondents, 93% practiced in a medically underserved area, 81% practiced in community health centers, and 83% perceived the RPSP had a substantial impact on their choice of practice settings. The most important programmatic factors influencing choice of practice settings were identified: ambulatory/continuity curriculum, faculty role modeling, social medicine curriculum, psychosocial curriculum, pairing of residents, and the social medicine project requirement. The RPSP is a successful physician-training model