Is pregnancy termination being used as a family planning method in the Free State?

Background: This study determined the profile of women seeking termination of pregnancy (TOP) in the Free State and whether TOP was used as a family planning method. Methods: Seven hundred and fifty women (15-47 years old) seeking TOP at the Reproductive Health Unit of the National Hospital in Bloemfontein were included in this cross-sectional study. The women who gave verbal consent completed a questionnaire during counselling. Results: The median age of the participants was 24 years and 77.3% were single. Most participants (73.3%) were not using any family planning method at the time of the study. One-fifth (19.1%) had previously had at least one TOP, while for 80.9% of the participants it was their first visit. Some participants (16.6%) considered TOP a family planning method, 39.7% were unsure and 43.7% indicated that TOP is not a family planning method. Thirty-nine women failed to answer this question. When asked the reason for TOP, 3.5% chose the option “contraceptive method”. Conclusions: The relatively high percentage of participants who consider TOP a contraceptive method or are unsure, associated with the fact that most were young, single, not using contraception and had applied for induced abortion just because the conception represented an unwanted pregnancy, implies that some of our population is not aware that termination of pregnancy is not a family planning method. Keywords: termination of pregnancy, family planning methodSouth African Family Practice Vol. 47(5) 2005: 52-5

Knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS symptoms of women receiving termination of pregnancy, Bloemfontein

In 2002, we conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the profile of women seeking termination of pregnancy (TOP) in the Free State and to find out whether TOP was being used as a family planning method. The participants' contraceptive use and termination of pregnancy profile have been described elsewhere.1 This letter describes the knowledge of STD and HIV/AIDS symptoms of women seeking TOP. Seven hundred and fifty consecutive women between 15 and 47 years of age who visited the Reproductive Health Unit at National Hospital (Bloemfontein) for the purpose of termination of pregnancy (TOP) from April to November 2002 were included in this study. A nurse opened a file for each woman arriving at the Reproductive Health Unit before the doctor's examination during which the gestational age was determined.For full text, click here:SA Fam Pract 2006;48(3):17-1

The effectiveness of internal marketing strategies of private tertiary education institutions (PTEIs) in an emerging market

The main purpose of this research was to determine if internal marketing (IM) activities are fulfilling their intended purpose of creating customer centred employees. Such IM activities are designed to enhance employee productive behaviour (EPB). The target population of this study consisted of academic staff from the Private tertiary education institutions (PTEIs) in Gaborone, Botswana. The questionnaires were hand delivered to a sample size of 140 respondents. The descriptive research method as well as the quantitative research approach was used in this study. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire, and analysed to compute factor analysis. The findings of this study show that the majority of the employees (96%) understood that the IM strategies motivate employees and was most importantly influenced the purposes of IM strategies. Two factors explained the ways management designed IM strategies: Management’s focus on the organizational goals and disregard for employees. The results of this study show that most of the employees (88%) believed that management unilaterally design IM strategies. Leadership and management of tertiary education institutions could apply the recommendations proposed by this study to create customer centred employees. In addition, recognizing the need for marketing faculty to make marketing knowledge creation and dissemination more relevant to education institutions. To accomplish this goal, more academic research can be targeted toward internal marketing for tertiary education institutions

Epidemiological study of tuberculosis in Macassar Camp

Thesis (MSc (Community Health))--University of Stellenbosch. 1995.Please refer to full text for abstrac

A note on the universality of the Hagedorn behavior of pp-wave strings

Following on from recent studies of string theory on a one-parameter family of integrable deformations of $AdS_{5}\times S^{5}$ proposed by Lunin and Maldacena, we carry out a systematic analysis of the high temperature properties of type IIB strings on the associated pp-wave geometries. In particular, through the computation of the thermal partition function and free energy we find that not only does the theory exhibit a Hagedorn transition in both the $(J,0,0)$ and $(J,J,J)$ class of pp-waves, but that the Hagedorn temperature is insensitive to the deformation suggesting an interesting universality in the high temperature behaviour of the pp-wave string theory. We comment also on the implications of this universality on the confinement/deconfinement transition in the dual $\mathcal{N}=1$ Leigh-Strassler deformation of ${\cal N}=4$ Yang-Mills theory.Comment: 25 pages; fixed minor typo; added reference

Record-Making, Research, and Removal: Mitigating Impacts on Rock Art in a CRM Context in Southern Africa—the Case of the Metolong Dam, Lesotho

This paper reports on the steps taken to mitigate the impact of the Metolong Dam (Lesotho) on the rock art present within the catchment of its associated reservoir. Mitigation took four major forms: comprehensive survey and documentation, including both photography and tracing; pigment characterization and radiocarbon dating; exploration of the ongoing significance of rock art as a form of living heritage for people living in the vicinity; and removal of selected panels for permanent safekeeping. These steps are placed within the wider context of other cultural heritage management projects in Africa and their success evaluated. Recommendations are made for how similar work should be undertaken in future

On the perturbative chiral ring for marginally deformed N=4 SYM theories

For \cal{N}=1 SU(N) SYM theories obtained as marginal deformations of the \cal{N}=4 parent theory we study perturbatively some sectors of the chiral ring in the weak coupling regime and for finite N. By exploiting the relation between the definition of chiral ring and the effective superpotential we develop a procedure which allows us to easily determine protected chiral operators up to n loops once the superpotential has been computed up to (n-1) order. In particular, for the Lunin-Maldacena beta-deformed theory we determine the quantum structure of a large class of operators up to three loops. We extend our procedure to more general Leigh-Strassler deformations whose chiral ring is not fully understood yet and determine the weight-two and weight-three sectors up to two loops. We use our results to infer general properties of the chiral ring.Comment: LaTex, 40 pages, 4 figures, uses JHEP3; v2: minor correction

Intraoperative Language Mapping Guided by Real-Time Visualization of Gamma Band Modulation Electrocorticograms: Case Report and Proof of Concept

BACKGROUND: Electrocorticography (ECoG) language mapping is often performed extraoperatively, frequently involves offline processing, and relationships with direct cortical stimulation (DCS) remain variable. We sought to determine the feasibility and preliminary utility of an intraoperative language mapping approach guided by real-time visualization of electrocorticograms. METHODS: A patient with astrocytoma underwent awake craniotomy with intraoperative language mapping, utilizing a dual iPad stimulus presentation system coupled to a real-time neural signal processing platform capable of both ECoG recording and delivery of DCS. Gamma band modulations in response to 4 language tasks at each electrode were visualized in real-time. Next, DCS was conducted for each neighboring electrode pair during language tasks. RESULTS: All language tasks resulted in strongest heat map activation at an electrode pair in the anterior to mid superior temporal gyrus. Consistent speech arrest during DCS was observed for Object and Action naming tasks at these same electrodes, indicating good correspondence with ECoG heat map recordings. This region corresponded well with posterior language representation via preoperative functional MRI. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative real-time visualization of language task-based ECoG gamma band modulation is feasible and may help identify targets for DCS. If validated, this may improve the efficiency and accuracy of intraoperative language mapping