Information needs of communal cattle farmers in conservation and transfrontier areas: Republic of South Africa

The study investigated information needs of communal cattle farmers located on conservation and transfrontier areas in the Northern part of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. For triangulation of findings, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and 241 structured questionnaires were used. During focus group discussions, key findings showed that cattle management and handling as well as veterinary information are the most needed information by farmers from both study sites. Odds ratio estimates showed that older males (odds ratios 1.906 and 1.488) and literate farmers with tertiary education required more information on cattle management (odds ratio 5.878). Both study areas had common information needs on veterinary matters, conservation of cattle feeds, cattle management and handling as well as stock theft and depredation. This excludes alien invasive species which were reported to be a challenge by dominating communal grazing lands, hence reducing forage on conservation areas. A comprehensive action plan addressing information needs for cattle farmers located in the conservation and transfrontier areas by relevant stakeholders is crucial to minimise substantial economic losses caused by cattle diseases.Keywords: Information needs, conservation, transfrontier cattle farmer

A review of Bluetooth and NFC for financial applications

Abstract: Bluetooth and near field communications (NFC) are two of the most recently emerging wireless technologies [1] [2], largely because of the integral role they play in the Internet of everything (IoE). In this paper, the security aspect is evaluated for these two wireless technologies for potential applications in financial systems. Their frame size is also analyzed. This is done by reviewing their characteristics based on the state of the art and on the standards governing their deployment. It is found that Bluetooth has good security mechanisms when compared to NFC, which requires developers to implement their own security features at application level; however, NFC’s short range and its requirement for intentional communication between devices makes it inherently secure. It is also found that NFC has a larger message size, however, the classic Bluetooth message size is not that far below that of NFC data exchange format (NDEF) short records (SR) message size

Crossing disciplinary boundaries: Students’ experiences of facilitating a learning support programme at a South African university

Increased access to higher education has brought into focus the under-preparedness of students for higher education and vice versa. As such, various programmes have been developed to enhance students’ success in universities. In one institution, an administrator and a lecturer collaborated with senior university students to facilitate a learning support programme where the students acted as peer mentors. The study sought to document students’ experiences of facilitating a peer-mentorship programme that targets first year students as well as senior students who were regarded as at risk of academic exclusion. Using a qualitative case study and Bandura’s social learning theory, 30 peer mentors were purposively selected to generate data through a peer mentors’ reflection workshop. Findings of the study suggest that the mentors were more successful in working with first year students than with senior students. The article concludes that, because of the training provided, mentors were knowledgeable about the programme and the resources available to support mentees. Further studies should solicit mentees’ views and experiences of such a programme, especially those reluctant to take part, as that will highlight areas that require attention to raise the participation and academic success of all participants

Factors impacting the selection of psychiatric hospitals for community service placement of nurses

Background. As a strategy to promote access to quality health services, including psychiatric nursing, compulsory community service for nurses wasintroduced in January 2008.Objective. To determine the factors impacting the KwaZulu-Natal College of Nursing (KZNCN) student nurses’ selection of psychiatric hospitals as theirplacement areas for community service.Methods. A quantitative, exploratory, descriptive research design was adopted. Convenience sampling was used to select 125 respondents from sixcampuses of KZNCN. An electronic 5-point Likert scale-based self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. SPSS version 26 (IBM Corp.,USA) was used for data analysis.Results. The study found that the following factors impacted the selection of psychiatric hospitals for community service: insufficient time allocated forthe practice of psychiatry during training; fear of exposure to threat; poor infrastructure and scarce facilities; and insufficient danger allowance.Conclusion. A positive practice environment should be created in psychiatric hospitals to attract student nurses and retain them in the psychiatricenvironment after community service

Risk factors and outcomes of contrast-induced nephropathy in hospitalised South Africans

Background. Despite ranking third as a cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney injury (AKI), iatrogenic contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) impacts significantly on morbidity and mortality and is associated with high hospital costs. In  sub-Saharan Africa, the rates and risk factors for CIN and patient outcomes remain unexplored.Methods. We conducted a prospective observational study at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, South Africa, from 1 July 2014 to 30 July 2015. Hospitalised patients undergoing computed tomography scan contrast media administration and angiography were consecutively recruited to the study and followed up for development of AKI. CIN was defined as an increase in serum creatinine >25% or an absolute increase of >44 μmol/L from baseline at 48 - 72 hours post exposure to contrast media. Outcome variables were the occurrence of CIN, length of hospitalisation and in-hospital mortality.Results. We recruited 371 hospitalised patients with a mean (standard deviation) age of 49.3 (15.9). The rates of CIN, assessed using an absolute or relative increase in serum creatinine from baseline, were 4.6% and 16.4%, respectively. Anaemia was an independent predictor for the development of CIN (risk ratio (RR) 1.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01 - 2.87; p=0.04). The median serum  albumin was 34 g/L (interquartile range (IQR) 29 - 39.5) and 38 g/L (IQR 31 - 42) in the CIN and control groups, respectively (p=0.01), and showed a significant trend for CIN development (RR 1.68, 95% CI 0.96 - 2.92; p=0.06). Mortality was  significantly increased in the CIN group (22.4% v. 6.8%; p<0.001), and CIN  together with anaemia increased mortality twofold (RR 2.39, 95% CI 1.20 - 4.75; p=0.01) and threefold (RR 3.32, 95% CI 1.48 - 7.43; p=0.003), respectively.Conclusions. CIN has a relatively high incidence in sub-Saharan Africa and predicts poorer clinical outcomes. The presence of CIN and anaemia positively predicted mortality. Caution should be exercised in patients with hypoalbuminaemia and anaemia undergoing contrast media administration

Deep learning of HIV field-based rapid tests

Although deep learning algorithms show increasing promise for disease diagnosis, their use with rapid diagnostic tests performed in the field has not been extensively tested. Here we use deep learning to classify images of rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests acquired in rural South Africa. Using newly developed image capture protocols with the Samsung SM-P585 tablet, 60 fieldworkers routinely collected images of HIV lateral flow tests. From a library of 11,374 images, deep learning algorithms were trained to classify tests as positive or negative. A pilot field study of the algorithms deployed as a mobile application demonstrated high levels of sensitivity (97.8%) and specificity (100%) compared with traditional visual interpretation by humans-experienced nurses and newly trained community health worker staff-and reduced the number of false positives and false negatives. Our findings lay the foundations for a new paradigm of deep learning-enabled diagnostics in low- and middle-income countries, termed REASSURED diagnostics1, an acronym for real-time connectivity, ease of specimen collection, affordable, sensitive, specific, user-friendly, rapid, equipment-free and deliverable. Such diagnostics have the potential to provide a platform for workforce training, quality assurance, decision support and mobile connectivity to inform disease control strategies, strengthen healthcare system efficiency and improve patient outcomes and outbreak management in emerging infections

Paediatric radiology seen from Africa. Part I: providing diagnostic imaging to a young population

Article approval pendingPaediatric radiology requires dedicated equipment, specific precautions related to ionising radiation, and specialist knowledge. Developing countries face difficulties in providing adequate imaging services for children. In many African countries, children represent an increasing proportion of the population, and additional challenges follow from extreme living conditions, poverty, lack of parental care, and exposure to tuberculosis, HIV, pneumonia, diarrhoea and violent trauma. Imaging plays a critical role in the treatment of these children, but is expensive and difficult to provide. The World Health Organisation initiatives, of which the World Health Imaging System for Radiography (WHIS-RAD) unit is one result, needs to expand into other areas such as the provision of maintenance servicing. New initiatives by groups such as Rotary and the World Health Imaging Alliance to install WHIS-RAD units in developing countries and provide digital solutions, need support. Paediatric radiologists are needed to offer their services for reporting, consultation and quality assurance for free by way of teleradiology. Societies for paediatric radiology are needed to focus on providing a volunteer teleradiology reporting group, information on child safety for basic imaging, guidelines for investigations specific to the disease spectrum, and solutions for optimising imaging in children

Protective behaviours and secondary harms from non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa: a multisite prospective longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: In March 2020 South Africa implemented strict non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to contain Covid-19. Over the subsequent five months NPIs were eased in stages according to national strategy. Covid-19 spread throughout the country heterogeneously, reaching rural areas by July and peaking in July-August. Data on the impact of NPI policies on social and economic wellbeing and access to healthcare is limited. We therefore analysed how rural residents of three South African provinces changed their behaviour during the first epidemic wave. METHODS: The South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN) nodes in Mpumalanga (Agincourt), KwaZulu-Natal (AHRI) and Limpopo (DIMAMO) provinces conducted longitudinal telephone surveys among randomly sampled households from rural and peri-urban surveillance populations every 2-3 weeks. Interviews included questions on: Covid-19 knowledge and behaviours; health and economic impact of NPIs; and mental health. RESULTS: 2262 households completed 10,966 interviews between April and August 2020. By August, self-reported satisfaction with Covid-19 knowledge had risen from 48% to 85% and facemask use to over 95%. As selected NPIs were eased mobility increased, and economic losses and anxiety and depression symptoms fell. When Covid-19 cases spiked at one node in July, movement dropped rapidly, and missed daily medication rates doubled. Economic concerns and mental health symptoms were lower in households receiving a greater number of government-funded old-age pensions. CONCLUSIONS: South Africans reported complying with stringent Covid-19 NPIs despite the threat of substantial social, economic and health repercussions. Government-supported social welfare programmes appeared to buffer interruptions in income and healthcare access during local outbreaks. Epidemic control policies must be balanced against impacts on wellbeing in resource-limited settings and designed with parallel support systems where they threaten income and basic service access

Prevalence of soil transmitted nematodes on Nukufetau, a remote Pacific island in Tuvalu

BACKGROUND: The population of Nukufetau, a remote coral atoll island in Tuvalu in the Western Pacific, received annual mass drug administration (MDA) of diethylcarbamazine and albendazole under the Pacific Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis program in 2001, 2002 and 2003, with the last MDA occurring six months before a cross-sectional survey of the whole population for soil transmitted helminths (STH). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey in May 2004 recruited 206 residents (35.2% of the population) who provided a single faecal sample that was preserved, concentrated and examined microscopically. RESULTS: Overall prevalence of STH was 69.9%; only hookworm and Trichuris trichiura were diagnosed. Trichuris was present in 68.4% with intensity of infection being light in 56.3%, medium in 11.7% and heavy in 0.5%. Hookworm occurred in 11.7% with intensity of infection 11.2% being light and medium in 0.5%. Twenty individuals (9.7%) had dual infections. The prevalence of Trichuris was constant across all ages while the prevalence of hookworm was significantly lower in residents below 30 years of age. In the age group 5–12 years comparison of results with a 2001 survey [1] suggested that the prevalence of STH has declined minimally, due to sustained high prevalence of Trichuris, while hookworm has declined dramatically from 34.4% to 1.6%. CONCLUSION: The results of this survey suggest that although the MDA appears to have reduced hookworm prevalence in residents below 30 years of age, there has been minimal effect on Trichuris prevalence. An integrated program to control STH is required