IMPROVING MOBILE SERVICE DELIVERY WITHIN ILEMBE HEALTH DISTRICT: A BATHO PELE PERSPECTIVE

Everything associated with wealth, happiness and long life depends on good health. Adept policy-makers must understand linkages between Government priorities, interfacing with the public. Health policy initiatives ought to be implemented effectively, efficiently and economically within local communities’ proximity demonstrating results. Contextually, mobile health services are extensions of Primary Health Care (PHC) systems. The Department of Health (DoH) and iLembe Health District must ensure Batho Pele (People First) Principles maintain service standards. Mobile health services are not rendered in accordance with the policy framework and implementation strategy aimed at transforming public services, as stipulated in the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery (Batho Pele White Paper, 1997). The purpose of this study therefore, was to evaluate the influence of mobile health services operationalising these principles to the district. The methodological approach included questionnaires administered to management, health care workers and clients within Maphumulo sub-district in iLembe. The quantitative approach utilising the post positivist worldview was applied through survey research and random sampling with a complement of 286 respondents. Data was interpreted for statistical significance of relationships amongst key variables through Factor Analysis and Cronbach’s Alpha for score reliability. Data analysis illustrated that most health care workers (HCW) are considerate, offer required information to clients regardless of resource and infrastructure limitations. Empirically, managers, HCW and clients agreed mobile health services are delivered in relation to some of Batho Pele Principles. However, this does not imply that challenges do not exist. The study revealed that efficient, economic and effective delivery of health services warrants multi-disciplinary and coordinated approaches involving clients’ participation and feedback, including health service management and health care workers. Emphasis was on instilling a spirit of diakonia and culture of ensuring high quality service delivery mandates of Health and Government Departments. The authors conclude that necessary health care policies must be implemented properly. The need is to systematically institutionalise functional monitoring and evaluation systems to deliver quality services to citizens in an equitable manner through all possible means

Ketone body supplement label claims: what supplement has been supplemented?

Background: There is a keen interest in performance-enhancing supplementation and the associated benefits, despite reports of incorrect label claims made by manufacturers and the questionable efficacy of the supplements. The use of ketone body supplements as a source of fuel during exercise and sporting performance, in particular, is of interest to sportspeople. By increasing blood ketone body levels, with an accompanying decrease in blood glucose, may indicate a state of nutritional ketosis, whereby the body no longer relies on glucose metabolism but rather the metabolism of ketone bodies. This could be beneficial for long, slow steady-state endurance exercise. Discussion: There are numerous ketone body supplements on the market manufactured in South Africa and internationally. However, unlike medicines, the sports supplementation industry is poorly regulated. Furthermore, ketone body supplementation with regard to its effects on improving exercise and athletic performance is still unconvincing. Conclusion: Within the ever-changing sports supplementation industry, ketone body supplements are being used despite controversies regarding the accuracy and scientific merit of label claims. The ingredients and their quantities, as well as the performance benefits, need to be objectively validated

Transcendence of musculoskeletal injury in athletes with disability during major competition

Hamstring injuries are common in jumping and sprinting athletes. This case series documents acute grade I - II hamstring injuries in two Paralympic athletes. These athletes were able to transcend their injuries to compete 4 and 6 days after injury to attain personal best achievements

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

Ionic conductivity of PEMA-LiClO4 polymer electrolytes

Solid polymer electrolytes comprised of various weight percent ratios of poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA) and lithium perchlorate (LiClO4) salt were prepared via solution casting technique using N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as the solvent. The conductivity values of the electrolytes were determined via impedance spectroscopy. The conductivity of the PEMA-LiClO4 electrolytes increased with increasing salt concentration and the highest conductivity obtained was in the order of 10-6 S cm-1 at salt concentration of 20 wt%. The conductivity decreased for higher salt concentration. In order to understand the conductivity behavior, XRD and dielectric studies were done. The results showed that the conductivity was influenced by the fraction of amorphous region and number of charge carriers in the system. The transference number measurement was also performed on the highest conducting electrolyte systems. The result of the measurement indicated that the systems were ionic conductors

Ocean Deacidification Technologies for Marine Aquaculture

The increase in partial pressure of CO2 in the oceans directly affects the productivity and survival of coastal industries and ecosystems. For marine aquaculture, the decreased alkalinity of seawater results in reduced availability of carbonates for marine organisms to build their shells, leading to decreased aquaculture quality and productivity. The industry has been implementing recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs) to reduce CO2 in feedwaters, but recent interest in ocean-based CO2 capture has led to additional strategies that may be relevant. The new methods in addition to CO2 removal offer capture options for enhanced aquaculture sustainability. Here, we review and compare early-stage and commercially available technologies for deacidification of seawater and their suitability for aquaculture. Most methods considered rely on a voltage-induced pH swing to shift the carbonate/bicarbonate equilibrium toward the release of CO2, with subsequent capture of the released CO2 as a gas or as solid mineral carbonates. The modular design and distributed deployment potential of these systems offers promise, but current demonstrations are limited to bench scale, highlighting the need for sustained research and development before they can be implemented for marine aquaculture

Ocean Deacidification Technologies for Marine Aquaculture

The increase in partial pressure of CO2 in the oceans directly affects the productivity and survival of coastal industries and ecosystems. For marine aquaculture, the decreased alkalinity of seawater results in reduced availability of carbonates for marine organisms to build their shells, leading to decreased aquaculture quality and productivity. The industry has been implementing recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs) to reduce CO2 in feedwaters, but recent interest in ocean-based CO2 capture has led to additional strategies that may be relevant. The new methods in addition to CO2 removal offer capture options for enhanced aquaculture sustainability. Here, we review and compare early-stage and commercially available technologies for deacidification of seawater and their suitability for aquaculture. Most methods considered rely on a voltage-induced pH swing to shift the carbonate/bicarbonate equilibrium toward the release of CO2, with subsequent capture of the released CO2 as a gas or as solid mineral carbonates. The modular design and distributed deployment potential of these systems offers promise, but current demonstrations are limited to bench scale, highlighting the need for sustained research and development before they can be implemented for marine aquaculture

Inhibition of thrombin, an unexplored function of retinoic acid

Retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A, is known to possess in vivo anti-inflammatory, anti-platelet and fibrinolytic activities. We have investigated the in vitro thrombin and platelet aggregation inhibitory activities of vitamin A (retinol) and its derivatives, retinoic acid and retinaldehyde. The thrombin enzymatic assay was performed fluorimetrically to assess the inhibition of thrombin (Sigma and plasma). Retinoic acid, retinaldehyde and retinol exhibited potent inhibition of thrombin, with IC50 values of 67μg/ml, 74μg/ml and 152μg/ml, respectively for the inhibition of thrombin (Sigma); and 49μg/ml, 74μg/ml and 178μg/ml, respectively for the inhibition of thrombin (plasma). Amongst vitamin A and its derivatives, retinoic acid showed the highest inhibition of both the forms of thrombin. Vitamin A and its derivatives also displayed remarkable inhibition of platelet aggregation. This is the first report of vitamin A and its derivatives showing inhibition of thrombin and platelet aggregation in vitro. Keywords: Retinoic acid, Retinaldehyde, Retinol, Thrombin inhibition, Platelet aggregation inhibitio