The State of Research on Racial and Ethnic Discrimination in the Receipt of Health Care

https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2012.30077

Role of selected higher educational institutions in inculcating an ethical ethos in local government in South Africa : a curriculum review perspective

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 makes provision for three spheres of government: national, provincial and local government. Local government is the third sphere of government, closest to the people and is responsible for service delivery in that sphere. The challenge is the manifestation of corruption across local government. According to Williams (2000:ix), corruption is a deviant and transitory activity. History is replete with cases of bribery, embezzlement, fraud, abuse of power, maladministration, nepotism, conflict of interest and the like. Corruption displays many negative consequences: weakened service delivery, misdirection of public resources, inhibiting growth, alleviating poverty and loss of trust by society (in Webb 2005:153). Therefore, anti-corruption reform is high on the political agenda in South Africa. In view thereof, this article introduces a paradigm shift in addressing corruption in local government. The researchers support the views expressed by Alperstein (2007:62-64) that institutions of higher learning should play prominent roles in instilling values, becoming more socially responsive to community development and producing new knowledge and graduates who are critical yet responsive citizens by reviewing its curriculum development. It stands to reason that higher education is often celebrated as the powerhouse and engine’ for development, and central to this mandate is the design and function of curricula in Higher Education Institutions (Prinsloo 2010:19). Hence, the key focus of the discussion is an overview of curricula of Local Government modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at selected institutions of higher learning in South Africa. The aim is raising awareness on ethical issues and evolution of a culture of zero tolerance towards unethical behaviour in municipal practices. The article supports a need for debate and discussion on diverse methodologies and approaches as a starting point to the ethical enquiry. Ethics education is becoming more complex and entails new learning approaches in addressing its complexity. There is a paradigm shift in the debate and discussion about teaching and incorporating a focus of ethics in the curriculum from a mere incorporation into the curriculum, to what are the best methods and pedagogies for teaching ethics

Perspectives on African leadership in the spirit of Ubuntu

There is a surge of literature focusing on African leadership around the world. Nelson Mandela has stood out as an African icon and an international leader amidst the challenges of a globalised world. There is a quest to strike a balance with finding a leader with charisma and passion, and at the same time, finding a brand of leadership and strategic thinking to lead Africa new horizons. African leadership is about African solutions to local problems, and to reconscientise and rejuvenate the hearts and minds of people regarding the richness of collectiveness with an emphasis on Ubuntu (humanness and moral regeneration) and “Umoja” (togetherness). The appreciation that “humanity finds fulfillment only in community with others” and restoration of the moral fibre of leadership can serve as a repository of knowledge and centre of learning in the cornerstone of good governance in African leadership. This article examines the concept and practice of African leadership in the South African context, and on the African continent. The emphasis of this discussion is not only a conceptual understanding of African leadership, but a focus, amongst others, on the leadership competencies, professional values of responsibility and accountability, spirit of collectiveness, humanness and social cohesion

An agent-based model of the response to angioplasty and bare-metal stent deployment in an atherosclerotic blood vessel

Purpose: While animal models are widely used to investigate the development of restenosis in blood vessels following an intervention, computational models offer another means for investigating this phenomenon. A computational model of the response of a treated vessel would allow investigators to assess the effects of altering certain vessel- and stent-related variables. The authors aimed to develop a novel computational model of restenosis development following an angioplasty and bare-metal stent implantation in an atherosclerotic vessel using agent-based modeling techniques. The presented model is intended to demonstrate the body's response to the intervention and to explore how different vessel geometries or stent arrangements may affect restenosis development. Methods: The model was created on a two-dimensional grid space. It utilizes the post-procedural vessel lumen diameter and stent information as its input parameters. The simulation starting point of the model is an atherosclerotic vessel after an angioplasty and stent implantation procedure. The model subsequently generates the final lumen diameter, percent change in lumen cross-sectional area, time to lumen diameter stabilization, and local concentrations of inflammatory cytokines upon simulation completion. Simulation results were directly compared with the results from serial imaging studies and cytokine levels studies in atherosclerotic patients from the relevant literature. Results: The final lumen diameter results were all within one standard deviation of the mean lumen diameters reported in the comparison studies. The overlapping-stent simulations yielded results that matched published trends. The cytokine levels remained within the range of physiological levels throughout the simulations. Conclusion: We developed a novel computational model that successfully simulated the development of restenosis in a blood vessel following an angioplasty and bare-metal stent deployment based on the characteristics of the vessel crosssection and stent. A further development of this model could ultimately be used as a predictive tool to depict patient outcomes and inform treatment options. © 2014 Curtin, Zhou