The views of women in the Limpopo Province of South Africa concerning girls' puberty rites: research

This study was a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research study, conducted in the Northern Region of the Northern Province (now Limpopo) among Vatsonga / Manchangana in four selected areas. The ethnographic strategy was used to gain access to the puberty rites and to view and describe it from an emic perspective. The techniques for data collection included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and feedback workshops. Initiated and uninitiated women view the rite differently. Initiated women see it as an important cultural practice while the uninitiated women see it as a dangerous practice. Die navorsingsontwerp van hierdie studie was kwalitatief, verkennend, beskrywend en kontekstueel, uitgevoer in die Noordelike streek van die Noordelike Provinsie (nou Limpopo), onder die Vatsonga / Manchangana in vier geselekteerde areas. Die etnografiese strategie is gebruik om toegang te verkry tot die pubertiteitseremonie sodat dit vanuit 'n kontekstuele perspektief beskryf kon word. Die insameling van data is gedoen deur middel van deelnemende waarneming, semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude, fokusgroepbesprekings, onderhoude met sleutelinformante en werkswinkels vir terugvoer. Vroue wat die inisiasie deurloop het en dié wat nie geïnisieer is nie se siening omtrent die seremonie het verskil. Geïnisieerde vroue sien dit as 'n belangrike kulturele praktyk, terwyl die ongeïnisieerdes dit as 'n gevaarlike praktyk beskou. (Health SA Gesondheid: interdisciplinary research journal: 2003 8(3): 47-60

Critical evaluation of the newly qualified nurse’s competency to practise – Part 1

The competence of the newly qualified nurse practitioner is questioned. Critical evaluation of the competency of the newly qualified nurse is performed by means of self evaluation as well as evaluation by the newly qualified nurse’s supervisor. This study shows the relationship between competency of the newly qualified nurse and placement, orientation and guidance. Data analysis indicated that there is no significant relationship between the competency of the newly qualified nurse and placement and orientation. The importance of adequate guidance to the newly qualified nurse was quite clear

A comparative survey of the law relating to strikes in South Africa and the Netherlands

In the first section of the dissertation, strike law in the Netherlands is focused upon. The following issues are inter alia dealt with: the historical background of the strike phenomenon, the right to strike and restrictions on this right, the reluctance of the Dutch legislature to legislate in the field of industrial action, and the directly applicable provisions of the European Social Charter. The second section of the dissertation deals with South African strike law and also starts off with a discussion of the historical background thereof, whereafter the provisions of the 1995 Labour Relations Act are analysed and discussed. The third and last section highlights some of the major differences and points to some similarities between the two legal systems. It concludes that the detailed South African labour legislation does not provide more certainty than the Dutch judge-made law in respect of the law relating to strikes.LawLL.M

LINE-1 Evasion of Epigenetic Repression in Humans

Epigenetic silencing defends against LINE-1 (L1) retrotransposition in mammalian cells. However, the mechanisms that repress young L1 families and how L1 escapes to cause somatic genome mosaicism in the brain remain unclear. Here we report that a conserved Yin Yang 1 (YY1) transcription factor binding site mediates L1 promoter DNA methylation in pluripotent and differentiated cells. By analyzing 24 hippocampal neurons with three distinct single-cell genomic approaches, we characterized and validated a somatic L1 insertion bearing a 3' transduction. The source (donor) L1 for this insertion was slightly 5' truncated, lacked the YY1 binding site, and was highly mobile when tested in\ua0vitro. Locus-specific bisulfite sequencing revealed that the donor L1 and other young L1s with mutated YY1 binding sites were hypomethylated in embryonic stem cells, during neurodifferentiation, and in liver and brain tissue. These results explain how L1 can evade repression and retrotranspose in the human body

Optimising perioperative care for hip and knee arthroplasty in South Africa: a Delphi consensus study

Background A structured approach to perioperative patient management based on an enhanced recovery pathway protocol facilitates early recovery and reduces morbidity in high income countries. However, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the feasibility of implementing enhanced recovery pathways and its influence on patient outcomes is scarcely investigated. To inform similar practice in LMICs for total hip and knee arthroplasty, it is necessary to identify potential factors for inclusion in such a programme, appropriate for LMICs. Methods Applying a Delphi method, 33 stakeholders (13 arthroplasty surgeons, 12 anaesthetists and 8 physiotherapists) from 10 state hospitals representing 4 South African provinces identified and prioritised i) risk factors associated with poor outcomes, ii) perioperative interventions to improve outcomes and iii) patient and clinical outcomes necessary to benchmark practice for patients scheduled for primary elective unilateral total hip and knee arthroplasty. Results Thirty of the thirty-three stakeholders completed the 3 months Delphi study. The first round yielded i) 36 suggestions to preoperative risk factors, ii) 14 (preoperative), 18 (intraoperative) and 23 (postoperative) suggestions to best practices for perioperative interventions to improve outcomes and iii) 25 suggestions to important postsurgical outcomes. These items were prioritised by the group in the consecutive rounds and consensus was reached for the top ten priorities for each category. Conclusion The consensus derived risk factors, perioperative interventions and important outcomes will inform the development of a structured, perioperative multidisciplinary enhanced patient care protocol for total hip and knee arthroplasty. It is anticipated that this study will provide the construct necessary for developing pragmatic enhanced care pathways aimed at improving patient outcomes after arthroplasty in LMICs

The views of women in the Limpopo Province of South Africa concerning girls’ puberty rites

This study was a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research study, conducted in the Northern Region of the Northern Province (now Limpopo) among Vatsonga/Manchangana in four selected areas. Opsomming Die navorsingsontwerp van hierdie studie was kwalitatief, verkennend, beskrywend en kontekstueel, uitgevoer in die Noordelike streek van die Noordelike Provinsie (nou Limpopo), onder die Vatsonga/Manchangana in vier geselekteerde areas. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text

Contribution of unit managers to the training of student nurses in the Cape Peninsula

The article is based on research conducted over the period 1993 to 1996 in the Cape Peninsula. The purpose of the study was to determine the contribution of unit managers towards the training of student nurses coming to their units for clinical practice. The sample consisted of student nurses training in the four nursing colleges in the Cape Peninsula, and the unit managers working in the health services accommodating students for clinical practice in the same area. The findings revealed that the majority of unit managers were teaching students whenever they had the opportunity. Generally unit managers were prepared for their teaching function, but many students were not satisfied with some clinical learning opportunities presented to them, for example drawing up patient care plans, discussing patients’ treatment plans when handing over report, giving assistance regarding care decisions and lending support when students are confronted with patient care problems. There appears to be a need to educate unit managers regarding these and other aspects of the students’ training programme

Occurrence of Theileria parva and other haemoprotozoa in cattle at the edge of Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Theileria parva, the most important bovine theilerial species in sub-Saharan Africa, causes widespread mortality and morbidity in endemic areas. A survey was conducted using buffy-coat specimens from 60 apparently healthy adult communally herded Nguni-type cattle at the northeastern edge of the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park to determine, by means of PCR and Reverse Line Blot (RLB) hybridisation, the occurrence of Theileria and Babesia species. The presence of Trypanosoma species was determined using PCR-RFLP. Results showed that 6.7%of the specimens were positive for Theileria parva. This significant finding suggests that cattle in South Africa, and not only African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer), may be subclinical carriers of T. parva. Other species identified were T. mutans (83.3 %), T. velifera (70.0 %), Theileria sp. (sable) (46.8 %) and T. taurotragi (1.7 %). Two specimens (3.3 %) were positive for Babesia bovis and single specimens (1.7 %) positive for B.bigemina and B. rossi, respectively. Mixed infections, of up to 4 species, were common (65.0 %). Only 1 specimen was found to be positive for Trypanosoma vivax, and 2 for T. theileri, of which only the first species is pathogenic